Catherine recovering from ordeal

GARDAÍ and social services are waiting to talk to an 11-year-old girl who sparked a nationwide search when she went missing for three days.

Catherine O’Driscoll is recovering in the Mercy Hospital in Cork following an ordeal which left her dehydrated, cold and hungry. She is expected to be discharged later today.

A garda spokesperson confirmed the matter had been referred to social services and that they “would assist the family in any way they can”.

Family members shed tears of joy when Catherine arrived back at their halting site in Crookstown, West Cork, shortly before 11pm on Monday.

The girl’s distraught mother, Kathleen, had made numerous requests for the public’s help in locating her missing daughter. She was yesterday comforting Catherine in hospital.

When the girl arrived home she briefly spoke with gardaí and told them she had tried to thumb a lift. However, the arrival of the garda helicopter to join the search had frightened her and she abandoned her plan to hitch.

“She then ran into the woods and became disorientated inside,” Inspector Maurice Walsh said.

Gardaí would be seeking to speak to the girl again, but wouldn’t do so until she had fully recuperated, the Insp Walsh added.

A spokesman for the Mercy Hospital said Catherine was in a stable condition.

Insp Walsh extended his thanks to all those who had helped with the search for Catherine, including local people and members of the civil defence.

More than 60 calls were made by members of the public who believed they had spotted Catherine in different parts of west Cork during the three days she was missing. She disappeared last Friday.

One of the most significant calls came from a doctor who saw her thumbing a lift at the Bengour Bar.