Gardaà searching for the remains of Kyran Durnin (8) have ramped up their investigation by taking possession of a house in Dundalk, Co Louth, where his family lived until May of this year.
The terraced house on Emer Terrace, now home to new tenants unconnected with the investigation, was taken over by gardaà on Monday after they were granted a District Court order. That court application took place a week after the investigation into Kyranâs disappearance was officially upgraded to a murder inquiry, rather than a missing persons case.
The Dundalk property is due to undergo extensive searching and technical examination this week. The garden of the house, and ground beside it, will also be closely examined.
The move to seal off the house and subject it to such a thorough search is the most significant development in the investigation to date. Gardaà believe Kyran may have been killed two years ago.
âThe purpose of these searches are to discover any evidence which might provide us with information as to Kyranâs current whereabouts or what has happened to Kyran,â the Garda said in a statement on Tuesday.
The investigation is also trying to determine the last confirmed sighting of Kyran before he vanished. His last known sighting was in 2022. Detectives are checking the veracity of evidence supplied to them about his whereabouts and welfare in the intervening period.
When Kyran was officially reported missing from his home in Drogheda, Co Louth, at the end of August, gardaà opened an investigation. However, that missing persons inquiry, for the boy and his mother Dayla Durnin (24), was stood down last week.
Gardaà said on the same day they had found no evidence Kyran was alive, despite extensive inquiries, and they were upgrading the missing persons case to a murder inquiry as they strongly suspected he was dead. It is understood Ms Durnin was traced and spoken to by gardaÃ, meaning a missing persons inquiry into her whereabouts was no longer required.
Tusla had some dealings with the childâs family in previous years but there was no indication he was a victim of abuse. The agency is co-operating with gardaà and has handed over a large amount of documentation relating to the child.
On Monday, Minister for Children Roderic OâGorman confirmed he had taken the unusual step of making a request for Tusla to send its files on Kyran to a specialist panel that looks into the death of any child with links to State care.
Such files are normally sent to the National Review Panel after a Garda investigation has concluded. But given the unusual nature of the case, the Green Party leader confirmed he has asked for an immediate transfer of the files, even though an investigation only commenced last week.
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has said if there were any shortcomings in child protection procedures, they needed to be identified and action taken.
âIf there were there failings here, how do we address those failings and are there people who need to be held responsible for those failings,â she said last week. Ms McEntee was âabsolutely adamant that if there were failings here, people need to be held accountableâ.
Speaking at a press conference in Dundalk on Tuesday morning, Chief Supt Alan McGovern said: âThe purpose of these searches are to discover any evidence which might provide us with information as to Kyranâs current whereabouts or what has happened to Kyran.
âThe house is known to have been Kyranâs family home for a period of years up to May 2024. I must emphasise that the current tenants of this house are not connected in anyway with Kyran or his disappearance.â
He said that Kyran was a student in a local national school in Dundalk up to about the end of the 2021/2022 primary school year.
âKyran was reported missing, along with his mother, to An Garda SÃochána on August 30th, 2024, and as having been last seen on or about the August 28th, 2024. An Garda SÃochána has identified the whereabouts of Kyranâs mother.
âDespite extensive enquiries carried out by gardaà to date, An Garda SÃochána have been unable to either locate Kyran, identify any information on his current whereabouts or any evidence that he is currently alive.â
He said gardaà now believe he is dead.
âAn Garda SÃochánaâs sole focus and primary concern, and that of the investigation team is Kyran. We want to discover where Kyran is. We want to discover what has happened to Kyran.
âI continue to appeal to anyone who has any information in connection with the disappearance of Kyran to contact investigating gardaÃ. Do not rule out any information that you may have. Please do not assume that the investigation team know the information that you may have.
âAny information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, will be welcomed by the investigation team. This information will be treated in the strictest confidence.
âYou can contact the Garda Investigation Team at Drogheda Garda station on 041 987 4200, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or speak with any member of An Garda SÃochána.â
Speaking earlier on Tuesday morning, Taoiseach Simon Harris said he was hoping for a breakthrough in the investigation âlike everybody across the countryâ.
âThe case of Kyran Durnin is deeply disturbing, deeply upsetting, and in fact Iâd go so far as to say itâs utterly horrifying.
âFor any of us as a human being, for any of us as a parent, to think that a child can effectively disappear and [it] not be noticed that theyâre not there is utterly heartbreaking and clearly something went extraordinarily wrong here.
âThis child was failed, was failed badly and while Iâm not going to say anything to cut across the Garda investigation â let that run its course, thatâs very, very important â as Taoiseach Iâm going to make sure we get to the bottom of this.
âHow was this child failed? How could an eight-year-old little boy effectively disappear and that not be noticed?â
