Holiday couple insist they were not drunk

The couple whose children were taken into care in Portugal after the pair allegedly passed out drunk in their Algarve hotel have vehemently denied drinking to excess.

In their first public comment on the incident last week, Eamon McGuckin, 34, and his wife, Antoinette, 32, insisted she "became violently ill" on arrival at the hotel and they had asked the management to care for their children while her husband took her to hospital.

Friends in their village in County Derry, Northern Ireland, said the McGuckins had been the victims of "media paranoia" generated by the first anniversary of Madeleine McCann's disappearance.

Their children - aged one, two and six - were temporarily taken from them last weekend by the Portuguese authorities. The McGuckins said they were saddened and traumatised by the furore.

"We live and breathe for our children and would never place them in any kind of danger."

In a statement, a spokesman for the family, who had arrived for their week-long break at the Aparthotel Mourabel at Vilamoura on Friday, said yesterday: "On Friday, contrary to various reports, Mr and Mrs McGuckin did not consume excess alcohol when they went to the restaurant for their meal.

"They returned to the hotel before 10pm. Antoinette became violently ill on arrival at the foyer of the hotel and required assistance from the management."

The spokesman said Mr McGuckin then arranged for the hotel management to care for the children while he accompanied his wife to the hospital. They had been shocked to find that their children had been taken to a home.

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