Gardaí have begun excavating the garden of a small two-storey house in Dalkey, Co Dublin, in an attempt to find the body of a young infant who may have died around 30 years ago.
The investigation dates back to 1973, when the body of a newborn baby girl was found wrapped in newspapers and a black plastic bag on a laneway in Dún Laoghaire. A postmortem established that she had died from multiple stab wounds.
Gardaí believe a second infant may have died at a house in Dalkey in the early- to mid-70s and the excavation of its garden is intended to establish if the body is buried there. A Garda spokeswoman said a team of detectives, led by Supt Donal Neill, from Dún Laoghaire Garda station, were continuing aspects of the original investigation. "The excavation began today and it is anticipated to go on for several days," she said.
While no one came forward at the time of the death of the newborn baby girl in the 1970s, a woman reported to gardaí in 1995 that she had given birth to the child when she was aged 11.
Following fresh information from the woman, a number of arrests were made and a file was prepared for the DPP. However, it directed that there be no prosecution. This woman is understood to have been speaking to gardaí again recently, which led to the search for the body of an infant at the Dalkey house yesterday.
In 1995, the woman told gardaí that she remembered being pregnant at the age of 11, but she had no recollection of the birth or the events that led to the discovery of the dead child. The woman, who has a family of her own, apparently decided to come forward following counselling sessions in Britain, where she lived for several years.
Gardaí have emphasised that the family currently living in the house have moved out temporarily and are not involved in their investigation. Metal sheeting was placed around the perimeter of the garden yesterday evening as ballistics experts and members of the Garda's technical bureau continued their excavation.
Locals in the small estate where the house is located said they were shocked at the events, but said rumours had swirled around the neighbourhood for decades about the death of the infant.
"I used to play football in that garden with my friends," said one 17-year-old. "I can't believe what's happening now."
One of the boys who discovered the baby girl's body in 1973 was Uinsionn Mac Dubhghaill, a former Irish language editor of The Irish Times, who yesterday recalled how he found the baby's body.
He and a friend came across a black plastic bag in a laneway. They found a baby inside, wrapped in newspapers and soaked in blood. He rushed home to tell his parents, who alerted the gardaí.
A postmortem later established that the baby had been born alive but died as a result of up to 14 stab wounds inflicted by a knitting needle. Although gardaí made a nationwide televised appeal for the mother to come forward, their initial investigations proved fruitless.
The infant was buried in the plot at Glasnevin Cemetery known as the Holy Angels.