How a knock at the door uncovered tragedy of a grandchild that Daniel Aruebose’s grandmother never knew existed

Daniel Aruebose’s mother had been estranged from her family for 10 years – the first time they had ever seen him was when his photo was shown on the news

‘They want to know what happened to him as much as anyone else’- Grandparents of Daniel Aruebose did not know he existed until gardaí called to their door last month to investigate his disappearance

It had been 10 years since Maria Aruebose’s mother had last seen her daughter.

As she went about her housework at the family home on August 28, a knock on the front door was about to bring Maria, and a secret she had kept hidden from her family, back into her life without warning.

“She was cooking and cleaning when the guards came,” a source close to the Aruebose family said.

“She saw them outside and didn’t really pay attention. Then they came to the door. They asked her if Maria had a child. She told them Maria didn’t have a child.

“They then told her it had been established she did have a child. She [Maria’s mother] was asked if the boy was with them. She told them she never met the child, that she didn’t know he existed. She was shocked and stunned and asked them if there was a mistake.”

Daniel Aruebose died when he was three years old and was then allegedly buried by his parents, Maria Aruebose and Ciaran Dirrane, in wasteland in Donabate in north Dublin in mid-July 2021.

His remains were found last week, but a post-mortem examination has failed to establish a cause of death.

It has now emerged that his 28-year-old mother, who has been helping detectives in their efforts to establish what happened to the child, has been estranged from her family for 10 years.

She left the family home, in the south of the country, in 2016 when she was 18.

“Maria was very good in school,” the source said. “She got first in her school in the Junior Cert. Her father encouraged her to focus on her future, get an education and a good job, but Maria wanted more freedom.”

The eldest of six children, five girls and one boy, Maria was born in Nigeria.

Her parents came to Ireland in 2003 and her siblings were all born here.

The Aruebose family are described as devout Catholics who attend mass as a family every Sunday.

After she left home in 2016, her family learnt she had moved to Dublin, but did not know where in the capital.

She has had sporadic phone contact with some of her siblings and her mother over the past decade, but it is understood that none of them were aware she was pregnant and subsequently had a boy.

“They had never heard of Ciaran Dirrane and no one had met him,” the source said.

“As far as they were aware, she had never been in any relationships when she lived at home. They did not know she was in a relationship with anyone after she left.”

The source said gardaí called to the Aruebose house a second time, again enquiring about the child. The family again said they had no knowledge of him.

According to official birth records, Daniel Michael Aruebose, the little boy they allegedly buried in a shallow grave in a bid to conceal his death, was born at the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin, in the early hours of Tuesday, December 12, 2017. His parents were living in Portmarnock, north Dublin, at the time.

According to reports, his parents felt that the shared-housing accommodation setting he was living in was not an appropriate place to raise a baby and gave him up for adoption.

However, Maria then had a “change of heart” and their child was returned to the parents around 18 months after being placed into state care with Tusla, the child and family agency.

By then the couple had moved to an apartment in The Gallery, Donabate.

Maria Aruebose has been described as an avid gamer who spends a huge amount of time online.

“When she was living with her parents, there were no consoles in the house because they were a distraction,” the source said.

“She played games on her phone, but that was it. If she is an avid gamer now, that is something that she must have become more involved in when she left.”

Maria brought investigators to two locations in a marshy area on wasteland in Donabate, where she said that, along with her ex-partner, she helped bury her son. Remains believed to be that of Daniel were found during searches last Wednesday.

Ciaran Dirrane, from the west of Ireland, is now living in Brazil with a new partner. He has been contacted by gardaí and has been co-operating fully.

Maria Aruebose has been assigned a solicitor, Martin O’Donnell, of Morgan Redmond Solicitors in Swords. He declined to comment on the issues raised by his client’s family when contacted by this newspaper.

Had Daniel lived, he would have celebrated his eighth birthday just before Christmas. According to an account given to gardaí by his mother, the toddler was found “ice cold” in his bed on a night during the summer of 2021.

He was placed in a bath of water in a desperate bid to revive him, to no avail.

After his parents realised he was dead, they then placed his dead body in a holdall bag and walked around 3km to wasteland in Donabate, where he was secretly buried in the middle of the night, gardaí have been told. The couple were broken up when their toddler died, but were still living together.

A number of scans and tests, including DNA and toxicology, have still to be completed on the remains found last week, but examinations so far have proved inconclusive.

Detectives hope the extra tests will indicate whether the child’s death was accidental, from natural causes, or related to something more sinister, but it is feared that a cause of death may never be established.

The search of the area where the remains were found has been scaled down.

Daniel’s parents are co-operating with the garda investigation. No arrests have been made, but gardaí have identified a number of people of interest they wish to formally interview.

The Aruebose family did not see a picture of Daniel until a photograph of the child was released to the public by gardaí last week.

“They saw it on the news,” the source said. “They said he looked very like Maria. It was a complete shock. They feel like they would have been in a position to take the child if Maria couldn’t be responsible for him. They are heartbroken that they didn’t.”

It is understood that some members of the family have attempted to contact Maria by phone, but have been unable to speak to her. They received a call from gardaí last week, informing them that human remains, believed to be Daniel’s, had been found.

Garda Commissioner says investigations still have ‘many other avenues’ to pursue in Daniel Aruebose case

“There has been a lot of tears and heartbreak,” the source said.

“They are very upset. This is a nephew and a grandchild that they did not know. Maria’s mother had begged her to come home and she wouldn’t. They have seen the pictures released by Daniel’s foster family, where he looks happy and healthy.

“They want to know what happened to him as much as anyone else. There was no indication to them that Maria had a child and they are wondering what could have been.”