Two men in their late 50s with addresses in Britain, who were arrested in connection with reported attempts to abduct children in Co Clare earlier this week, were released without charge early today by detectives in Mallow, Co Cork.
The men were arrested yesterday afternoon when the jeep they were driving was stopped at a Garda checkpoint in Charleville, Co Cork. A Garda spokesman in Ennis said the investigation will reopen this morning at 10 a.m. "We are still looking for two men in a jeep," he told The Irish Times. The two men arrested yesterday were being detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.
Detectives travelled from Co Clare to Mallow to interview them. Gardai had mounted roadblocks in Co Clare and surrounding counties after reported attempts to abduct two children in separate incidents at Tulla and Doonbeg on Tuesday.
Gardai in Westport warned parents of young children in south Mayo last month to be vigilant, following two reports of attempted abductions in the Leenane area and in Westport town. On Wednesday, Supt Gerry Kelly, of Ennis, advised parents to know where their children were at all times. "They should take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that their children are always accompanied. Under no circumstances should they be left to walk home alone from school, no matter how short the walk may be."
The first of Tuesday's incidents occurred at about 7 p.m. when two men in a jeep reportedly pulled up alongside a girl aged seven and tried to get her into the vehicle. She managed to escape. Later, in Doonbeg, men fitting a similar description asked a seven-year-old boy to show them where the Garda station was, but he also ran away.
In the past year the number of reported attempted abductions has risen markedly. According to one Garda source, there have been more than 500 reported attempted abductions, almost all in rural areas, although there has subsequently been no evidence of an actual abduction.