He was the boy who never came home – the teenager whose innocent face has haunted generations of Irish parents.

Now, the disappearance of schoolboy Philip Cairns 35 years ago is the subject of a new book which firmly turns the attention on a paedophile DJ and his peculiar underground bunker buried in a field in west Dublin.

Nicola Tallant talks to journalist and author Emma McMemamy, who has forensically examined the missing person files and spoken to retired investigators who have spent decades looking for answers.

She details the strange appearance of Philip’s schoolbag days after he vanished, the false leads pursued in the case, the witness who placed child abuser Eamon Cooke at the centre of the probe and the forensic expert who believes gardai need to search his secret lair.

He was the boy who never came home – the teenager whose innocent face has haunted generations of Irish parents. Now, the disappearance of schoolboy Philip Cairns 35 years ago is the subject of a new book which firmly turns the attention on a paedophile DJ and his peculiar underground bunker buried in a field in west Dublin. Nicola Tallant talks to journalist and author Emma McMemamy, who has forensically examined the missing person files and spoken to retired investigators who have spent decades looking for answers. She details the strange appearance of Philip’s schoolbag days after he vanished, the false leads pursued in the case, the witness who placed child abuser Eamon Cooke at the centre of the probe and the forensic expert who believes gardai need to search his secret lair.

Crime World, with Nicola Tallant, is a weekly Iri…

Crime World

He was the boy who never came home – the teenager…