Kyran Durnin: Suspect in murder of missing child has a history of violence

One of the suspects in the murder of missing child Kyran Durnin has a history of violence and anger management issues, the Irish Mirror can reveal.

It is understood extensive details of this suspect's behaviour and personality have been provided to the Gardai.

The suspect appeared in court over a decade ago for acts of violence but didn't get a prison sentence.

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Meanwhile, a man in his thirties arrested on Thursday over Kyran’s murder refused to speak about the case after his release on Friday afternoon.

Friends of this man claim he is totally innocent and has nothing to do with it. When approached by the Irish Mirror, the man ran through the streets of Drogheda with a coat over his head to hide his face.

Both he and a woman also arrested and released without charge this week are known to each other. Gardai are now looking at carrying out a third search at another location in Drogheda in the hope of locating the youngster’s body.

They are also not ruling out more arrests. Detectives believe a number of people are aware what happened to the child and suspect there has been an elaborate cover up.

Senior Officers are satisfied Kyran was last seen in May, 2022, and died sometime in the weeks and months after that.

They still have no idea how he died but are building up a huge bank of information provided by the public.

A Garda source said: "We will continue with our investigation to try and find this child’s body.

"There is absolutely no doubt Kyran is dead and that something dreadful happened to him. We believe we have identified all the suspects and we are building up the evidence against them.

"We would again urge the public that anyone with even the slightest bit of information about this case to contact Drogheda Garda Station. This little lad deserves better, his death should never have happened.”

The chilling case of missing Kyran has shone a spotlight on how the State has been dealing with vulnerable children .

It was only in August of this year that gardai declared the eight-year-old was missing as they put out an appeal for help to trace his whereabouts.

However, in the background, officers shockingly feared that the young boy was dead, suspected to have been murdered up to two years previously.

On October 16, gardai put out a new appeal for information on Kyran, but this time describing him as being missing and presumed dead.

A garda statement at the time said: "Despite extensive enquiries carried out by gardai to date, An Garda Siochana have been unable to either locate Kyran, identify any information on his current whereabouts or any evidence that he is currently alive.

"Following enquiries to date, investigating gardai now believe that Kyran is missing presumed dead.

"A murder investigation has been commenced."

Confirmation from the gardai that the little boy was suspected to have been murdered sent shockwaves across the nation.

That sense of shock has been felt more keenly in the Co Louth towns of Dundalk and Drogheda, where Kyran had lived, with candlelight vigils held in both towns for him.

Then on Monday, October 21, gardai began digging for Kyran at the boy's former family home in Emer Terrace, Dundalk. The dig was extended to include wasteland around the home, but despite the extensive searches the boy's body was not found.

In the meantime, the child and family agency, Tusla, who had been dealing with Kyran and his family, commenced a review of the case.

Speaking previously about the Kyran case, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris described it as "extraordinary" and said he has never seen one like it in his 40-year career.

He said gardai had received "a huge amount of information from the public" after several appeals.

Commissioner Harris said: "I can assure you that that investigation is very active, we're pursuing all the lines of inquiry that we have.

"We have received a huge amount of information from the public, so all of that has to be processed, and we're also engaging with Tusla and received a lot of information from Tusla as well.

"All of that feeds into the inquiry. It is a very complex and properly resourced investigation and is being assisted by national bureaux in terms of expertise around interviewing and the assessment of the witness accounts we've received so far."

It comes as fresh searches for Kyran are due to commence in Drogheda.

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