Solicitor: Boy wrongly taken from Roma family suffering 'psychological difficulties'

A young boy wrongly taken from his Roma family in Athlone last year has suffered "quite significant psychological difficulties" since his ordeal, according to the solicitor for the family.

The two-year-old was one of two children removed from their families in separate incidents in October of last year.

Children's Ombudsman Emily Logan will today publish her report into the cases, and the Justice Minister Francis Fitzgerald expected to apologise to the families involved.

Solicitor Paul Connellan says that would be an "excellent" start, but the boy has been through a lot.

He said: "He has suffered sleep disturbance and nightmares. He has difficulty getting into a car to travel anywhere.

"Quite significant psychological difficulties. He has the benefit of being a very young child and hopefully as a result, he'll go on to make a full recovery.

"But he has his own medical issues which certainly weren't helped by the trauma."