Baby left in Australia reunited with Irish mother

A BABY abandoned in a toilet block on the Australian Gold Coast by his distraught young Irish mother has been reunited with her in Ireland.

Seán Philip Eustace was left behind in the public toilet block of the Chevron Renaissance resort in Surfers’ Paradise on March 5 by his mother Amy Eustace a mere 15 days after he was born. He was wearing a clean nappy and was wrapped in towels inside a cloth bag. Last night, the baby’s grandfather Michael Eustace confirmed his grandson was back home in Co Wexford — and thriving.

“Mother and baby have been reunited andeveryone is doing fine. Everybody is happy now and they have the rest of their lives ahead of them,” he said. He said his grandson, now four months old, had returned home one month ago.

The discovery of baby Seán in the toilets by a cleaner sparked aninternational search.

His mother had boarded a flight for home shortly after abandoning her baby but was tracked to Ireland after footage of her leaving the Chevron Renaissance was broadcast on Irish television.

At the same time, Gold Coast police received a tip-off from a man who said he knew the woman’s name was Amy and that she was Irish. Ms Eustace’s elder brother, who had been living on the Gold Coast, is believed to have joined her on the flight home after she told him she had given the baby up for adoption.

Police launched a media campaign to find her and Ms Eustace was finally tracked to Foulkmills in New Ross, Co Wexford.

According to Australian newspaper The Gold Coast Bulletin, the 21-year-old changed her mind and begged to be reunited with her son after speaking to police and family members.

Ms Eustace had notreturned to Australia for the child. Instead, authorities flew Seán from Queensland, where he had been in foster care since being found, and delivered him to his mother. The baby was flown to Ireland with gifts donated by the Gold Coast community, which rallied when news first broke of the boy’s plight. Gifts included a quilt donated to the hospital where the baby first received care.

Ms Eustace is believed to have tried to keep the pregnancy a secret from her family. According to The Gold Coast Bulletin, Amy’s grandmother said at the time that the family was in shock. “She didn’t want to upset us,” she said.

“She went to Australia after her birthday in October, but she was only gone four months. We didn’t know about the pregnancy.”

The country’s 10 best supermarkets for fresh produce are:

1) Supermarket over 18,000sq ft — Superquinn, Lucan, Dublin.

2) Supermarket between 7,000 and 18,000sq ft — Pettitts SuperValu, Wexford.

3) Supermarket under 7,000sq ft — Donnybrook Fair, Donnybrook, Dublin.

4) Best Specialist Offering — Connemara Fine Foods, Galway.

5) Best Hot Food — Spar Parkwest, Dublin.

6) Best Bakery — SuperValu, Midleton, Co Cork.

7) Best Fruit and Vegetables — Fallon & Byrne, Dublin.

8) Best Fresh Fish — Scally’s, SuperValu, Clonakilty, Co Cork.

9) Best Fresh Meat — Superquinn, Waterford.

10) Forecourt Fresh Food — Londis, Bandon, Co Cork.