A CHILD who was found abandoned on the doorsteps of Carlow Cathedral is expected to be reunited with its legal guardian this week.
The eight-month-old boy was taken from his home in Kirby-in-Ashfield in Nottinghamshire on Thursday and was found left at the cathedral on Friday afternoon.
Police in north Wales arrested a couple in their 20s at around 11pm on Saturday.
It is believed that they handed themselves in at a police station after getting off a ferry from Dún Laoghaire to Holyhead. The 22-year-old woman and 25-year-old man were being questioned by police.
They may be the child’s biological parents, though not his legal guardian, according to reports.
The baby boy was found by a woman on Friday afternoon who was visiting the church. Visitors reported hearing a couple crying in the porch of the church before the baby was abandoned.
Their British registration white Renault Clio car was later seen on CCTV leaving the cathedral area.
The child has since been in the care of the Health Service Executive and was not harmed by the incident.
The HSE is preparing to give the child back to its legal guardian this week.
Police on both sides of the Irish Sea have expressed concern for the welfare of not only the child, but the couple involved in the incident.
They have no obvious connection with Ireland and may have been simply using the common travel area between the two countries to flee the UK.
A Nottinghamshire police spokesman said: “Nottinghamshire police are investigating the circumstances which led to an eight-month-old boy being taken from his home in the county to the Irish Republic.
“Police have worked extensively to locate the child and had already established that he may have been taken to Ireland when the Irish police confirmed at about 3.30pm on Friday that he had been found safe and well near a cathedral in the town of Carlow.
“The child had been left with a note giving his name and date of birth.”
Gardaí said the incident was now in the hands of the police in Nottinghamshire.
Prayers for both the baby and the couple involved were said over the weekend at the cathedral.
