Police issue warning to parents
Police issued a warning to parents to be on the alert today as officers on both sides of the Irish border continued the hunt for a man who tried to abduct two young girls in Co Louth.
A man driving a car with Northern Ireland registration plates tried to talk the children into getting into his car in Dundalk, Co Louth, earlier this week.
The man, who had short brown hair and was wearing an earring, asked 10-year-old Kelly Mullen and her nine-year-old friend Ciara Brady for directions and said he would give them €10 if they got into his vehicle.
But the girls, apparently aware of the continuing search in Cambridgeshire for missing 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, refused and raised the alarm after going home.
Detectives were today investigating the possibility of a link between the incident and similar approaches reported to have been made to girls in the same area of Dundalk earlier this year.
Police advised all parents to be extra-vigilant - a warning which was reinforced by Ireland’s National Parents Council.
Chief executive Fionnuala Kilfeather said: "Child abduction is a rare thing here, but parents need to be aware of what to do safeguard children.
"The girls in Dundalk reacted very well after hearing of the news in Britain, which might have heightened their awareness of how to behave."
Ms Kilfeather added: "In the very short term, parents should keep an extra-special eye on their children."
In a reference to a possible link between the Internet and the disappearance of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, she urged: "Don’t let children have the Internet by themselves in their bedroooms - have it somewhere that you can watch it.
"This is something that has been raised now, and some of these Internet chat-rooms are, frankly, very dangerous, so parents would really need to keep an eye on them.
"Help is on hand and the National Parents Council has advice. There is also a website for children, telling them now to be safe on the Internet."
