Skip to content

New search for missing six-year-old Kyran Durnin

Family handout Kyran Durnin - a young boy with short, brown hair is smiling at the camera as he sits on a dark, leather sofa. He is wearing a blue hoodie.Family handout
Kyran Durnin is believed to have been murdered more than two years ago when he was six years old

A house in Drogheda, County Louth, is being searched as part of the investigation into the murder of a six-year-old boy who disappeared more than two years ago.

Kyran Durnin was reported missing at the end of last summer but gardaí (Irish police) believe he may have been killed more than two years earlier.

They began a murder investigation in October, saying they were treating Kyran as missing, presumed dead.

That same month they carried out a dig at his former family home in Emer Terrace, Dundalk, but there was no sign of his body.

On Wednesday, a white cordon was erected around a house on Hand Street in Drogheda.

Officers from the Garda Technical Bureau began a forensic examination of the property, including the rear garden.

A mini-digger is being used to excavate land.

Brian Lawless/PA Wire Gardaí at the search of a house on Hand Street in Drogheda. One uniformed female officer with a blonde ponytail is standing beside a uniformed male officer and they are both looking in through the front door. Another man with a black hat and coat is walking in through the door. A side gate of the house is visible and three bags of coal are set in front of the gateBrian Lawless/PA Wire
Gardaí are searching a house on Hand Street in Drogheda

Kyran was originally reported missing alongside his mother, Dayla Durnin, in August 2024.

One of Kyran's grandmothers claimed she had last seen them in her home in Drogheda and, at that time, she appealed for her daughter Dayla to contact her.

Dayla was later found alive in Great Britain without Kyran.

Gardaí investigating the schoolboy's disappearance have made two arrests during the course of their inquiry so far.

A man and a woman were arrested two days apart in mid-December but they were both released without charge within a day of being detained.

The man, who was arrested on suspicion of Kyran's murder, was found dead at his home in Drogheda just days after his release from custody.

He was named locally as 36-year-old Anthony Maguire.

Warning over 'misinformed' speculation

An Garda Síochána Composite image of Kyran Durnin photos. On the left Kyran is wearing a black baseball hat and grey patterned hoody with neon zip. On the right he is in a blue Sonic the Hedgehog jumper and he is holding a brown Paw Patrol stuffed toy dog in police uniform. An Garda Síochána
Kyran lived with his family in Dundalk for a time but they later moved to Drogheda

Confirming the latest search at a "domestic residence" in Drogheda, gardaí said they were "aware of ongoing extensive public commentary" on their investigation.

They warned that most of the speculation, rumours and theories on what may have happened to Kyran was "inaccurate and misinformed".

"Such ill-informed public commentary is not only disruptive to the Garda investigations but also adds to the trauma experienced by victims families," they added.

A white house, taped off with police tape There is a white Garda van that reads technical bureau parked outside
A property in Drogheda, County Louth, is being searched as part of the investigation

Area cordoned off as police searches continue

At the scene: Kevin Sharkey, BBC News NI Dublin reporter

A Garda van and car are parked close to the house which is along a narrow residential street.

The area immediately around the house is cordoned off.

Gardaí are conducting their initial searches here out of public view.

It's an old-style residential area with TV aerials on most of the rooftops and electrical and telephone wires criss-crossing the street.

While gardaí conduct their searches inside the house, local people are going about their normal daily business and mostly keeping their thoughts about this latest development to themselves.

Supposed move to Northern Ireland

A row of houses in Drogheda, the closest house seems to be abandoned with red railings surrounding it There are a row of cars parked, among them a white Garda van and Garda car
Gardaí are conducting their initial searches out of public view

Kyran had been a pupil at the national [primary] school near his home in Dundalk until the summer of 2022.

He did not return to class after the summer holidays and it is understood authorities were told he was moving to Northern Ireland and to a new school in Newry.

Tusla, the Irish state agency responsible for child welfare and protection, said it received no referrals or concern about Kyran's attendance or educational welfare between 2022 and 2024.

In December, two houses were searched in Drogheda. One of the searches involved the use of a cadaver dog.

The results of the searches were not made public.

The Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, previously said he had never seen a case like this in his 40-year career in policing on both sides of the border.

Timeline of Kyran's disappearance

Newspics Kyran sits in a school classroom wearing a grey V-neck jumper which has a yellow band around the neck line. He has dark brown hair and brown eyes and his face is scrunched up as he plays with some green play dough on the school desk. A small plastic tub bearing his name sits in front of him, with a green lid beside it. Kyran is sitting on a wooden school chair with a large pink classroom display and storage visible behind him. Newspics
Kyran is believed to have been last seen alive in the summer of 2022

2021-2022 - Kyran attends a national [primary] school near his home in Dundalk, but does not return to the school after the 2022 summer holidays.

May 2024 - Kyran's family move out of their home in Emer Terrace in Dundalk, where they had been living for a number of years.

Unknown date in August 2024 - Tusla, the Irish state agency responsible for child protection, alerts gardaí about "a significant concern about Kyran".

30 August 2024 - Kyran and his 24-year-old mother Dayla Durnin are reported missing from their home in Drogheda.

4 September 2024 - Gardaí issue a public missing persons appeal, seeking help to find Dayla and Kyran.

16 October 2024 - Gardaí say they now believe that "Kyran is missing, presumed dead" and they confirm they have begun a murder inquiry.

22 October 2024 - Kyran's former family home and garden in Emer Terrace, Dundalk, is searched by forensic investigators, as well as nearby open ground.

24 October 2024 - the Dundalk search ends, with gardaí adding that the results of the search are not being released for operational purposes.

31 October 2024 - Tusla declines to publicly release its review of its interactions with Kyran's family, adding information it held on him was lost in a cyber attack.

10 December 2024 - A woman is arrested by gardaí investigating Kyran's disappearance and murder but is released without charge the following day.

12 December 2024 - Two houses in Drogheda are searched and a man is arrested on suspicion of Kyran's murder, but he too is released without charge the next day.

17 December 2024 - The man who had been arrested and released - named locally as 36-year-old Anthony Maguire - is found dead at his home in Drogheda.

26 February 2024 - Gardaí begin a forensic search at a "domestic residence" in Drogheda.