The holiday couple whose children were taken into care after they apparently drank themselves into a stupor in Portugal claimed yesterday they had done nothing wrong.

Speaking for the first time about the incident, Eamon and Antoinette McGuckin said the alcohol they consumed was "insufficient to have rendered them incapable of being responsible parents".

And they insisted they would never place their children in danger, adding that they were "deeply saddened and hurt" by what had happened.

But their account differs markedly from initial reports, which suggested Mr McGuckin, 34, a former Bank of Ireland manager who works for a mortgage company, passed out on a sofa in a hotel reception after drinking heavily.

Mrs McGuckin, 32, was also said to have staggered into the lobby and vomited in front of her three children during the incident on Friday night.

Friends insist, however, that the couple's drinks had been tampered with, leading to Mrs McGuckin feeling ill.

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