Children's Rights Alliance head asks if pandemic allowed missing presumed dead boy to 'slip through the net'

Ellen O'Donoghue

Gardaí have taken control of an area of ground in Donabate, Co Dublin, to conduct a search for a seven-year-old boy who is missing, presumed dead.

The area, which was sealed off on Monday evening, September 1st, will be the subject of a search in the coming days.

Concerns for the boy were raised by Tusla, the child and family agency, and reported to gardaí on Friday, August 29th.

The boy would now be seven years old, but it has been a number of years since there has been any confirmed sighting of the boy.

The Irish Times have reported that the boy was just three to four years old when he was last seen.

The paper also reported that it understands gardaí have spoken to the parents of the child, one of whom is abroad and one who remains in Ireland. Both are Irish citizens, The Irish Times added.

Did this child slip through the net because public services did not have the level of contact that they normally would in the ordinary course of events?

The chief executive of the Children’s Rights Alliance, Tanya Ward, has questioned if the Covid pandemic allowed the child missing in north county Dublin to “slip through the net”.

Speaking on RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland, Ms Ward asked: “Did this child slip through the net because public services did not have the level of contact that they normally would in the ordinary course of events? These are all the questions I think we're all asking ourselves and that need to be answered.”

“There's public health nurses, there are GPs, there's services they may have been in contact with. And I'm thinking did anyone see anything? Did anyone intervene? Is there something that could have been done to help this child early in his life?”

The boy is last known to have resided at The Gallery Apartments, Donabate, Co Dublin.

Following enquiries carried out by, and information available to investigating gardaí to date, An Garda Síochána has been unable to either locate the boy, identify any information on his current whereabouts or any evidence that he is currently alive.

Investigating gardaí believe the boy is missing, presumed dead.

The case was “very disturbing” and needed to be independently reviewed to establish what exactly happened to the child, Ms Ward added.

“This is something I think that really terrifies those of us that work in the child protection sector, both in the community and voluntary sector and in public services as well."

"It's very disturbing that something like this could have happened to a small child and that's why when the time is right, when the Gardaí have done the job, what's really important is that this case is independently reviewed to establish what happened this child, to understand was there some opportunity to intervene in this child's life earlier and is there any learning for this child. So anything like this does not happen again.”

With regard to Covid, Ms Ward pointed out that the pandemic created a situation where frontline service providers did not have contact with children.

“It actually resulted in a reduction in the number of referrals that went to Tusla in that period, and Tusla actually ran a public education programme to try and encourage other people and other services to make referrals of children to their services. So yes, I think everyone will be asking the question, is this because of the lockdowns?”

The Minister for Children said she is “deeply concerned” over the case.

In a statement on Monday, Norma Foley said that the welfare of the child was “uppermost” in her thoughts.

“I have been briefed on this matter by officials, and I have spoken to the Tusla chief executive about it. I have asked Tusla to keep me fully informed of developments in this case.

“I am appealing to anyone with information about this missing child to provide full co-operation to An Garda Siochana as it carries out its investigation.”

The investigation is being led by a Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) at Swords Garda Station.

Gardaí have appealed to anyone who has any information in connection with this investigation to contact Swords Garda Station on 01 666 4700, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any garda station.

No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing, a garda statement said.

Additional reporting by Vivienne Clarke