Irish grandparents must wait to adopt their abandoned grandchild.

The Irish American grand-parents of abandoned toddler Nathan have to wait another day to see if they can take him home.

Three-year-old Nathan was dumped at St. Patrick's Cathedral last Tuesday by people believed to be friends of his mother, Erin.

Poor Nathan was found in the famous cathedral clutching a note with the words "Call Immediately" and the name of a detective in Florida.

His mother had been jailed in Florida just two days earlier on counterfeit charges.

Grandparents Donald and Frieda Fons rushed to New York and were able to visit Nathan Friday.

They hope to visit St Patrick's too. "We want to meet the security guards that helped him that night and just say a prayer, light a candle for him," said Fons. "I'm Irish-Catholic, so what a fitting place to be."

First though, they must wait for the child protection services to release the child from emergency foster care. The Fons said they had already prepared a bedroom for his return to Florida.

But Judge Judy Adams at Manhattan Family Court said the courts needed more information from Florida.

"We don't have as full a record as we need," she told the Daily News.

Nathan had been living with Donald and Frieda up until June when their son, William Fons, was sent to jail.

His mother, Erin Comeau, 26, took off with him last June and had custody of him until her arrest in Daytona Beach April 18 for passing a fake $100 bill.

Comeau wrote to the court saying she would agree to the Fons having temporary custody of Nathan but did not want to "permanently lose her son."