Gardaí investigating the disappearance and murder of Kyran Durnin (8) have released without charge a man who was arrested on Thursday. A search at a second property in Drogheda, Co Louth, has also been completed.
“Further details of this search are not being released for operational reasons,” gardaí said on Friday evening, adding that “investigations are ongoing”.
Earlier today, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said he believes that finding the body of Kyran Durnin, the Co Louth boy who went missing more than two years ago is an “obvious” focus of the investigation into his death.
Gardaí searched a house in Drogheda on Friday as part of the investigation into the suspected murder of Kyran Durnin.
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Gardaí using a cadaver dog and earth-moving machinery continued the search of the house and garden for a second day.
[ Kyran Durnin investigation: Search to resume at Drogheda house after man arrestedOpens in new window ]
The man’s arrest on Thursday came less than 24 hours after a woman who had been detained, also on suspicion of murder, was released without charge
The male suspect, who is known to the woman, was arrested yesterday morning in the Drogheda area. He was released without charge on Friday afternoon.
“I do not think that he is eight years old. I think Kyran died at the age of six years old,” Mr Harris said, speaking to media at the Templemore Garda College in Co Tipperary on Friday morning.
“That’s where our investigative effort then is focused upon, focused upon that period in May 2022 and what happened to Kyran after that last, in effect, confirmed sighting, and how we can develop that on from there.”
“The body of Kyran hasn’t been recovered, and that’s an obvious point for us in terms of this investigation,” he said.
“Obviously then we have to make every effort to try and discover then where Kyran’s body was, in effect, and it’s an awful expression, but has been disposed of.”
Asked if he was optimistic the Garda investigation could bring closure to the young boy’s family, he said: “We are working through the investigation. We are certainly following a lot of live lines of inquiry, optimism is not a word that comes to mind when speaking about this. I know it’s a very professional inquiry that’s doing its very best with the information that we have.”
In late August, Tusla flagged its concern for Kyran’s welfare with the Garda after it was unable to locate him, though he was not in the child and family agency’s care. A family member reported Kyran and his mother missing the following day.
Gardaí have found no evidence Kyran was alive in the period since the last confirmed sighting of him in May-June 2022 at a national school in Dundalk.
While gardaí initially began a missing persons inquiry, the investigation into Kyran’s disappearance has since been upgraded to a murder case.
Mr Harris was speaking in advance of a passing-out ceremony at Templemore Garda College in Co Tipperary, where 169 new gardaí were attested as sworn members of the force.
Of the 169 new members, 119 are men. Fourteen were born outside the State, including in Brazil, New Zealand and Estonia.
Mr Harris was evasive when asked about Gerard Hutch’s general election run, stating it was unwise to comment on an “electoral or democratic process”.
[ ‘This is a bit of craic’: Why Dublin Central voted for Gerry HutchOpens in new window ]
Mr Hutch, who has been named in the High Court as the patriarch of the Hutch organised crime group, received 3,098 first preference votes in the Dublin Central constituency, narrowly missing out on a seat to Labour’s Marie Sherlock.
He suggested the result indicated “societal problems about our attitude towards criminality”, adding: “I think, overall, that’s the most concerning thing on this.
“I do think there’s something that has to be addressed in terms of those 3,000 votes, because we live in a liberal democracy, the rule of law, and people should have respect, then, for the State, the Constitution and the rule of law within that,” he said.
“I think there’s something there around the communication there is to people, around being a citizen in this society, and what it means in terms of responsibilities there is placed on them.”
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