Published Monday, 30 August 2010
Michaela Davis' body was found by an elderly man after being dumped near a canal, in Porterstown in the west of the city.
It is believed she was strangled.
Her family had raised the alarm after she left home at about midnight on Friday, saying she would be back soon but never returned.
In a statement, the Davis family described Michaela as "a young 12-year-old girl who was full of life" and "very close to her mum, dad and brother Brendan".
They added: "Michaela had started her first day of secondary school on Thursday last. She was given her first homework which was due to be handed in tomorrow, never to be answered.
"All Michaela's friends are heartbroken at the moment and cannot get their heads around this tragedy, no more than the rest of the extended family and friends.
"The needless loss of a young child, the awful tragedy of a girl barely beginning life. This situation is not and never will be about the crime or the perpetrator - it's about Michaela and the realisation of a parent's worst fear to lose a child so full of life."
The statement comes after the appearance of an 18-year-old man in court, charged with Michaela's murder.
Jonathan Byrne, from Lohunda Downs in Clonsilla, west Dublin was detained on Saturday after the schoolgirl's body was found.
Byrne was remanded in custody at a brief hearing in the Criminal Courts of Justice.
Detective Sergeant Dan Callaghan, of Blanchardstown Garda Station, told the court Byrne made no reply when he was charged by Sergeant Joe Delaney on Sunday night.
He is accused of killing Michaela in the early hours of Saturday morning on Porterstown Road - between where the schoolgirl's body was recovered and her family home in a housing development called the Village.
Judge Patrick Clyne granted an application by defence solicitor Eugene Dunne for free legal aid. He also requested that Byrne be given medical attention.
Byrne, who wore a grey coloured hoody, light blue jeans and white runners, did not speak during the brief hearing.
He waved to someone in the public gallery of the District Court as he was led away by prison officers.
The teenager was remanded in custody to Cloverhill Prison and will appear before Cloverhill District Court on Friday morning.