A child who has been in the care of the Eastern Health Board for almost two years was yesterday removed by her father.
Mr John Keane collected his daughter, Anais (4), from Barnados in Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin, yesterday afternoon, but he did not return her after the weekly two-hour access period had expired.
Mr Keane and his wife, Christine, a French national, who live in Blackrock, have been involved in a long-running legal battle with the Eastern Health Board since their daughter was first taken into care on December 24th, 1996.
The girl was taken into care after social workers alleged that she had been ill-treated by them. The couple's other children, Alban (9) and Clementine (5), live with them.
A spokeswoman for the Eastern Health Board said she could not comment on individual cases but confirmed that a child had been removed from its care and that the gardai had been notified.
Mrs Keane told The Irish Times yesterday that her husband had telephoned her to inform her that he had removed their daughter from the Eastern Health Board's care.
"What happened today was a cry for help. There has to be somebody somewhere who will listen to what is happening. This is destroying the lives of three children and their parents," she said.