Can you help this man find his Irish father?

A man living in Malta has issued an appeal to find his Irish father, who he believes was a soldier serving in Malta in the late 1960s.

Joseph Grech was born in Malta in September 1968 to Carmen Borg and an Irish man who, his mother told him, was in the Royal Anglian Regiment of the British Army.

His father was stationed in St. Patrick's Barracks in Malta at the time, and he believes he is originally from either Cork or Waterford.

"That time he used to date my mum, Carmen Borg," Joseph says. His father was moved from Malta by the army before Joseph was born and he has had no contact with Carmen since.

As an unmarried mother, Carmen felt societal pressure to put Joseph up for adoption when he was born.

Joseph's mother, Carmen, in 1968

Joseph, who is a building engineer in Malta, is seeking any information about his father and would like to make contact with him. He has made contact with his birth mother in recent years and would also like to know his father.

"At the age of nine I discovered that I was adopted," Joseph says. He began looking for his mother when he turned 18, but says his search ended in vain. "All the info I had was just a name," he says.

"To obtain the confidential info I had to open a juridical recourse order. This took years. Time passed and as always I had this issue running in my head."

Joseph made contact with his mother some years later, when she and her husband began to look for him.

Carmen with Joseph's wife in recent years

"In 2009 my mum’s husband, who was a secretary in the Ministry of Defence, was retiring and decided to buy a place in Malta. In 2011 mum’s husband started the same process that I had started to locate me. They had only a name and a date of birth. Unfortunately, he passed away in 2013, the same year my adopted mother died," Joseph says.

"Recently me and my natural mum made contact, ending up to have lost one mum and discovered the natural mum which I am very proud of.

While Joseph's mother has given him a name for his father, we have chosen not to publish it. So if you think you know who Joseph's father might be, or if you believe you may be his father, please contact Joseph directly at joe_ [e-mail]