Gardaí to issue fresh appeal for mother of baby Maria

Gardaí are expected to issue a fresh appeal for the mother of a newborn baby girl found abandoned on the outskirts of Dublin last Friday to come forward.

The infant, who has since been given the name Maria, was found on Steelstown Road, a side road near the Blackchurch Inn in Rathcoole.

A motorist who had stopped for a toilet break at a gateway heard sounds and discovered the child wrapped in a blanket and bin liner, inside a Marks & Spencer paper carrier bag. The man and his partner alerted gardaí.

The Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald directly appealed to the mother on Thursday to come forward and seek help.

“I would like to say to the mother in that situation that our main concern is her welfare and I would ask her to get some help,” she said.

“The gardaí are concerned about her welfare, I’m concerned about her welfare. Anybody who finds themselves in a situation like that where the baby is found in those circumstances, clearly that has to be a very traumatic situation for the mother as well.

“I would appeal to her to come forward and get help.”

On Monday, Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, was granted an interim care order for the baby girl at the Family Court.

This process was activated after medical staff determined the child was in need of further attention, specifically a neurological exam and DNA test, as part of ongoing care at both the Coombe and Our Lady’s Hospital, Crumlin.