A man arrested in connection with the disappearance and murder of Kyran Durnin has been released without charge.
Meanwhile, investigating gardaí have finished searching a property and its adjoining gardens at a housing estate in Drogheda, Co Louth.
Gardaí say the results of this search operation are not being released for operational reasons.
The search team consisted of members of the local garda divisional search unit, who were supported by the Garda National Technical Bureau, Divisional Scene of Crime and Forensic Science Ireland.
A specialist cadaver dog also assisted gardaí with this search.
Yesterday, a telescopic loader was used to hoist a mini-digger into the back garden of the property to allow for excavations to take place.
That heavy machinery was taken away this afternoon and then shortly afterwards, members of the Garda Technical Bureau left the search site.
Kyran, who was six when last seen alive, was reported missing from his home in Drogheda in August.
In October, gardaí upgraded their missing person's case to a murder investigation, saying they were treating Kyran as missing presumed dead.
Although the missing person inquiry began in August, detectives suspect Kyran may have been killed more than two years ago.
Gardaí said the purpose of this search operation was to find any evidence that will provide them with information on Kyran's whereabouts or what has happened to him.
In a statement this evening confirming that the search had been stood down, gardaí also said that a man arrested yesterday morning on suspicion of murder had been released without charge.
This marks the second person arrested and then released without charge as part of this murder investigation.
A woman, aged in her 20s, had been abroad for a period of time but was arrested in Ireland on Tuesday on suspicion of murder before being released without charged.
It is understood that she was known to Kyran and has been a person of interest in the case for some time, and that gardaí have also spoken to her on a number of previous occasions.
Meanwhile, the Garda Commissioner has said that the current lines of inquiry into the disappearance and murder of Kyran developed on foot of information from the public.
Speaking at Garda Training College in Templemore this morning, Commissioner Drew Harris said gardaí have been "inundated" with information about the case, which provided a lot of leads and a lot of inquiries to follow through on.
He said they were learning more about the suspects in the case and working towards bringing a case to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Commissioner Harris also said he does not think of Kyran as eight years old, but as a boy who died at the age of six and that is where the investigation is focussed, on the period of May 2022.
He said gardaí are trying to find out what happened to Kyran after that last confirmed sighting and how they can progress the investigation from there.
Mr Harris said heavy equipment and a cadaver dog were used in the search of the house in Drogheda because gardaí have to make every effort to find out where and how Kyran's body "has been disposed of".
The search operation at the property and its adjoining gardens at a housing estate in Drogheda was the third such one to take place as part of this murder investigation.
Gardaí completed the search of another house in Drogheda yesterday, the results of which were not released for operational reasons.
In October, the former Durnin family home in Dundalk and an adjoining area of open land was searched as part of the investigation.
Gardaí had stressed that the current tenants who live at the property are in no way connected to Kyran or his disappearance.
The results of that three-day search were also not released for operational purposes.
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Additional reporting Paul Reynolds
