125 cases of child abduction up on 1996 figures

The Department of Justice dealt with 125 cases of child abduction during 1997, an increase of 11 on the previous year but down on the 1995 figure.

Sixty nine cases involved abduction of children into the State, and 56 out. In almost all cases, the children were abducted by a spouse or partner, but the figures only include instances in which the location of those abducted is known. The statistics are drawn from applications to the Department's Central Authority for Child Abduction, which was set up in 1991. Of abductions into Ireland dealt with by the authorities last year, the High Court ordered the children's return in 20 cases. In a further 18, children were returned voluntarily or an alternative settlement was reached. A dozen applications were withdrawn; two were outside the scope of the conventions; and 17 remained to be resolved as the year ended.

Among kidnaps from Ireland, courts abroad ordered the children's return in 18 cases and refused it in five. There were voluntary returns or settlements in 10 instances, with the same number of applications withdrawn and 13 awaiting resolution.

The 1997 figures include 26 cases carried over from the previous year. The 99 new applications involved a total of 164 children.

A large majority of the cases involved dealings with England and Wales.

Children taken from that jurisdiction accounted for 50 cases, while there were 32 instances of children taken to England and Wales.