Matthew Healy, six, has been named locally as the child who was found dead in a car in Ireland on Friday (Picture: PA)
A six-year-old boy who was found dead in a car in Ireland has been named and pictured for the first time.
Matthew Healy was discovered by police inside a vehicle in the Rathmoylan area of Co Waterford in the early hours of yesterday morning.
Officers arrested a woman in her 30s near the scene in Dunmore East shortly after and she is being held in custody.
Young Matthew was living in Ballygunner and went to the nearby Faithlegg National School, according to local reports.
He also played football for the Park Rangers AFC’s under seven’s team and the club have paid tribute to the youngster today.
‘It is with great sadness that we learned about the tragic passing of one of our players this week,’ the club said in a statement on Facebook.
‘Matthew was a member of our U7 squad and will be sadly missed by his teammates and coaches. Our thoughts are with his loved ones at this unimaginably difficult time.’
Matthew’s football club said he will be ‘sadly missed by his teammates and coaches’
The woman arrested in connection with Matthew’s death was also being given medical attention.
Matthew’s body was removed to Waterford University Hospital for a post-mortem examination.
Officers preserved the scene or forensic examination and the local coroner and Office of the State Pathologist were notified.
Irish police said inquiries are ongoing and the results of the post-mortem examination will determine the course of the investigation.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
Police were pictured at the scene on Friday morning (Picture: PA)
The Department of Education said the National Educational Psychological Service is currently supporting management and staff Matthew’s school.
It said: ‘When a tragic event happens, NEPS is available to advise and support the teachers and other adults who work daily with students and who know them well.
‘NEPS is also available to work with the teachers to identify students who are most in need of support and help develop procedures for reviewing their needs and supporting onward referral, if necessary.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.