Co Kildare man reunited with sister after more than 20 years apart

A Co Kildare man who was adopted from a Romanian orphanage was reunited with his sister after more than two decades.

Dan Ryan, of Titan Fit, in Naas, came to Naas from Romania at the age of three when his parents, Mike and Anne, adopted him.

Mr Ryan said: "I don' t have memories, just feelings. There are stories of how, after me arriving, that I would go out in the back garden and get upset for no reason."

His sister, Carmen, had also been adopted by another family, she was four years old.

Life went on for Mr Ryan, he began to integrate into life and attended both primary and secondary school in Naas.

His parents told him from the start that he was adopted and born in Romania. They regularly asked him if he ever considered returning, to see the country where he was born.

He finally decided to go in 2012, along with his Co Kildare based uncle Ron.

Mr Ryan said: "I felt that the time was right."

In Romania he discovered that his birth mother had passed away but was reunited with his father. His parents, like many in Romania at the time, had been too poor to keep their children and had to send them to an orphanage. At one point, they had taken Dan and his sister out of the orphanage, but returned them.

Speaking about his birth country, he said: "I liked the culture, but I did not feel it was my home."

After discovering his father, he decided to search for his sister.

His sister runs a restaurant in a remote, idyllic mountainous part of southern Italy and Dan has made several trips.

Mr Ryan said: "I am in contact with her all the time, we had an immediate connection."

Mr Ryan and his sister feature on tonight's TV3 series What Happens Next at 8.30p.m.