A four-year-old boy and his one-and-a-half-year-old sister were described as being in a ‘horrific’ condition when gardaí first saw them in a taxi and their mother appeared to be “out of it”.

Clarification: In the Irish Examiner of January 24, we published an article concerning a man who was fined €500 at Cork District Court on January 23 for obstructing a drugs search. The address of the defendant was given in court as 7 Beechwood Grove, Onslow Gardens, Commons Road, Cork.