There have been “very clear failings” in the case of missing boy Kyran Durnin (8), Minister for Children Roderic O’Gorman has said.
“We can’t be complacent when it comes to child protection ... It’s clear something went wrong in this particular situation, and we need to know what it was so we can ensure it doesn’t happen again,” he told RTÉ's This Week programme.
As of Friday, gardaí have identified key suspects as part of the investigation into the disappearance, assumed killing, of Co Louth boy Kyran Durnin but will not move to arrest them unless they can secure evidence on which to ground arrests.
“A child has been missing for two years, so there’s very clearly failings in this case,” Mr O’Gorman said, adding that there was an internal Tusla review under way as well as the murder investigation.
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The last positive sighting of Kyran Durnin was at the end of the school year in 2022, when he was aged six. Last week, it emerged the boy had been taken out of school at that time, with officials assuming he had moved to a school in Northern Ireland. This meant the boy’s long-term absence from school went unnoticed by Irish officials.
“This case has the whole country shocked ... It is deeply troubling that a child was missing, was not in touch with State agencies for a two-year period, and we need to understand what went wrong,” Mr O’Gorman said.
It was the Minister’s understanding of procedures that “checks are meant to take place where a child leaves school be it in Ireland or outside the jurisdiction”.
“That’s my understanding of the process and that’s why we’ve asked for a review,” he said.
“What I have commissioned these two reviews for is to understand exactly the level of engagement between Tusla, Kyran and his family”.
The Minister anticipated that he would receive the results of the review this week and would then “look to act on that”.
The search of a house in Dundalk, Co Louth, this week, along with excavating the back garden and a nearby plot, has been completed and gardaí uncovered no evidence the boy’s remains may have been concealed there.
That house, on Emer Terrace, was the Durnin family home until May and locals there have been spoken to by gardaí in a bid to determine whether they ever saw, or spoke to, Kyran and when that was.
A second property, also in Co Louth, was being reviewed with the possibility of extensive searching taking place, though no such move has yet been made.
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