Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris asked his Polish counterpart for help in resolving a child abduction case involving a young girl with dual Irish-Polish citizenship.
An Irish man and a Polish woman are involved in a legal battle over where their daughter should receive care for a number of medical conditions, as previously reported by The Irish Times.
In May 2025, a Polish court ruled that the Irish-born young girl should be brought back to Ireland as her mother relocated her to Poland without her father’s consent.
However, her mother is appealing this ruling, arguing that their daughter will receive better medical care in Poland.
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The father has issued legal proceedings against the Irish Government, claiming it has “abandoned” his daughter by failing to help locate her.
The case is due back before the High Court in Dublin on Tuesday.
Irish authorities said they have “provided extensive consular assistance”.
Correspondence about the case was released to the father by the Chief State Solicitor’s office this month.
[ Irish man claims State has ‘abandoned’ his child in Poland, court filings showOpens in new window ]
On July 18th last, Mr Harris wrote to Radoslaw Sikorski, Poland’s deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, seeking his assistance.
Mr Harris told him the situation has been “extremely difficult and distressing” for the father, who has had “limited contact with his daughter since March 2024”.
“Without seeking to interfere in the Polish legal or judicial processes, I would be grateful for any assistance that can be given to [the father] to facilitate compliance with the Polish court order.”
Mr Harris said he believed that “a timely conclusion of this case” was in the best interests of all concerned.
On July 22nd, the father lodged legal proceedings against the Irish Government.
Neale Richmond, Minister of State for International Development and Diaspora, also made representations on behalf of the father in the case.
In a letter sent to Mr Richmond on July 31st, Henryka Mościcka-Dendys, undersecretary of state at the ministry of foreign affairs of Poland, said that relevant Polish authorities were treating the matter “with the utmost seriousness and are committed to upholding both the rulings of our courts and the obligations arising from the 1980 Hague Convention”.
She added: “I fully understand the emotional toll this case has on all involved persons, particularly the child and her family.”
Both Ireland and Poland are signed up to the Hague Convention, which is one of the main legal frameworks for dealing with international child abduction cases.
Child abduction is deemed to have occurred when a child is removed from a person who has legal custody without that person’s consent.
The father in the case said he is devastated by the situation, noting that missing his daughter’s fourth birthday recently was particularly difficult.
“You can’t lose a child and be in this situation and be okay.”
The father has made several attempts, alongside court officials in Poland, to locate his daughter in recent months but has been unable to confirm her whereabouts.
The couple, who are married but estranged, previously lived together in Ireland before the mother moved back to Poland with their daughter in March 2024.
According to medical records, the girl is autistic and has complex medical needs.
The mother said she does not wish to comment on the case.
“The case concerns a very young child with complex needs, and I am doing everything I can to make sure that [our daughter] is safe and continues to receive the care she needs,” she said in a written statement.
“My priority has always been, and remains, [her] wellbeing.”
