'Sleep in peace, little Daniel': Donabate mourns child as his suspected remains exhumed
'Daniel, may your memory change lives across this country'. The message on one of the floral tributes left on Friday afternoon near the scene in Donabate where the suspected remains of three-year-old Daniel Aruebose were found. Picture: Colin Keegan/Collins, Dublin
From a leafy road in North Dublin there is a humming sound from a generator in a nearby field.
Passers-by could almost miss it, but the line of garda cars along a steel fence make heads turn.
The sound in the distance is from the generator powering lights and equipment to help a team of gardaí and forensic experts who are trying to piece together exactly how little Daniel Aruebose died.
Daniel, born in December 2017, died sometime in 2021, when he was around three-and-a-half years old. He was secretly buried in open ground near Donabate.
On Friday, at the end of the row of garda cars, there is a striking display of flowers, teddies, candles, dinky cars, and handwritten messages.
They are carefully placed at the gated entrance to the field.
A digger can be seen moving around the area and gardaí emerge from the entrance carrying bags and equipment.
Tiny human remains were exhumed from the area this week and a post-mortem examination and formal identification got underway on Friday.
While the public waits for answers, the dozens of messages left for Daniel highlight the impact the case is having on the wider community.
“We pray you are finally at peace in God’s gentle hands. I’m sure you are surrounded by angels who will care and protect you always,” said one message.
“Sleep in peace little Daniel, the angels will take care of you now,” said another. Yet another read:
Each message is a devastating reminder that an innocent child died, and nobody noticed. He had simply fallen through the cracks.
It was only when an application was made for a welfare payment for Daniel, with no supporting evidence of the child’s school attendance, that Tusla was alerted.
Tusla conducted its inquiries before contacting the gardaí on Friday, August 29.
It soon became apparent that Daniel had not been seen for years.
A search of a home got underway in Donabate and gardaí quickly took control of an area of open ground on Portrane Road on September 1.
The boy was last known to have lived in The Gallery, an apartment complex in Donabate.
“Daniel was failed by the state,” said one mother from Donabate. “Everyone let him down. I haven’t been able to eat all week, my stomach is turning, an innocent child lying there like that.”
A local father of four boys said he is “angry, frustrated, and wants answers” about Daniel’s death.
On Friday afternoon, the rain pelted down as the forensic work continued, and the search for answers was ongoing.
Daniel’s death has sparked calls for an independent statutory review to included every missing child known to Tusla.
Tánaiste Simon Harris said it is a “horrific and tragic situation” and that the government will keep an “open mind” about a review.
“I do think the responsible thing for us to do here is to try and establish the facts,” he said.
