Philip Cairns New Development
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What new development is being revealed about the Philip Cairns disappearance?
Today on the podcast, we're going to bring you a new development in relation to the case of Philip Cairns, a 13-year-old boy who disappeared in Rathfarnham, Dublin in October 1986.
Philip's disappearance has long been linked to Eamon Cook, the convicted paedophile and former pirate radio station owner. And today, our colleague Peter Mulrine, who made the RTE podcast series Pirate Predator, will join us with new information about that link.
I'm crime journalist Barry Cummins.
And I'm RTE presenter Katia Mia. And this is Unsolved, an RTE true crime podcast series.
And we're joined now in studio by Peter Muller-Ryan of Pirate Predator. Thank you for being here today, Peter. Thank you.
Now, Peter, this is going to be somewhat of a different episode of Unsolved, and it's because we want to talk to you about this new development in this case.
And just to say, the first in our two-part series about the disappearance of Philip Kearns will be out later this week. But first, and before we speak to Peter, let's just briefly bring our listeners, Katya, the background to the disappearance of Philip Kearns.
So Philip Cairns was a 13-year-old boy who disappeared on the 23rd of October 1986 on his way back to school after lunch in Rathfarnham, a Dublin suburb. The only piece of tangible evidence ever found in the case was Philip's school bag, which appeared in the laneway near his home exactly seven days after he disappeared, with half of its contents missing. However, there were dozens of witness statements taken and one high-profile accusation made in 2016 against notorious convicted pedophile Eamon Cook.
And we're going to talk in detail about that statement made in 2016 because there is a significant development with that that we're going to get into now with you, Peter. uh and the developments that we're going to talk about and there are a few different things uh that are new today that we're going to get from you and talk to you about uh and it all comes as a result of pirate predator uh an incredibly high impact podcast by yourself you produced and presented it and the doc on one team there's a team effort behind all of this lately yeah it's a
great team
Yeah, and it is incredible. And we learn a lot about Eamon Cook. And he probably is a household name for many people who grew up during the time he was active. But for those that don't know, let's establish him a little bit. Who was he? What years was he active? What did he do, Peter?
Eamon Cook was born 90 years ago, so 1936 in Glasnevin in Dublin. And very early in his life, he came to the radar of the authorities for stealing lead off roofs and then building pipe bombs. So there was nothing particularly in his family background that would lead you to understand where this came from. But from a very early age, he was clearly very troubled. He got involved in radio and television repair. He ran a shop in Thomas Street in Dublin. And it's from that that he kind of segued eventually into the pirate radio scene, which was really growing in the mid-70s in Dublin.
And with Radio Dublin, it was a pirate radio station, it broadcasted illegally, but nevertheless, it garnered a big audience. Oh, huge. Just how big was Radio Dublin?
Monster. I mean, it's very hard for me to explain this because we're now 50 years on, but back then there was one radio station, Radio Erin. And that was kind of it, really. So if you wanted to listen to pop music or anything trendy, you could listen to maybe the BBC, maybe Radio Carolina. They were very scratchy. Maybe Radio Luxembourg. When this radio station came on air and you had people in Dublin with Dublin accents playing pop music, you could ring them, they'd play you a request. It was suddenly they were speaking your language. And it took off. It was like a rocket, really.
I'm sure that's what attracted the youth to Radio Dublin.
Who was Eamon Cook and how did his pirate‑radio empire operate in 1970s‑80s Dublin?
If you could just get into the demographics of the station, what did they look like?
Oh, gosh. I mean, I was in my late teens when it really kicked off and it was just huge. So all your friends would listen to Radio Dublin.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What new development is being revealed about the Philip Cairns disappearance?
0:00–4:20
2
Who was Eamon Cook and how did his pirate‑radio empire operate in 1970s‑80s Dublin?
4:20–7:11
3
What did the 2016 nine‑year‑old witness claim she saw involving Eamon Cook and a boy?
7:11–12:34
4
How does the typed document attributed to Eamon Cook corroborate the witness’s address claim?
12:34–18:46
5
What evidence has been handed to the Gardaí and how might it revive the Philip Cairns investigation?
18:46–24:10
6
Why do the hosts argue the case should be upgraded from a missing‑person file to a murder inquiry?
24:10–28:49
7
What new testimony from Eamon Cook’s daughter Karen reveals about his criminal history?
28:49–30:28
8
What upcoming episodes and calls to action are announced for listeners?
30:28–31:26