Five children who were taken into State care a week ago were last night due to be reunited with their parents in Kells, Co Meath, following a court battle against the local health authority.
Amid jubilant scenes at Trim District Court last night, Pádraig and Mary O'Hara expressed relief that their "week-long nightmare" was over and said they were delighted at the outcome of their case.
The Health Service Executive (North Eastern Area) sought to place the couple's children - four of whom are autistic - in State care a week ago against the parents' wishes. Mr and Mrs O'Hara had been giving media interviews at the time complaining about the lack of support services for their children.
Following an eight-hour private sitting of Trim District Court yesterday, Judge David Anderson dismissed an interim care order taken out by the health authority.
The HSE, which had insisted the parents undergo a psychiatric assessment before any attempt could be made to reunite them with their children, declined to comment last night.
The health authority's treatment of the couple prompted criticism this week from campaigners and support groups. Independent MEP Kathy Sinnott called for an apology from the HSE.
Following the outcome of the case last night, Mr and Mrs O'Hara hugged tearful family members and friends at the courthouse. In a statement read by their solicitor, Roger Murray, they expressed delight with the ruling and thanked their friends and supporters.
The O'Hara's family doctor and chairman of the Irish Society for Autism, Dr James Hayes, said he was ecstatic at the outcome. "This frightful event should never have occurred," he said. "Whatever the crisis, there are other ways of dealing with it. Justice has been done and the family have been reunited."
Arrangements were being made last night to reunite the children with their parents. The parents agreed on Friday of last week to let the children be put in respite care on a voluntary basis after social workers and gardaí arrived at their home with a care order seeking to commit the children to State care.
Fionn (16), who is dyslexic, Oisín (13) and Blain (9), who are autistic, have been staying at a guesthouse in Drogheda for the last week. Seadna (5) and Cionnaola (4) have been staying at a residential unit without any contact with their parents.
Irish Autism Alliance chairman Cormac Rennick said the group had lodged a formal complaint about the treatment of the parents.
He said the O'Haras were "dedicated and devoted parents" whose lives revolved around the care of their children.
Ms Sinnott said: "We have to have an apology from the HSE and an assurance that this will never happen again. Taking away your children is the worst threat the State can make."
The HSE was represented in court yesterday by a four-person legal team along with a number of health authority officials who gave evidence during the court sitting.
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