A judge in a rural town granted a six-month extension to an interim care order for a teenage boy, A, who had been abandoned by his uncle after both travelled to Ireland from abroad. Both A and his uncle had been made subject to deportation orders due to their status but A had expressed a wish to remain in Ireland and continue with his life and studies here.
The lawyer for the Child and Family Agency (CFA) reported that A had travelled to Ireland with his uncle and that the uncle had subsequently separated himself from the child, leaving him as an unaccompanied child. An emergency care order was made for the boy after his uncle abandoned him and an interim care order was subsequently obtained for him.
The CFA lawyer applied for a six-month extension to the interim care order. She reported that the status of A’s uncle’s case was not settled and that A was placed in foster care. The social worker said she wanted to extend A’s care order as it was due to expire shortly. The social worker told the judge that A did not respond well initially when separated from his uncle and placed in foster care in an unfamiliar country.
Despite the initial trauma of the separation from his uncle and the placement in foster care, A had progressed very well with his education and his sporting life in Ireland and had expressed a strong desire to be allowed to remain here and get on with his life. He continued to express a wish to be united again with his uncle.
The judge listened to the evidence and read the social worker’s report. He decided that in all the circumstances he was satisfied to grant the six-month extension of the care order for A.
