Every year, thousands of children in Ireland are reported missing. Most are found, but a troubling number remain unaccounted for. In today’s Newstalk Daily, Ciara Doherty addresses the reality behind the country’s missing children - from homes, streets, and state care systems - and examines why some cases go unnoticed for years. 

The podcast explores the heartbreaking cases of a boy from Donabate, missing for a number of years, and Kyran Durnin from Drogheda, whose disappearance prompted a murder investigation and whose body has never been found. Fergus Finlay, former head of Barnardos, joins the conversation to explain the systemic challenges in protecting vulnerable children, the delays in reporting to Gardaí, and the disproportionate risks faced by migrant children and unaccompanied minors. 

Fergus explains how state agencies like Tusla track (or fail to track) children and highlights the need for a cross-government approach, more robust data transparency, and improved early warning systems to prevent tragedies from going unnoticed.