“We’re out!” - Two words that marked the end of the battle to enable Ellie Silva to live with her mother, step-father and three siblings in Ireland, rather than with her father Filipe Silva in a hotel room in Madeira.
The SMS was sent from a jubilant step-father Philip Gannon this morning from the airport in Madeira about to board a flight to Dublin, at long last.
Gannon has held his family together in the face of almost insurmountable odds that included Ellie’s seven month kidnapping by her natural father, Vilamoura resident Filipe Silva, who at some point in the distant legal future will face trial for his actions, a legal system that seemed stacked against the family and the barrage of accusations and claims from Silva, rounded off by his application for custody of the very daughter he kidnapped for seven months.
Finally the court in Faro cut through the legal smokescreen and decided that the best place for the young girl was with her mother and family in Ireland. Ellie Silva will be able to visit her father in holiday times, unless he is in jail for kidnap.
All of this has taken 6 years of trouble, heartache, worry and upset for Candice, Ellie's mother, and for Philip Gannon who is really the hero of this story, remaining resolute and determined despite the odds that always seemed stacked against him.
Filipe Silva's farewell was, as usual, designed to be as difficult as possible with his lawyer and a journalist on hand to film his good-bye.
Silva announced to police that he did not bring Ellie's ID card, thinking this would scupper her journey from Madeira.
The police informed Silva that there was no problem - "the British Consul from Portimao issued an emergency travel document this morning."
