May 2005
UK website warns of alleged Algarve child-abuser
Nothing more than an exact transcript of what was reported by the News of The World in November 2006, this recent media coverage has nevertheless once again catapulted the Algarve to national attention for allegedly accommodating child abusers.
Back in 2006 News of the World reporters caught up with David Reid, otherwise known locally as ‘Irish Dave’, then a musician in a local popular hang-out ‘The Round Up Saloon’, sensationally announcing his whereabouts and, till then, unknown past.
The Portugal News spoke to Dave in 2006 after these reports rocked the sleepy village. He admitted ‘revealing himself’ to his daughters, but denied ever laying a finger on any of his three children, two girls and boy. He also told how he had served 18 months of a three-year prison sentence on charges of indecent assault and gross indecency, following complaints from his own children.
At the time he told The Portugal News, “I never sexually abused my children”, he said. “I did wrong at home, very wrong. I exposed myself to my daughters and I paid the consequences.
I did my time for this crime but I did not run and hide from it. I have no excuse for what I did. I have tried to understand why I did it and I still don’t know. I am very sorry and I have lived with the guilt everyday for 22 years. But I never touched my son, and I am not a paedophile”.
Claiming to have subsequently been victimised by locals he once considered he knew well, little more was seen or heard of ‘Irish Dave’ until this latest article under the headline ‘Alert to avoid the Algarve’ was published in Portugal’s biggest selling newspaper, re-reporting the News of the World’s initial interview and publishing imagery taken from http://www.webweavers.co.uk/sarahslaw/irishdave.htm.
Whether ‘Irish Dave’ remained in Carvoeiro after the news exploded in 2006 is unknown, though no incident involving the man in question has been reported to date.
Well-liked and a popular performer, at the time Dave Reid vowed to face the local community if they would let him “live in peace” and even said he was “glad the skeletons are out of the closet”.
As with most ‘local gossip’, the topic of ‘Irish Dave’ eventually faded within the Carvoeiro community, though the image of the Algarve as a family haven, for unrelated reasons, is now more questioned than ever.
