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IT EMERGED THIS morning that a senior garda had been arrested for leaking information about two children who were temporarily removed from their families in late 2013.
The two children, a two-year-old boy from Athlone and a seven-year-old girl from Tallaght, were both members of the Roma community.
They were removed from their homes over concerns that the families they were staying with were not their biological families. In both cases, it was eventually determined that their parents were indeed were their biological parents.
In the case of Child T (Tallaght), DNA testing was used to prove parentage.
A report by the Children’s Ombudsman found that “ethnic profiling” was a factor in removal of Roma children.
Here’s what happened and why a garda has now been arrested:
Tallaght
In October 2013, a news story was making global headlines about a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl who had been found living with a Roma family in Greece.
The story prompted a woman living in Tallaght to contact a journalist through his TV show’s Facebook page over concerns she had about a blonde-haired girl living with a Roma family in the locality.
The journalist passed his concerns onto local gardaí who began to look into the matter. One garda was aware of ‘Child T’ because he had previously been assigned to one of her sisters.
Gardaí spoke to the principal at the Child T’s school and to the Department of Social Welfare. It emerged that the girl was officially registered under a different first name.
The confusion meant gardaí decided to visit the child’s home.
Upon visiting, they spoke to the parents and saw the seven-year-old with one garda officer commenting that she was was “strikingly different in appearance” from the rest of her family.
The mother of the child could not provide a birth certificate for the child. Gardaí contacted the Coombe Hospital where, again, there was confusion surrounding the child’s name.
Other family members and more gardai arrived in the interim.
A passport and birth certificate were then provided for Child T but gardai concluded that they were not sufficient because they could not be corroborated by the Coombe.
A decision was taken to place the child in the care of the HSE.
The following day, the Sunday World revealed that gardai were investigating the true identity of the girl.
The story became national news and DNA tests were ordered on the young child and her family.
Two days after the child was taken from her home, DNA tests confirmed her identity and she was returned to her family.
Timelines:
Athlone
In the case of the two-year-old boy in Athlone, previous concerns had been raised about the child a number of months previous.
A member of the public had raised concerns with the gardaí after seeing the child with “very blonde hair and the bluest eyes” with the family at a festival in Clare.
As the Maria story was making headlines, An Garda Síochána’s Missing Persons Bureau received an email tiled “Suspected Child Abduction” again mentioning the festival in Co Clare.
Gardaí tracked down the family and the case was transferred to Athlone Garda Station. Local gardaí made enquiries and visited the family.
As with the case in Tallaght, there were issues with gardaí verifying the birth certificate of the child in question, Child A. Certificates were provided but gardaí felt there were discrepancies.
The parents of the child agreed to come voluntarily to Athlone Garda Station.
Section 12 of the Child Care Act 1991 was enacted given a perceived flight risk. The child was then placed in the care of foster parents but was reported to be crying for his mother. He stayed with them overnight.
The following day, after the the child’s GP, Barnardos, and the HSE all agreed there were no doubts over the child’s parentage, he was returned to them.
“Ethnic profiling”
A report by the former Children’s Ombudsman Emily Logan made a range of recommendations into the handling of the both cases.
Each case were critically evaluated separately and were given their own set of recommendations.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald, and Garda Commissioner Noirín O’Sullivan all apologised to the families of two children.
The report also stated that An Garda Síochána must enhance its “cultural competence” in dealing with the Roma community.
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Christ that was difficult to read, the journalistic equivalent of constipation. Took about 5 solid pushes to get to the end of a load of shite which recommends basically giving up your potentially lucrative position in finance or IT to take up a role of fitness instructor.
7. Retire early
Moving job beats taking the easy way out and emigrating.
What’s wrong with being a fitness instructor?
@ mr McShite..’to give up a lucrative appointment ‘ I fear you missed the whole point of the article…and I wish you all the lucrative success you deserve (with $uck all happiness ) ….M@ron!!!
