Tipp man thanks public for their help in getting his young baby back home to New Zealand

James, Elizabeth and baby Harrison Dunne at Temple Street Children's Hospital.

A Tipperary man and his young family have returned to New Zealand after a lengthy stay in specialist hospital care in Ireland.

James Dunne, from Grange, Moycarkey, is thanking the people of Tipperary for helping to get his eight-month old baby Harrison back to New Zealand in recent weeks.

Harrison was born in Ireland last September with a rare genetic disorder, and upwards of €70,000 was raised to help fund a specialist flight back to New Zealand, where James and his wife Elizabeth had been living in recent years.

James says young Harrison is getting stronger and stronger.

“We’re trying to get him to a little bit more normal. The stuff that we had done in Dublin was all to sort of protect him as he was growing – all precautionary steps.”

“So now we’re trying to pull back on those. But he’s doing great – his strength and his character. He’s 8 months now and he’s turned into a real little boy. It’s great interacting with him now.”