Gardaí have moved a digger on to a site in Donabate, north Dublin, where the search for the remains of a boy who disappeared about four years ago has intensified.
A woman who has been supplying information to investigating gardaí returned to the location at the weekend.
Though the woman first accompanied gardaí to the site last Monday, the location she pinpointed was searched - with the aid of a cadaver dog - without the remains being found.
In further interviews with gardaí, she has said the remains were buried at the site and she returned there in an attempt to clarify the claimed burial location.
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About two dozen gardaí were on the lands from early Sunday morning, with more around the perimeter of the site. The land is bordered by the Portrane Road on one side and on another by a bypass, built in recent years, of the village of Donabate.
A pedestrian route between the two roads, which provided access for vehicles to a local GAA club before the construction of the bypass, was sealed off by gardaí early last week.
The boy would be aged seven but gardaí believe he died aged three and his death was concealed. The main line of inquiry is that his body was secretly buried. The site just outside Donabate has been the main area of focus for the Garda search team for the past week.
Gardaí have yet to find any remains on the site. They have also not determined if the boy died of natural causes or if foul play was a factor. Gardaí have been given conflicting accounts of the boy’s death, including that he died in his sleep and was buried secretly after the people caring for him panicked when they could not revive him.
The boy’s parents are Irish citizens, and while his mother is still living in Ireland, his father moved abroad some years ago.
The parents split up at least five years ago, though both continued to play an active role in the child’s life up to the point he is believed to have died.
Though the boy was initially given up for adoption, and was in the care of foster families for up to 18 months, his parents had a change of heart and the child was returned to them. Tusla, the child and family agency, was involved with the family during that period, to 2020.
The alarm was eventually raised when a social welfare claim was made related to the child, which resulted in checks with no clear answers about the boy’s welfare and where he was living. That gave rise to concerns, which were first brought to the attention of Tusla. The agency then carried out its own checks and alerted gardaí last Friday week. An investigation began and gardaí contacted the boy’s parents and other people who knew him.
Tusla chief executive Kate Duggan said reports from the social work team in northeast Dublin indicate there “were not child protection concerns in relation to this family” when the case was closed.
She said that a “rapid review” of the case was under wa,y which would take about two weeks and the findings referred to the National Review Panel (NRP). It is an independent body that reviews serious, dangerous incidents involving, or deaths of, children or young people in the care of Tusla or known to the agency.
