UK NEWS

I WAS ILL, SAYS MOTHER 'TOO DRUNK TO CARE FOR CHILDREN'

Eamon McGuckin and child

Thursday May 8,2008

By Martin Evans

A BRITISH couple whose children were taken into care in Portugal spoke out for the first time last night – and denied they were excessively drunk.

In a statement, Eamon and Antoinette McGuckin said she had been taken ill, and insisted her collapse had nothing to do with alcohol.

The father said he was “fully in control of his faculties” and asked hotel staff to look after the children – six, two and one – while he took his wife to hospital.

In an emotional sentence, they added: “We live and breathe for our children and would never ever place them in any kind of danger.”

Hotel staff had claimed that the McGuckins had been drinking for hours after arriving in Vilamoura in the Algarve.

The manager said Mr McGuckin, 34, had fallen through a sofa before collapsing, while his wife was repeatedly sick in front of their children.The police were called and the children were taken into temporary protective custody at the Refugio Aboim Ascensao in Faro.

We live and breathe for our children and would never ever place them in any kind of danger

Eamon and Antoinette McGuckin

But in the statement issued through a local councillor in their hometown of Upperlands, Co Londonderry, the McGuckins said: “We are deeply saddened and hurt by the events of the past days.

“Contrary to various reports, Mr and Mrs McGuckin did not consume excess alcohol when they went to the restaurant for their meal. They left their apartment at 7pm and went to the play park where they stayed until 7.30pm.

“They then arrived at the restaurant where they had their first alcoholic drink of the day.

“They moved on to the communal area where they played pool with other guests from the resort.

“The amount of alcohol they consumed between 8pm and 10pm would not have been sufficient to render them incapable of being responsible parents.”

As they went to the hospital later, they believed hospital staff were caring for their children, and only discovered the youngsters had been taken into care when they returned at 5am.

The couple were told they would have to explain their behaviour before the family court in Faro. But hours before they were due to appear they flew home to Northern Ireland.

They say this was on the advice of a lawyer in Portugal.

They concluded: “We hope this traumatic experience is now closed as we want to get back to our normal routine of loving our beautiful children and getting on with life.”