Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The relevant clause indicates:

6B. (1) A man who—(a) is, under section 5(1)(b) of the Act of 2015, the parent of the child,and(b) has married the mother of the child,shall be a guardian of the child.

The 12-month cohabitation is dealt with later. Just because somebody happens to be the father and happens to be married to the mother - or was married to the mother - does not make him any more suitable for automatic guardianship than an unmarried father. One can argue for conditions, but they would apply to both groups. There is a distinction being made between married and unmarried fathers, with one seen as automatically suitable for guardianship while the other is not. That does not make any sense and is completely arbitrary. If we think there should be conditions, we could indicate that the father of the child should get automatic guardianship as long as there is no reasonable objection made by the mother. That would be regardless of whether they are married, as bringing marriage into the process is discriminatory. It harks back to all the stuff that we have been trying to deal with.

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