Witness links paedophile Cooke with missing boy
“As part of the ongoing investigation into the case of Philip Cairns, missing person, in 1986, a 25-year appeal was circulated in 2011,” a Garda spokesperson told the Irish Examiner.
“As a result of this appeal, a member of the public came forward and in May of this year gave a statement to the investigating gardaí at Rathfarnham Garda Station.
“Aspects of this statement were corroborated, which opened new lines of inquiry.
“These lines of inquiry include interviewing people and cross-referencing DNA profiles with those on items recovered as part of this investigation.”
Despite assertions in the media that a woman had come forward saying she saw Cooke kill the schoolboy, gardaí said they have no results as of yet.
“At this point in time these new lines of inquiry have not yielded positive results, however the investigation is very much active and ongoing,” the Garda spokesperson said.
Philip Cairns went missing on his way to school in Rathfarnham in October 1986. Aside from his schoolbag being thrown in a nearby laneway six days later, there has been no new information on the case in nearly 30 years.
Cooke was convicted in 2007 of 42 counts of indecent assault against children and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He had recently been transferred to a hospice and died last week.
Community activist Angela Copley rang gardaí in May when a victim of Cooke’s approached her for help.
“I received a phone call from a victim of Eamon Cooke who I’d offered support to over the years,” Ms Copley told Marian Finucane on RTÉ Radio One yesterday.
“She told me she had a conversation with a guard, who had told her that somebody had come forward and that they were the person who threw the school bag into the lane. I said: ‘I’m going to the gardaí with this. I hope this is the truth,’ and she said it was.
“I rang Rathfarnham [garda station] and I talked to a guy on the desk. I then talked to the girl who was married to Eamon Cooke, who had all the children for him, because she is someone who I support.
“She said: ‘Oh, anytime anything would come on the television about Philip Cairns, Cooke would always say: ‘I was out looking for him when he meant missing’.’ We kind of both laughed, not in a funny way.
“The gardaí from Rathfarnham asked would I meet with them and ask his former wife. She gave a lot of information. He was in a hospice at this stage.”
Retired detective sergeant Alan Bailey, who is the national co-ordinator of Operation Trace for missing persons for 13 years, is surprised at the public nature of the inquiry.
“For the family’s sake when you think of the developments in the Fiona Pender case last year, how positive that looked and the way that just petered out then; or the case of Ciara Breen and they were digging and all of a sudden there’s nothing,” said Mr Bailey.
“I can’t understand why the police would go so public on this. It’s a long way from closed.”
