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WHEN the twin sister of missing Mary Boyle had to move hundreds of miles way for work, she had to make a heartbreaking decision to leave her daughter behind.
The young girl, who she named after missing Mary, was left with her grandparents to save them from the agony of losing a child again.
Devoted Ann Doherty made the sacrifice out of love for her still- grieving mother.
Her sister Mary disappeared without a trace when the identical twins were just six years old.
The arrival of Anne's firstborn brought happiness into her parents' grieving household for the first time in more than a decade.
Ann and her husband Sean needed to move away from Co Donegal for work. But she couldn't bear to put her shattered parents through the agony of being separated from their granddaughter.
So she left the 12-year-old behind as the rest of the family moved to Co Offaly.
She said: "I couldn't take her away. I couldn't put Mum and Dad through losing another Mary.
"She brought happiness into the house that was missing before she was born.
"Not that she was a replacement, but she filled a void.
"I saw the change that came because there was a Mary back in our home."
Ann gave birth to the girl when she was 17 but the relationship with her father didn't last. She met Sean afterwards and the couple got married when Mary was eight.
She added: "We moved out of the family home but Mary stayed behind.
"She'd spend the odd night with me but her grandparents' house was where she...