Kyran Durnin: Failed by the State

In the summer of 2024 social workers from Tusla were trying to establish the whereabouts of an eight-year-old boy, named Kyran Durnin. They had concerns about his welfare, and where he might be living.

In July, a child was brought to meet them, and they were told it was Kyran. A second meeting followed in early August, and again the social workers were told the child was Kyran.

Then, weeks later, Kyran and his mother Dayla were reported missing.

As Gardaí begin investigating, they obtained family photographs of Kyran and showed them to the officials who attended those meetings. Social workers realise the boy in the photographs is not the child they met.

Soon, detectives realise they can find no trace of Kyran in recent months, or even years. Eventually gardai will tell the public they believe Kyran to be “missing, presumed dead”.

This week we look at the still unresolved case of the missing Kyran Durnin, an ongoing investigation which has now for two years been trying to establish where Kyran is, and what may have happened to him. Alongside the garda investigation, there have been serious questions raised about how a child could disappear from the view of all public authorities for so long without anyone realising he was gone.

This episode is not an attempt to solve an active case from the outside. It is an examination of the verified timeline and the gaps within it, that allowed Kyran to vanish.

Presented by John Sweetman

Created by Darren Cleary

Written by Darren Cleary

Script Edited by Siobhan Walsh, Sam Hobson and Eoin Brennan

Produced by Sam Hobson