Ireland Ireland - Philip Cairns, 13, Rathfarnham/Dublin, 23 October 1986

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Gardaí believe they may have made a significant breakthrough in the case of Philip Cairns, the 13-year old boy who went missing in Dublin nearly 30 years ago.

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The Garda suspicions are focused on the late Eamon Cooke, a former pirate radio broadcaster who was jailed in 2007 for 10 years for multiple indecent assaults of two young girls. He died last week in a Dublin hospice at the age of 79 while serving his sentence.

New lines of inquiry were opened by gardaí following the receipt of fresh information shortly before Cooke’s death, a Garda spokesman said.

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According to RTÉ, the woman who provided information last month told gardaí Cooke may have killed the boy at the studios of the Radio Dublin pirate station in October 1986.

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Philip was last seen on Ballyroan Road in Rathfarnham on Thursday, October 23rd, 1986. Despite extensive searches in the aftermath of his disappearance, no trace of him was found.

He had left Coláiste Éanna secondary school at 12.45pm and returned to his home on Ballyroan Road for lunch. At 1.30pm, he left his home to return to the school, but never arrived. His schoolbag was found the following week in a laneway, linking Anne Devlin Road and Anne Devlin Drive, near the school.

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Two or three people, now aged in their late 30s or early 40s, could hold the key to unlocking the 30-year-old mystery surrounding the fate of Philip Cairns...

Gardaí suspect that these individuals, who might have been aged as young as eight at the time, were used by Philip’s abductor to discard the boy’s schoolbag in a Rathfarnham laneway after he disappeared during the school lunchtime break...

Gardaí said if these people confirmed Cooke ordered them to dispose of the bag, it would provide that corroboration and could open up avenues as to where the boy’s remains might be.

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It's understood that this isolated field was once the site used by paedophile Eamon Cooke, who died aged 79 earlier this month, to transmit a signal for his pirate radio station.

Sources have said that a number of witnesses have told gardai that they saw Cooke using a digger on the property over 30 years ago when he positioned a radio signal repeater.

It has been claimed that the serial child abuser concealed a container 20ft underground on the site, where he also once kept a caravan.

Gardai are preparing to carry out a forensic search of the property as part of their efforts to locate the remains of the missing boy.

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Gardaí are to examine five properties in counties Dublin and Sligo in a bid to find the remains of murdered schoolboy, Philip Cairns.

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At least four of the properties are in the Tallaght/Rathfarnham area of south county Dublin, which Cooke had been using to erect masts to extend the signal coverage of his station, Radio Dublin.

The Irish Independent understands that the other property was bought by Cooke in south county Sligo, near the Mayo border.

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In May, the woman agreed to make a formal, detailed statement on what she saw as a nine-year-old. One garda source said she had "very good reasons" not to come forward until now, but declined to elaborate on what those reasons were. Another source said she was terrified of Cooke and decided to make a statement when she learned he was dying.

The broad details of what she told gardai have since been widely reported. She was in the car with Cooke on the day he picked up Philip in October 1986. She said he took both of them to Radio Dublin studios in Inchicore. She said Cooke had promised him a visit to the radio station. There, Cooke (above) hit Philip Cairns with a blunt implement after a row broke out. When she went back into the room, she saw the boy on the floor, saw the blood and fainted. When she awoke, she was sitting in the back of Cooke's car.

After her statement, detectives called to St Francis Hospice in Raheny to interview Cooke shortly before his death there on June 4, aged 79. He was receiving palliative care and was weak.

According to one source, Cooke confirmed that he knew Philip and he also confirmed Philip was in his car. Other reports have said that he confirmed that Philip was in his radio studio. His responses, although limited, were taken to have corroborated aspects of the woman's statement.

As gardai followed up the dramatic new lead on Philip's disappearance last month, Angela Copley - unaware of the developments - had been speaking to one of Cooke's victims on the phone. Copley is a veteran community activist from Ballyfermot. Over the years, she has supported victims of various paedophiles and abusers, including Cooke's. She kept in touch with one of Cooke's victims and they spoke periodically.

During this particular conversation, the woman told Copley that she had been told that another woman - also a victim of Cooke's - had dropped Philip's bag in the laneway, on Cooke's instruction. She also offered a name to Copley. Copley resolved to tell the gardai and after a number of attempts, got through to a detective in Rathfarnham Garda Station on May 25, the next day.

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The convicted paedophile Eamon Cooke helped a woman to launch a campaign against the Catholic Church seeking compensation over clerical child sex abuse while he himself was abusing children.

The Irish Times understands Cooke then used his relationship with the woman, without her knowledge, to get access to children so he could abuse them.

The woman was abused for years as a child and Cooke befriended her and assisted her campaign for justice when she believed the church had promised to assist her but then failed to do so.

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