A woman was questioned last night by gardai in Ballyfermot following an incident in Dublin when a baby was taken from a mother.
A young Romanian woman was walking down Fleet Street at about 2.30 p.m. yesterday with her baby when a woman in a car pulled up. After a short conversation, the woman and her baby got into the car, which then drove to Phoenix Park.
According to gardai the car stopped somewhere near St Mary's Hospital, and the driver told the Romanian woman there were some free clothes hidden nearby. When the Romanian woman went to search for them, the driver left the scene with the infant in the back seat of the car.
The Romanian woman stop ped a passer-by and asked for assistance in alerting the Garda. She was said to be seriously distressed.
Yesterday evening two women entered Ballyfermot station and handed the baby to gardai. One was arrested and was questioned under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.
The woman was later released and a file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The baby appeared to be unharmed, according to a Garda spokesman, and was united with the mother shortly after being handed over to Ballyfermot gardai.
The Garda last year set up a system to co-ordinate information about reported attempts to abduct children. The Commissioner, Mr Pat Byrne, decided that all information about child abduction attempts would be co-ordinated by the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assaults Unit at Harcourt Square, Dublin.
There were several reports of attempted child abductions in Galway/Mayo during the summer, and gardai warned parents to be vigilant. They also advised them to teach their children not to accompany strangers in any circumstances.