State forensics agency helped identify nine missing people using DNA

The forensic database saw a significant increase in demand for services, mainly due to a rise in drug testing requests and the transfer of fingerprint and document and handwriting services from the Garda Technical Bureau

A member of the Garda forensic team arriving to examine a scene in East Cork. File picture: Dan Linehan

The State forensics agency used DNA profiling technology to identify the human remains of nine people last year who had previously been reported missing to gardaí.

The 2020 annual report of Forensic Science Ireland (FSI) shows a significant increase in demand for services, mainly due to a rise in drug testing requests and the transfer of fingerprint and document and handwriting services from the Garda Technical Bureau.

FSI manages a national DNA database, which now holds close to 50,000 DNA profiles from crime scenes, convicted and suspected offenders, as well from missing people, unidentified human remains, and relatives.

Last year FSI recorded 856 DNA hits, which assisted 1,102 cases.

To date, almost half (47%) of crime stains on the DNA database have been linked to an individual.

Last year, FSI expanded DNA exchanges with eight countries under the EU PRUM system, while also making preparations for the Schengen system for fingerprint exchanges.

16 cold cases

In 2020, FSI also reopened investigations into 16 cold cases in conjunction with the Garda Serious Crime Review team and had a ‘cold hit’ when they identified the remains of a man discovered in Rathmines in Dublin in April 2020.

The remains of Stephen Corrigan, who had been reported missing since November 2011, were only identified by comparison with a DNA sample submitted by his mother, who has since died, to the missing persons database in 2015.

Since 2017, FSI has assisted in the identification of 48 human remains.

Justice Minister Heather Humphreys, who launched the annual report, urged the relatives of missing people to consider sharing their DNA: “I would like to encourage more family members to participate in DNA testing and database matching. 

"My officials intend to develop a targeted outreach, in partnership with An Garda Síochána and FSI, to build on the success of National Missing Persons Day and encourage more anxious families to participate in this important process.”

FSI is set to relocate to a new “world-class” laboratory facility in Backweston campus, Co Kildare, in summer 2022.