Runaway Theo takes it all in his stride

Relief. It was written all over his mother’s face, but for little Theo Costelloe, it was smiles all round.

Nothing seemed to faze the toddler at his press conference, but then again, this was the child who had climbed out of his cot in the dead of night before he was found walking more than 1km from his home in Aspen Gardens in Limerick.

The two-year-old had managed to cross the N7 roadway at traffic lights and wandered farther down the road when he was spotted by student James Ryan near the Dublin Road on his way home from work.

The young lad was dressed in his pyjamas, in bare feet and was dragging a pink blanket behind him.

His mother, Christine, who was woken by gardaí and asked if she was missing a little boy, said she was trying not to think about all the bad things that could have happened to Theo, who will turn three in July.

“I am very relieved,” she said. “It could have been a completely different outcome. It is good news all round, and I am very grateful to the gardaí and James Ryan for staying with him.”