Three children missing from their home in Britain for more than three years have been found in Dublin. Gardai discovered them after acting on a tip-off from neighbours and moving in on a house in the Oldbawn, Tallaght, area yesterday afternoon.
Earlier this week the children's English mother, Ms Nora Lasebai, from London, had issued an appeal for help in finding her children after reports that they had been seen in Ireland.
One of the sightings is understood to have been in the Kildare area, but when Ms Lasebai visited the location she found they had moved on.
The children, two boys and a girl aged between 12 and 18, were believed to have been taken from Britain by their Libyan father in a "tug-of-love" row with their mother.
He was living apart from his wife but collected the children, named by Ms Lasebai as Abdullah, Maimanah and Mohammed, from school a few days before Christmas 1994 and fled with them.
They are understood to have been seen twice in Ireland since their disappearance, but the Garda said it could not confirm this. A spokesman said there was no indication of the length of time the children had spent in Ireland. The Garda said a man detained when the children were found faced 16 British extradition warrants in Dublin District Court yesterday afternoon. He was remanded in custody for a week.
The children were taken into the care of the Eastern Health Board yesterday.
Their mother was understood to be on her way to Dublin last night to be with them. However, it was not possible to confirm if she had arrived to visit them.
Ms Lasebai previously visited Ireland in an unsuccessful attempt to locate her children.
A spokeswoman for the Eastern Health Board last night said she could not comment on the case. "If the children are in our care they are entitled to full confidentiality," she said.