An intensive search was continuing last night in north Dublin following a woman's distress call to a helpline saying she had abandoned a newborn baby boy in a vacant Ballymun flat.
Gardaí have issued an urgent appeal to the woman to make contact again.
The young woman, who was said to be in an extremely distressed state, made the telephone call to the helpline in the early hours of Monday morning. She said she had given birth to a baby boy, wrapped him in her jacket, and put him behind a sofa in a flat in Ballymun.
She said she was making the call immediately after the birth. She gave a specific address but gardaí said that no such flat existed.
Between 40 and 50 gardaí from Ballymun and Santry Garda stations have been searching the area. All empty flats and premises are being searched and gardaí are making house-to-house inquiries.
Dublin City Council officials were working closely with gardaí in the search. A council spokeswoman said: "We are making sure that all the flats that have been closed off are being searched."
A Garda spokesman appealed to the woman to again contact the helpline that she had rung originally or, alternatively, to contact Ballymun Garda station directly at 01-6664400 or the Garda Confidential Line at 1800-666111.
The spokesman said: "We wish to assure this woman that she will be treated with the utmost compassion and sensitivity if she makes contact."
Asked last night if there were concerns that the incident might be a hoax, a Garda spokesman said: "We don't really have an opinion on that. We have to make sure that we have followed every avenue open to us. We are dealing with a life."
The spokesman said the search would continue until all options had been exhausted.