INQUIRY URGED INTO TEEN'S DRUG DEATH

There must be a public inquiry into Kim O'Donovan's death, according to the
children's charity Barnardos which said the public had a right and a duty
to find out what happened to a child in care.

Chief Executive Owen Keenan said there were a lot of unanswered questions
about the death and there had to be accountability.

He said he was not pointing the finger at people working in the frontline
in the care system who had ``an impossible job'' to do. But Mr Keenan said
it was important that this death was not treated as another drug-related
death given that the girl had been in care.

QUESTIONS

``This tragedy suggests our system of care has failed this girl as it fails
a significant proportion of the children and young people in that system,''
said Mr Keenan. ``When things go seriously wrong the public, in whose name
these children are taken into care, has a right and a duty to find out.''

Mr Keenan said it was important to learn lessons from this tragic case.
``It will not help this particular girl unfortunately but maybe it could
improve things generally,'' he added.

He said that while there had quite rightly been calls for treatment for
people who experiment with drugs it was important in this case to focus on
the fact that the girl was in care.

The questions to be answered included where the girl was placed, why had
she ran away, to what extent had efforts been made to find her and why if
she had been in a high-support unit had she been allowed out to work
without supervision.

Mr Keenan said there had already been contradictory statements about how
long the teenager was in care and whether the gardai were aware she was
missing.

Gardai yesterday insisted that every effort had been made to find Kim who
disappeared on July 28. A statement issued by the girl's family yesterday
revealed that she had been in care since 1997. Adopted at the age of 18
months, she had been a troubled child who had seen a range of professionals
before being put in care three years ago.

No details of the last three years of her life were available yesterday as
the Eastern Health Authority said it wished to respect the family's wishes
for confidentiality.

WORK PLACEMENT

It is known that Kim had been on a work placement and was missing when
staff went to collect her on July 28. On July 31 last Mr Justice Peter
Kelly in the High Court ordered that her care order be extended and that
she be arrested.

Mr Keenan said it was unclear what efforts were made to find her since
then.