Gardaí investigating the death of a 12-year-old girl who took her own life in Maynooth, Co Kildare, over the weekend are treating her death as a “personal tragedy”.
Lara Burns, a first-year student at Maynooth Post Primary School, died on Saturday.
In a statement, the school’s principal Johnny Nevin said support teams were helping students and parents to deal with the tragic event.
“This is a terrible tragedy for Lara’s family, our school and our community. We are deeply saddened by these events. Our sympathy and thoughts are with Lara’s family and friends,” he said. “Lara was a first year student and will be missed by all who knew her. We have been in contact with Lara’s family, and they have requested that we all understand their need for privacy at this difficult time.”
Authorities yesterday downplayed suggestions that she was a victim of bullying. A Garda spokeswoman said it was treating the event as a sudden death and personal tragedy and declined to comment further.
:quality(70)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/irishtimes/d44f2db9-df8f-4862-a014-cc272b77d22c.png)