Mother reunited with son after years in care

A woman whose son was in care for more than five years was formally reunited with him by order of the court yesterday.

Also before District Court president Judge Rosemary Horgan, a woman who had been homeless told of searching for accommodation with her young child and their belongings in tow.

Judge Horgan was told a teenager in the care of the Child and Family Agency who, along with other siblings had been placed with relatives, was now back living with his mother. His mother had addressed her alcohol addiction and was in a stable relationship.

The mother and son had been back living together since late last year on a trial basis and the agency now believed they should be permanently reunited.

A social worker told the court the woman had made great strides to address her addiction and her son, who had been deeply attached to her and unhappy in his placement, was now settled in a new school.

His “temper levels and aggression” were much reduced, the social worker said, he was intelligent and had shown “great strength of character”.

“It is great to see him blossom,” she added, and supports were being put in place for them.

Judge Horgan commended the woman for the work she had done to overcome her addiction, which was “not a walk in the park”.

“I am delighted to discharge the care order,” she said.

In a separate case, the Child and Family Agency also said it was concerned about a young child not attending school and her mother’s drug addiction. It sought an order to supervise the care of the child.

In evidence, the mother recounted that she had had a difficult year and had been evicted by her landlord after there were delays with her application for rent allowance.

“Every day we had to go to the homeless unit and carry our clothes with us to see if we could get a bed,” she said.

On one occasion they were allocated a hotel room that had damp on the walls, urine on the bed and beer cans and a syringe on the floor.

She said she refused to stay in it and went to a Garda station where her daughter fell asleep on her lap. Gardaí eventually found her a bed at another hotel.

The room was “lovely and clean” with five beds and her daughter was delighted and jumped on them.

“You should have seen her face; it upset me the look on her face,” the woman said. She told the court they were able to have a shower and they got a free breakfast.

She had since obtained private rented accommodation and attended a clinic to address her drug addiction.

She said she would be happy to have supervision as the agency would be providing her with support.

She agreed to take the child to school and to take drug tests. The judge urged the woman to co-operate with the agency and granted the order.

In another case, the agency applied for an “urgent” interim care order, but not an emergency care order, used in cases when children are believed to be at immediate and serious risk.

The woman said her children were “in no danger at all” and that were being well looked after.

“This is after shocking the life out of me,” she said. “I’ve never sexually abused my children and neither has my partner, that’s lies.”

Judge Horgan said she would adjourn the case to Monday. She said it would be unfair to deal with the matter when the lawyers familiar with the case were unavailable.