What’s really gonna happen is that your dreams are challenged very early in life, aspirations to change the world are wiped out as society is gonna try and convince you that you’re only too lucky to have a job so you’re gonna bullsh@t your way into an organisation, tell them you can turn things to gold and lose yourself in the process! Once your in the door your gonna be one of two people – one that stomps on people’s heads to get to the top of that ladder and would throw their mother under a bus to get advancement and live out your days constantly striving for that carrot, convincing yourself (and others) that you’ve made it. or 2 – be the guy who’s a stepping stone for number 1. you’ll retire at 60 ( if you aren’t canned before that) and live out your golden years in silent regret as to why you didn’t change careers sooner! Don’t let youth be wasted on the young. Follow your dreams kids. If Paul Murphy can be TD, you can be an astronaut!!!
Paul Murphy is an Astronaut Or a spacecadet?
Paul Murphy is a better td than most. At least he stands for something which can’t be said for many others who just roll over.
I think that parents have a duty to encourage their children to follow their dreams. Admittedly, some children are more focussed than others, but i believe everyone can find their passion in life if they believe they have the freedom and support to seek it. Parents are best usually placed to give this.
A friend of mine’s father was a man of science and industry, studying maths and physics and later entering the oil industry. My friend decided to follow his dream and get into film. Admittedly, his family were in a position to support him financially through film school, but they also supported him emotionally. I know that his father often questioned the career choice, but the look on his face seeing his son addressing the audience after the premiere screening of his debut feature film in the London Film Festival spoke volumes. Pure pride.
Hmmm… I followed some of these steps… I wanted to be a make up artist so I trained and gif qualified, I got a mentor and did a lot of free work. But in the end I just want good enough. I know I’m not supposed to say that but it’s true. I’m not naturally artistic. I’m creative to a certain extent but I can’t draw a straight line so what I imagine in my head turns out a big mess . Now the training and work experience and practice were great and I loved the work I did with a passion but in an industry flooded with other make up artists and feck all work I had to look at it realistically. There is better artists out there . They have natural gifts and talents and I just can’t compete with my mediocre skills. Some might say I just gave up but I think I’m just looking at it realistically. So now I’m 33 and don’t know what to do ‘when I grow up’.
Become a writer. You have a flowing style and nice, self-deprecating wit. And apparently every 1000 words is equivalent to a picture anyway so you can live your dream through the back door :-)
That hallway could do with a lightbulb.
The girl in the pic has a strange cock.tus
How does one become a lazy gigolo?
Vote FG.
Do nothing and you’ll get screwed.
hhmm yeah no! out of all the people i know 1 dows that they love… 1! I know another whos killing themselves to break into what they love and are failing! Frankly i think the emphasis on career etc is too much… I think people should work whatever theu can and aim to be happier in life in general and focus on being good ppl. Articles like this fuel the world we live in now… ppl in a rush to they skip lunch, or cause crashes rushing to work, spend their lives in their office. I work, i stay where I am not because I love it, not because Im passionate about it… i stay because 1 i work with good ppl, 2 its money and 3 I get a good amount of time off to focus on the important things. A job is a job if you can do what you love brilliant Im happy for you… but dont waste your life chasing it… get a job to give you money and start living out of work.
“In the words of Wayne Gretzky, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take” – Rockfrocks, 2015
* not plagiarism
Utter utter rubbish…sadly people pay to hear the kind of rubbish that’s in that article. ….I’m passionate about Salsa dancing….trust me I’ll never earn money at it…..In fact I’m spending alot of my hard earned money on it…..such utter mis guided claptrap.
have to agree. keep your passion and your work separate, lest disappointments in work impact on your happiness. I’ve seen that alot. that doesn’t mean don’t enjoy your job but don’t hang your happiness it.
Just ask Alan Watts – https://youtu.be/5QnZVZzosw8 – What if money didn’t exist. Makes you really think.
Wrong question Alan. This is “what if money were no object?” ie you have sufficient surplus to do what you want. The last serious attempt at making money not exist was led by Pol Pot in Cambodia in the 1970s. That did not have a happy ending (gross understatement).
Making money DOES MATTER….
6. Make sure to get to Electric Picnic!!!
Turning a passion into a career can still have the same effect. You still will have to do work you don’t necessarily want to do in order for income to pay the bills
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