'We need to understand what went wrong in Kyran Durnin case'

There is a need to "understand what went wrong" in the case of missing schoolboy Kyran Durnin, the Irish Green Party leader has said.

Kyran was reported missing at the end of August but last week gardaí (Irish police) said the boy is now "presumed dead" and they launched a murder investigation.

Irish broadcaster RTÉ has previously reported that detectives believe the child may have been killed more than two years ago, when he was aged six.

Roderic O'Gorman, who is the Irish minister for children, said it was "deeply troubling" Kyran had not been in touch with state agencies for a two-year period.

Tusla, the state agency responsible for child welfare and protection, said it is carrying out an internal review of its interactions with Kyran's family.

Speaking to RTÉ's This Week programme, O'Gorman said the agency's report should be completed in the coming week.

He added that did not know if Tusla received a referral due to Kyran's prolonged absence from school, but he expects the report to mention this.

"This case has the whole country shocked I think," he said.

"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 in this particular case," the minister said.

"We can absolutely understand all the engagements that this child and his family had with Tusla and indeed with other elements of the state and what went wrong in this situation."

O'Gorman said under normal procedure, a check with a new school outside the jurisdiction where Kyran was going to attend should have taken place.

He added he did not know if this check took place.

"That’s why we’ve asked for this review to understand exactly what did or indeed what didn’t happen in this case," he said.

"We can’t be complacent when it comes to child protection."

The minister added that there was "clear failings" in Kyran's case as the eight-year-old had been missing for two years.

Searches took place earlier this week at a private property at Emer Terrace in Dundalk, County Louth, where the family lived until May 2024, as well as adjoining land.

The terraced house is about 20 miles north of the town of Drogheda, from where Kyran and his mother were reported missing on 30 August.

His 24-year-old mother, Dayla Durnin, has since been located and is no longer considered a missing person.

When the search began on Tuesday, gardaí stressed the current tenants of the house were "not connected in any way with Kyran or his disappearance".

The search operation finished on Thursday, but results would not be released due to operation reasons.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said he had "has never seen a set of circumstances" in his 40 years as an officer like those in Kyran's disappearance.

He said the case was "extraordinary" and that he was first made aware of it in early September.

"What we have worked at is to try and identify proof of life since the last actual sighting in 2022, so I cannot comment specifically on whether Kyran reached his seventh or eighth birthday," he told reporters.

• 2021 - 2022 - Kyran was a pupil at a national [primary] school near his home in Dundalk, but he did not return to the school after the 2022 summer holidays
• May 2024 - Kyran's family moved out of their home in Emer Terrace in Dundalk, where they had been living for a number of years
• Unknown date in August 2024 - Tulsa, the Irish state agency responsible for child protection, alerted gardaí about "a significant concern about Kyran"
• 28 August 2024 - The approximate date of the last sighting of the boy and his mother in Drogheda, according to a missing person report made to gardaí
• 30 August 2024 - Kyran and his 24-year-old mother Dayla Durnin were reported missing from their home in Drogheda
• 4 September 2024 - Gardaí issued a public missing persons appeal, seeking help to find Dayla and Kyran
• 16 October 2024 - Gardaí said they now believed that "Kyran is missing, presumed dead" and they confirmed they have begun a murder inquiry
• 21 October 2024 - Acting under a search warrant, gardaí take possession of the Durnins' former family home in Emer Terrace, Dundalk
• 22 October 2024 - a forensic examination of the house, garden and nearby open ground began
• 24 October 2024 - searches of the house and nearby grounds end, with gardaí adding that the results of the search were not being released for operational purposes