Parents were ‘too drunk’ to take care of children
Staff described them as well-dressed, “nice people” with well-behaved children, who were clearly excited about a week on the beach.
But little did they know what would transpire. As director of a local children’s home, Dr Luis Villas-Boas would comment later that never in his 22 years working in child protection had he seen such a case.
After the family got their cases unpacked, they left their apartment and went for dinner and drinks at a nearby bar which was having a happy hour. Pints of lager were being sold for €1.
Arriving back at the hotel at 10pm, they were unrecognisable from the couple who had left earlier.
Both were staggering, with Eamon eventually collapsing on a lobby sofa where he passed out first.
“The lady, she tried to go with the children to the apartment. A Spanish woman came and found me and told me there was a woman with a child who was drunk. She was struggling with the push chair, swaying around from side to side. The six-year-old boy was pushing the other buggy with the two-year-old girl in it,” the hotel manager said.
“We put her and the children inside the bar. She was sitting on a chair and she fell asleep and never woke up. We tried to wake her, we tried to put some water on her face and head to wake her but she was very, very bad. She started to be sick every minute.”
They were rushed to a health centre in nearby Loule while their children Adam, one, Amy, two, and Aaron, six, were temporarily taken into care at the Refugio Aboim Ascensao children’s home in Faro. The children had been described as “distressed” as staff tried to communicate with their parents.
The youngsters arrived at the home at 5.00am on Saturday and remained there until their parents came to collect them at midday after the on-duty public attorney ruled they should be returned.
Staff at the hotel were appalled at their behaviour while the Dr Luis Villas-Boas, who runs the Faro children’s home described their behaviour as “very, very shocking”.
“With three children they have got to be more careful. I know some adults drink a lot but there were children involved. You have to take care of the children. It’s normal with a couple for one to drink while the other doesn’t drink. The problem here is they were both passed out,” he said.
The three children showed no signs of neglect, and Dr Villas-Boas believes they not will suffer any lasting ill effects from their ordeal.
When Mr and Mrs McGuckin arrived at about 11.50am on Saturday morning to collect the youngsters, they were described as looking upset.
It’s reported they remained silent apart from asking whether the media knew about what had happened.
Dr Villas-Boas has questioned whether this really was a one-off incident as has been suggested by family and friends of the couple.
“If they were not in an aparthotel (a kind of hotel) and were staying by themselves in an apartment, I do not want to speculate on what could have happened to children of six, two and one whose parents were passed out,” he said.
“It was extreme neglect and abandonment. I hope somebody carries this information to the UK so these parents can at least be seen because these children are indeed at risk.”
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