Irish police chief says search has found no sign of boy feared dead

A search for a boy in Dublin who has not been seen for several years and is feared dead has so far been unsuccessful, the head of Ireland’s police service has said.

Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly, who took up the role this week, said investigators have been unable to identify any information on the boy’s current whereabouts or evidence as to whether he is alive.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, he said: “Tragically, investigating gardai believe the boy is deceased.”

Gardai said they are investigating all of the circumstances around the disappearance and whereabouts of the boy who would be seven years old if still alive.

Concerns for the boy were raised by the Child and Family Agency (Tusla) and reported to gardai on Friday.

A Garda statement said: “The boy is last known to have resided at The Gallery Apartments, Donabate, Co Dublin.

“It has been a number of years since there has been any confirmed sighting of the boy, who would now be seven years of age.

On Monday, gardai took control of an area of open ground in Donabate, which will be the subject of a search in the coming days.

Mr Kelly also appealed for anyone with information on the missing boy to contact investigating gardai.

He said a senior investigating officer had been appointed and added: “All resources are being deployed.”

Gardai said anyone with information can contact Swords Garda Station on 01 666 4700, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station.

No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.

Tusla confirmed it made a referral to gardai on Friday after becoming concerned about “the safety and wellbeing” of the child.

“Our thoughts are with the child’s family, friends, and community at this difficult time,” it said in a statement.

“We continue to work closely with the gardai, and in line with normal practice, all relevant information relating to this family has been shared.

“Anyone with information on this case should contact An Garda Siochana in Swords.”

Ireland’s special rapporteur on child protection said there was public concern around the “horrifying and heartbreaking case”.

Caoilfhionn Gallagher said it was “positive” to hear how quickly the investigation was progressing but added that the incident raised concerns about child protection systems.

Ms Gallagher told RTE Radio One: “It takes a village to raise a child – but there’s also that real question about us needing to have a village to watch out for children so we spot when things go wrong.”

The case came to public attention around the same time as the one-year anniversary that another child was reported missing and is now also feared dead.

Kyran Durnin, who would be nine years old this year if still alive, was reported missing in August last year and a murder investigation was launched in October.

Gardai believe he might have died aged six after it emerged he had not been seen since May 2022 when he was a pupil at a primary school in Dundalk.

However, Ms Gallagher said there were differences between the two distinct and separate cases.

“We know that this was a pre-school child – we’re talking about lockdown times.

“A disappearance of a child in those circumstances is not as apparent as in non-Covid, non-lockdown times when a child is of compulsory school age, for example.

“And the other key question, which is outstanding, of course, is whether this child was known previously to any of the authorities. Did this child have a social worker? Had there been any previous references of concern to the gardai and so on.

“And there’s nothing whatsoever to indicate at the moment that this child was on the radar of any authorities.”

Ms Gallagher added: “From the publicly available information, which is all I’ve got, I don’t necessarily see that, in terms of institutional responses, this raises the same types of concerns that we have in the horrendous case of Kyran Durnin.”

The special rapporteur said there are “real questions” about “whether we need to have better systems in place” for vulnerable children

“It seems to me, rather than just dealing on a firefighting basis with each individual case when they arise, we need to have a much more radical look at whether our systems do the job and whether they’re protecting children in Ireland as well as they could be.”

She added that it was possible to have a full transparent public inquiry into child protection systems at the same time as the gardai investigations.