'Unanswered questions' after Kyran Durnin review
The National Review Panel report into the disappearance of Kyran Durnin not being published is "really unsatisfactory", the Chief Executive of the Children's Rights Alliance has said.
Yesterday, the NRP's report made recommendations about ways to respond to an unusual disappearance.
Kyran was reported missing from his home in Drogheda, Co Louth in August 2024, but the last confirmed sighting of him was in June 2022, when he was six years old.
The review was finalised over a month ago, but cannot be published on the advice of the Attorney General.
The report said that what happened to Kyran "could not have been anticipated".
Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with David McCullagh, Tanya Ward said that there are a lot of unanswered questions in relation to the case.
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"It's really unsatisfactory that we don't have an independent review published, because we need to know what happened to Kyran," she said.
"I understand that it's an exceptional event, but it's extremely disturbing that a child was presumed killed and disappeared for two years before anyone realised he was gone.
"There's a lot of unanswered questions, but to be honest, it's not unexpected because the priority is justice for Kyran, and there is a garda investigation and it needs to conclude its work," she added.
Ms Ward said there were concerns that other reports into the investigation may not be published either.
"It actually is normal, I suppose, when children die and the National Review Panel does its reports, if there's a garda investigation still ongoing, often the reports aren't published.
"But I would ask the question, there were other reviews that were carried out around the time of Kyran's disappearance, including by Tusla and by its education service as well.
"There may be the same concerns that those reports can't be published because of the guard's investigation, but I do think transparency will be very important for Kyran," Ms Ward added.
NRP recommends extending tracking system outside State
Earlier, the Chair of the NRP said the current system for tracking a child's movement between primary schools should be extended to other jurisdictions.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Dr Helen Buckley said that there were recommendations within the report about tracking systems from the Department of Education.
"I can't reveal any of the findings of the report in detail, but we have made recommendations which are really about finding effective ways to assist a response to very unusual cases like this, because it was very unusual," she said.
She also said that "informal" discussions were ongoing with authorities in Northern Ireland regarding protocols for children in care and tracking missing children.
Dr Buckley said the NRP has recommended that the tracking system operated by the Department for Education is extended to other jurisdictions, or "at least" extended to "within the island of Ireland, so that the attendance of a child at school can be tracked at any time."
"So if a child's name doesn't appear on another [school] register, we're recommending that there is clarity for school principals about what action to take in that case. "
Dr Buckley said there was nothing unusual into why the report into Kyran's disappearance could not be made public and explained that the NRP has to be careful when a garda investigation is also under way, "so that no witness is interfered with or that any evidence that we come up with is later used to prejudice a trial."
She also said she felt Tusla would "benefit from a lot more support", adding that "workers in Tusla have to deal with all the ills of society, everything is thrown at them."
She said resourcing is a problem and the agency is "negatively viewed" in many spheres, which is "discouraging for people who want to join and become social workers."
