An internal inquiry has begun at a State detention centre in north county Dublin into the disappearance of two teenage boys from the unit. One of them is still missing.
It was confirmed yesterday that a set of keys to Oberstown Boys' Centre in Lusk, Co Dublin, are missing since the boys absconded on Friday, and locks at the centre had to be changed.
The boys - aged 14 and 15 - left that evening. The 14-year-old was recaptured by gardai on Sunday but the 15-year-old was still at large last night.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Education, which runs the centre for young offenders, said an inquiry was under way at Oberstown to determine how the boys escaped and how the keys to the centre went missing. "They will be reporting to the Department of Education as soon as possible in the matter," the spokeswoman said.
She added that the boy who was still missing had never been incarcerated before.
A Garda Press Office spokeswoman confirmed the 15-year-old had been reported missing. The spokeswoman said the teenager was just one of four children who had been reported missing from detention centres within the past week. A 16-year-old girl was reported missing from a care centre on October 10th; the two teenage boys were reported missing from Oberstown Boys Centre on October 13th; and a 15-year-old boy went missing from another juvenile detention centre on October 14th.
Oberstown Boys' Centre is being refurbished at present and as a result its capacity has been reduced to nine committal and eight remand beds. All boys who go to the centre are sent on foot of court orders.