Nicola Tallant and Cynthia Owen
Gardai investigating the Dalkey House of Horrors have re-interviewed two retired officers after an ongoing Sunday World campaign helped spark a review of the case.
The two men were among a number of people who were interviewed by gardai in Dun Laoghaire about the death of baby Noleen Murphy, whose body was discovered in a laneway in the seaside suburb on Dublin’s southside in 1973.
An inquest later found the baby was born alive to then 11-year-old Cynthia Owen as a result of sexual abuse at her family home in Dalkey.
Earlier this month Cynthia handed in a petition over 12,500 signatures to Minister for Justice Alan Shatter calling for an independent inquiry into the murder of her daughter.
The petition snowballed online after the Sunday World published the results of a harrowing review of the case in January.
It included a haunting image of the dead child and details of a scan of the garden of the House of Horrors which supported Cynthia’s claims that a second child had been buried there.
We also disclosed details of how a number of suspected members of a paedophile ring she claimed abused her were still alive, as were two Gardai who she alleged helped cover up the abuse.
Following our story Garda agreed for the first time to meet Cynthia’s legal team and open files on their own previous investigations.
And this week they began re-interviewing key individuals.
Gardai carried out interviews in Dun Laoghaire during the week after a number of people met with them by appointment.
Yesterday Cynthia posted a poignant message to her daughter saying “mummy loves you, mummy misses you, mummy is still fighting for you!”
“When I visited your grave one week ago today I told you I was still fighting and would never give up, looks like my hard work is finally paying off. You rest now darling safe in the knowledge that Mummy cares.”
Cynthia has slammed Alan Shatter, who represented her for years as an opposition TD and called for an inquiry into her case. However, since assuming power he has turned a deaf ear to her pleas.
“It is certainly a case of Garda mishandling and corruption and yet the Taoiseach and the minister both refused to help me in any way,” she said.