Young girl taken from gypsy family by authorities

A blonde-haired, blue-eyed seven-year-old girl has been put into care after being taken from a Roma family in Ireland.

A member of the public raised concerns about the child living with the gypsy family in a house in a south Dublin suburb.

No arrests have been made and there is no allegation of abduction against the family.

The youngster was put into the care of the Health Service Executive on Monday afternoon when the family were unable to prove her identity conclusively.

The couple have told police that the girl, who they said was born in a Dublin hospital in April 2006, is their daughter.

They have several other children who have not been taken into care.

The youngster is said to be physically well and is due to be interviewed by specialist officers.

Unlike the case where a girl, known as Maria, was found in a gypsy settlement near Farsala in central Greece, DNA tests have yet to confirm that the couple she was found with are not her parents.

The only similarity is that the girl taken into care is a blonde-haired, blue-eyed child and had a different appearance from that of the couple she was living with.

In the Greek case, a DNA test on Maria proved she was not related to Christos Salis, 39, and Eleftheria Dimopoulou, 40, and the couple have been held on charges of abduction and document fraud.

Irish police are trying to establish the identity of the girl taken into care in Dublin and have contacted Europol and Interpol about missing children while investigations continue in Ireland.

It is understood that they may seek to take DNA samples from the parents and the child to fully determine whether they are her biological parents.

-AAP