Gardaí investigating the death of six-year-old Matthew Healy near Dunmore East, Co Waterford, last week hope to interview the suspect as early as today.
Detectives believe the schoolboy may have died of asphyxiation before being found in the back seat of a car in Rasmoyran, and the criminal investigation is focused on his death being the result of foul play.
A woman in her 30s who first raised the alarm was arrested at the scene in the early hours of Friday. However, she had to see a doctor over the weekend, which means detectives haven’t had a chance to question her yet.
The woman was detained under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984. This allows suspects to be interrogated for up to 24 hours, but this period had not officially begun yet as of last night.
Education Minister Norma Foley yesterday offered her “heartfelt sympathies” to Matthew’s “family” and “school staff.” Matthew was an older child at Faithleg National School.
“We know that Matthew was much loved and cherished by the school community and will be greatly missed by his fellow pupils, staff, management and everyone in the school community. ‘ said the Minister.
Psychologists from the National Directorate of Educational Psychology were at the school on Friday to advise the headteacher and staff on how best to support students. A wake in memory of Matthew was held on Saturday night at Most Holy Trinity Cathedral, Waterford.
Detectives believe the arrested woman has important information that could open up the investigation. She is a key person of interest and the investigation team is conducting a clear investigation. As soon as the woman was taken into custody, she underwent a physical and mental health examination.
Gardaí carried out searches and technical examinations at properties in the Waterford area over the weekend in a bid to find evidence that could help establish how and why Matthew died.
The results of the autopsy on the boy’s body have not been made public for administrative reasons. Although tests were inconclusive, it is suspected that Matthew died of asphyxiation.
Gardaí are seeking to establish whether the woman who was arrested was in the water at some point before visiting local homes to raise the alarm. Emergency services were alerted by local residents shortly after midnight, and paramedics and gardaí rushed to the remote location, around 20km from Waterford.
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