Report on Athlone Roma case due today

The publication will take place today of a report by the Children's Ombudsman into the case of a two-year-old Roma boy who was wrongly taken from his parents in Athlone last year due to concern over his identity.

Emily Logan's report into the incident - and that of a seven-year-old Roma girl who was also taken into care for a period in Tallaght - is due to be published by the Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald this afternoon.

The boy in Athlone, Iancu Muntean Jr, was taken from his family home in Meadowbrook area of Willow Park on a Tuesday evening last October. He was returned to his parents the next day.

Speaking the day after his son was returned, Iancu Muntean Sr said he had pleaded with Gardai not to take the boy into care.

“I (told the Gardai) please don’t take my son. You can take my blood, I will stay with you for however many weeks you want - one week, two weeks - but don’t take my son,” he said.

A copy of Ms Logan's report into the incident was leaked to the Sunday Times last month. It is expected to find that Gardai in the Athlone case believed they were acting in the child’s best interests, but their actions conformed with the definition of “ethnic profiling.”

The Gardai in the Athlone case are reported to have visited the family without first conducting inquiries with the HSE. The report is likely to exonerate local social workers, who are said to have known the boy and insisted that he be returned to his family.

One of the questions surrounding the publication of the report today is whether or not it will result in an apology from the Government to the two families involved.

The family in Athlone is suing the Minister for Justice, the Garda Commissioner, and the Irish State for damages over the incident.