Abandoned toddler released to parents’ care
The two-year-old girl was taken to hospital after being discovered in a distressed state by the shop’s owner who alerted gardaí.
Separate assessments of all the circumstances were carried out yesterday by Temple Street Children’s Hospital and health board social workers.
“The investigation has been completed and the child has been released into her parents’ care,” a spokeswoman for the South Western Area Health Board said last night. She added that social services had been satisfied by the mother’s explanation.
However, gardaí are still investigating the matter.
A spokesman for the hospital described the child as “fine” and in good health. The child had not been suffering from an infection as had been reported earlier.
The child had been abandoned by two women at Laurel Lodge newsagents in Castleknock, on the north-side of Dublin, shortly after tea-time on Saturday.
Shop owner Theresa Lynch found the little girl still in her buggy behind the ice-cream freezer at 6.15pm.
“I noticed the women when they came into the shop because I’ve seen them in the area a couple of times. The Cornetto machine was blocking the buggy from my view and it wasn’t until I came around the front that I saw the poor thing.”
She went to nearby shops to see if the women were still in the area.
“I ran around looking for them but they was no sign of the women anywhere. The child was absolutely hysterical and cried and cried. There was no calming her down. I had no choice but to ring the gardaí.”
Within minutes of the gardaí leaving the shop, two men, one of whom was understood to be the child’s father, came into the shop looking for the child.
“I told them if the mother wanted to know about the baby she would have to contact the authorities.”
Gardaí at Blanchardstown station will be interviewing the mother later this week.
