Tragic Daniel’s grave was dug by hand

The remains of the boy, who is believed to have died three years ago, were recovered on Wednesday in an area just outside Donabate, north Dublin, following an extensive search by gardaí.

A source told Extra.ie last night: "The grave was very shallow and gardaí were told it was dug by hand. It’s very sad. A beautiful little boy discarded in this way."

Extra understands that gardaí have also seized the passport of Daniel’s mother, Maria Aruebose, to prevent her from leaving the State.

Daniel’s father, Ciaran Dirrane from the Aran Islands, Co. Galway, remains in his newly adopted home of Brazil as the investigation into his son’s death gathers pace.

Meanwhile, there are fears that Daniel’s cause of death will never be known, as only partial remains were recovered.

The little boy, who would be aged seven if he were alive today, was only discovered missing after a back-to-school allowance was claimed for Daniel, resulting in his mother having to falsely allege that he was attending a local school.

Checks revealed there was no listing for the boy at the named school, which immediately rang alarm bells. His mother is meanwhile estranged from her family, who are devout Christians originally from West Africa.

It is feared the two people of interest to investigators in the case will only face charges of deception, for falsely claiming children’s welfare and unlawful burial of a child if a cause of death is not determined.

The investigation into the murder of Daniel Aruebose continues.

"I’d just be afraid gardaí won’t be able to determine the cause of death.

"If, say, the child had been smothered, drowned in a bath etc, they will not be able to discover that from skeletal remains.

"If there are no injuries on the skeleton all they might get them for is unlawful burial and deception.

"The deception charge could result in a jail sentence."

Another source told how Daniel’s mother’s family have "nothing to do with her".

"She’s from Cork, originally the family is from Africa," they said.

She first told gardaí the child was living with her family in Cork, but when this was checked, she admitted she had been lying.

Daniel’s mother has also changed her account in relation to how Daniel died. She initially claimed he had been killed, before changing her account and telling investigators he "died in his sleep".

Both Daniel’s mother and father are now adamant that he died from natural causes, and they panicked and buried him in a shallow grave hours later.

Social media posts made by Daniel’s father show him looking for his lost passport in Donabate in late 2022.

Months later, he shared a picture from an aeroplane as he left Ireland in 2023. Despite Daniel’s mother changing some details from her initial account she has provided ‘specific’ detail on what she says happened to the boy and this information has been the focus for gardaí.

The father also continued his co-operation with An Garda Síochána from afar.

A source said: ‘The information [from the mother] was specific and she brought gardaí to the scene of the burial site a number of times. The father also assisted in finding the remains.’

Child agency Tusla had previously said that from 2017, it engaged with Daniel at the request of his biological family, but added that its services with Daniel ceased in 2020, by which time the toddler was two.

This month, Children’s Minister Norma Foley said the biological parents originally wanted to give Daniel up for adoption but through their interactions with Tusla, the fostering arrangement was established.

Months after the couple decided to have their little boy returned to them, Tusla’s engagement ceased. It is understood that gardaí found just one picture of Daniel during searches made earlier this month of the Donabate apartment where the youngster lived with his parents.

It was this photo, released by gardaí this week, which prompted his foster family to speak this week about the ‘happy’ little boy they fell in love with.

The family cared for him from the time of his birth, when his parents said they were unable to look after him properly, until the day before his first birthday when he was returned to his birth parents.

The foster family said they are devastated by his death. Speaking to the Journal.ie, his foster sister said Daniel was always in their thoughts after he was returned to his family and they deeply missed him when he was gone.

They released new pictures which show that Daniel was a beautiful, happy, and healthy child. His foster sister said: ‘He was with us for just under a year.

‘We got him the first day he was born and we had to give him back the day before his first birthday, when he went back to live with his biological family. Then he would come for a few days a week not long after that he’d go back and forth, for about six months.’

She said ‘Baby Danny’ was the ‘sweetest little baby ever’. ‘We were all absolutely beside ourselves [when we got him].’

She added: ‘He was so clever. I obviously might be a little biased, but he already had a strong personality. ‘He loved dancing, he loved laughing, and he loved showing off that he understood you.’

A post-mortem on the little boy’s skeletal remains took place yesterday at Dublin city morgue. The grim discovery of skeletal remains were made on Wednesday just before lunchtime by officers from the Garda’s DMR North Divisional Search Team.

The discovery followed a near three-week search of marshy wasteland along the Portrane Road in Donabate. Formal identification of the remains are also being carried out including DNA analysis.

The results of the paediatric post-mortem examination are awaited by gardaí. It was being conducted in an attempt to determine the cause of death.

This process may take some time, but will determine the course of the Garda investigation. A detailed forensic examination also continued yesterday on the open ground where the discovery was made.

Meanwhile, gardaí have taken possession of two phones belonging to Maria Aruebose and a gaming console for forensic examination.

She is understood to be an avid gamer with a lot of her social activity happening online. Investigators will be checking for calls, messages, internet activity and location data that they hope will reveal more detail in the period before and after the death of Daniel.

* This article was originally published on Extra.ie.