Adoption Board inundated with offers to take boy

Calls have been flooding in to the adoption board from Irish couples anxious to rescue a three-year-old Irish citizen who is in an Indonesian orphanage.

The child was abandoned after claims that his adoption by an Irish couple "did not work out".

Staff at the orphanage in Jakarta said that Tristan, who only speaks English, is withdrawn and refuses to play with the toys left by his Irish parents.

Indonesian authorities have said that the adoption was illegal under that country’s laws and because the boy is an Irish citizen he has no right to stay in their country and should be deported.

He has no legal documents since his parents surrendered his passport.

Joe and Lala Dowes, his adoptive parents, have made a number of proposals to the Department of Foreign Affairs as to how to resolve the issue.

One suggestion is that he be returned to Ireland and cared for by the extended Dowes family, another is that the Adoption Board could proceed with an adoption by another couple.