Woman arrested in Kyran Durnin murder case released without charge

The arrest was the first in the investigation although it is believed that more may follow.

The woman had been living in England since before Kyran’s grandmother reported him missing — depriving gardaí of the ability, if they had enough evidence, to arrest her. She could not have been extradited either as that can only be done to face charges on foot of direction by the DPP.

It is understood the woman, for whatever reason, decided to make her way back to Ireland. Once gardaí were made aware of this, they moved to arrest her.

Kyran was reported missing on August 30 last but gardaí subsequently said he had been taken out of school in Dundalk, Co Louth, at the end of May 2022 and had not been seen alive since.

The woman who had been arrested was detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 which allowed her to be held for up to 24 hours.

Once that period of detention expired, she had to be either charged or released from custody.

On Wednesday gardaí renewed an appeal for information relating to the case.

"An Garda Síochána continues to appeal to any person with any information, on the disappearance and murder of Kyran Durnin, no matter how insignificant it may seem, to contact the Garda Investigation Team at Drogheda Garda Station on 041 987 4200, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or speak with any member of An Garda Síochána."

In October, gardaí carried out searches at Kyran's former family home, searching the house and surrounding area at Emer Terrace, Dundalk. They did not discover a body or anything of significance.