DNA tests taken from the Roma paren

DNA tests taken from the Roma parents of a seven year-old taken into HSE care this week over doubts about her identity have proved they are her biological parents, the Sunday World can reveal. ( SOURCE SUNDAY WORLD)

Sources say that gardai received the results of the DNA tests a short time ago and they have proven beyond doubt that the blonde haired, blue-eyed seven year old is the birth child of the Roma pair.

The child had been taken into HSE care on Monday afternoon after gardai were concerned that the parents were not able to provide sufficient documentation to prove that the child was rightfully theirs.

However the conclusive DNA tests will likely result in the HSE going to court and ultimately returning the youngster to her family.

The Sunday World exclusively revealed that gardai from the child protection unit attached to Tallaght station called to the home of the Roma family on Monday afternoon and spoke with two Roma adults.

There were a number of children in the house and one was a young girl who had blonde hair and striking blue eyes.

She looked nothing like anybody else in the house but the adults maintained that the girl was their daughter.

They were asked to produce a birth certificate but could not find one. In the meantime gardai made contact with a hospital consultant in and asked if it was possible for Romas to give birth to blonde children, considering their natural dark complexions.

The consultant said that this would be extremely unusual.

The parents claimed that the child was born in the Coombe hospital in Dublin in April 2006 but when gardai contacted the Coombe they had no record of the child having been born on the date the parents claimed.

The parents claimed that the child was born in the Coombe hospital in Dublin in April 2006 but when gardai contacted the Coombe this could not be confirmed.

After two hours in the house the parents eventually produced a birth cert and a passport. However the birth cert was inconclusive and the passport picture was of a baby and could not be matched to the seven year-old.

Senior gardai visited the house and contact was made with the HSE. It was decided to take the child into HSE care while an investigation was launched.

The parents of the child gave DNA samples to gardai on Tuesday night and they were rushed through the garda forensic laboratory last night and the results were made available in the last hour.

The parents of the child always insisted they were her natural parents and fully cooperated with the investigation.

Gardai acted because the Tallaght case was similar to the case in Greece that has made headlines around the world.

A young blonde haired girl was seized from a Roma camp by police after they became suspicious that she looked nothing like her alleged parents.

The child, who is aged between four and six and is known as ‘Maria’, only speaks a Roma dialect and it is feared that she was kidnapped.

Her supposed parents Christos Salis (39) and Eleftheria Dimopoulou (40) have been remanded in custody by a Greek magistrate while the police investigation continues.

The pair claim they took in the child as an “act of charity” because her natural mother could not look after her.

When officers raided the encampment which was 200 miles north of Athens, they found weapons and drugs.

It has been claimed that Maria was made to dance for money and was generally mistreated.

Greek police have received dozens of tip-offs from around the world about who ‘Maria’ might be.

It is understood they are treating a handful of leads as promising.