A Garda investigation has been launched after a mother in south Dublin reported an alleged attempted abduction of her child on Thursday evening.
The mother of the three-year-old girl said on Friday she remained “shaken” by the incident.
The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, claimed a man and a woman, who she believed to be a couple, sat on a bench near the playground in a residential area of Clonskeagh while her daughter was playing with other children.
She claimed the man interacted with her daughter before the mother called for her to come back.
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On leaving the playground later, at about 6pm, she told her daughter to retrieve her bicycle, she said, adding that she took her eyes off her for “just a second,” while speaking to other parents.
“I didn’t see the moment that he took her hand, but I saw that they were walking together,” she claimed.
“He turned around and saw that I was running and screaming, and he started to run with her while holding her hand.”
The mother claimed the man was running towards one of the park’s exits, and when she caught up to them, she believed “he pretended that he was taking her to the playground”.
She said the man subsequently placed her daughter on a carousel, which he began to spin.
“There was no excuse or apology, he didn’t say a word,” she said.
“I was too shocked to even talk to him, to make eye contact, I just got my daughter and got into the car immediately,” she said.
“I was so shaken.”
The mother returned a few minutes later with her husband but saw the couple had left. They subsequently reported the incident to gardaí.
A Garda spokesman said gardaí were investigating “an alleged incident in Clonskeagh, Dublin 14, yesterday evening.”
“Inquiries are ongoing,” he said.
