Gardaí are expected to launch a murder investigation after the body of a six-year-old boy was found in a car near a rural beach in Co Waterford shortly after midnight on Friday.
Garda members made desperate attempts to revive the child but neither they nor the paramedics who arrived afterwards could save him.
A woman in her 30s was found in a distressed state near the car on a local road close to Rathmoylan Cove, 3km from the popular seaside village of Dunmore East. She was arrested and taken to Waterford Garda Station.
Because of concerns for her health, she was transferred into the care of local psychiatric services.
Gardaí believe toxicology results will shed light on what happened to the child and say the course of the investigation will be determined by the results of a postmortem.
Forensic examinations are ongoing on the car and also at a house in Waterford City.
The woman was arrested and detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984. This allows for up to 24 hours’ detention.
The detention was paused because of concerns about the woman’s health and welfare.
She was referred for stabilisation and assessment to local psychiatric services, where she remains.
Frank O’Neill, who lives in the Rathmoylan area, told the Irish Examiner that the community is in “utter shock”.
He said: “It’s unimaginable. Everyone is deeply upset and there is a dark cloud over the area. Our thoughts and prayers are with the child and his family.”
Local Sinn Féin councillor Pat Fitzgerald said he knows the child’s extended family “very well”.
“We are lost for words,” he said. “The community is in deep shock and disbelief. My thoughts are with the child’s extended family. He has a very big family in Waterford and I know many of them.”
