Irish-Maltese toddler snatched in France spurs Ireland MP to demand action

A family dispute involving an Irish-Maltese child has led an Irish MP to demand the two-year-old be flown back to Ireland. According to the Irish Times, the two-year-old boy was taken from his mother’s arms by armed members of the French gendarmerie in May, while an appeal against that court-ordered removal remains pending. The mother, who on Facebook lists a Maltese real estate agency as her place of work, told the Irish news outlet that she had been unaware that the child’s father had taken legal action to bring the child back to Malta.

The case has now been taken up by Fianna Fáil MP Cathal Crowe. 

He called on the Irish government to intervene, saying the toddler holds an Irish passport.“We do need something said politically on this case,” Mr Crowe said.

The baby was born to the Irish woman and her Maltese then-boyfriend in Malta in December 2019 and holds Maltese citizenship.

Last December, the two parents and their child travelled from Malta to France. The mother remained in France with her son after she and the child's father argued. The father says she did so without his consent. 

Robert Thake, a Maltese lawyer representing the father, says that the mother “fled”...