Brian,
thank you for bringing to light so eloquently the horrendous failings of irish legislation to unmarried fathers and their children and most importantly the consequences of same . I watched you make your impassioned speech and believe you are very sincere in your motivations in this area. I found particularly insightful your recognition that the law as it currently stands measures a father only in terms of his past relationship with the mother rather than his present parenting relationship with his child.
The very real human suffering caused by the grievious lack of legal equality between unmarried parents is a matter of deep shame on all of Irish society.
However I believe the Law Reform Commission's Report and draft Bill"Legal Aspects of Family Relationships" will only make matters vastly worse. In fact some of the recommendations and most of the draft bill would have the effect of cutting the legal legs completely out from under all seperated fathers, both married and unmarried, in Ireland. Horrendous recommendations, such as doing away with the need to consult between parents on major welfare matters pertaining to a couple's child (Section 1.18&1.19)leaves one parent i.e. mostly the mother free and all-powerful to make unilateral decisions on these welfare matters e.g. choice of school, religion medical treatment etc.
The report also recommends that non-parents be granted the right to apply for the same legal status as parents. This will give rise to "legal outvoting" when it comes to contentious family cases before the courts i.e. mother and new partner will have greater legal power than a father on his own.
To be honest the report, when read in detail, amounts to an assault on every child's right to know and be cared for by both of it's parents (as you quote in your speech) as it creates a "parenting by commitee" scenario as outlined above.
I would be glad to outline in greater detail other major flaws with this report which serve neither children nor unmarried fathers but instead provide a platform to wreck the relationship between the two. I believe this report represents one the most pernicious attacks on fatherhood ever produced in this country and should be scrapped immediately.
John Don
Posted on 11 Jun 2011 6:34 pm
Brian,
thank you for bringing to light so eloquently the horrendous failings of irish legislation to unmarried fathers and their children and most importantly the consequences of same . I watched you make your impassioned speech and believe you are very sincere in your motivations in this area. I found particularly insightful your recognition that the law as it currently stands measures a father only in terms of his past relationship with the mother rather than his present parenting relationship with his child.
The very real human suffering caused by the grievious lack of legal equality between unmarried parents is a matter of deep shame on all of Irish society.
However I believe the Law Reform Commission's Report and draft Bill"Legal Aspects of Family Relationships" will only make matters vastly worse. In fact some of the recommendations and most of the draft bill would have the effect of cutting the legal legs completely out from under all seperated fathers, both married and unmarried, in Ireland. Horrendous recommendations, such as doing away with the need to consult between parents on major welfare matters pertaining to a couple's child (Section 1.18&1.19)leaves one parent i.e. mostly the mother free and all-powerful to make unilateral decisions on these welfare matters e.g. choice of school, religion medical treatment etc.
The report also recommends that non-parents be granted the right to apply for the same legal status as parents. This will give rise to "legal outvoting" when it comes to contentious family cases before the courts i.e. mother and new partner will have greater legal power than a father on his own.
To be honest the report, when read in detail, amounts to an assault on every child's right to know and be cared for by both of it's parents (as you quote in your speech) as it creates a "parenting by commitee" scenario as outlined above.
I would be glad to outline in greater detail other major flaws with this report which serve neither children nor unmarried fathers but instead provide a platform to wreck the relationship between the two. I believe this report represents one the most pernicious attacks on fatherhood ever produced in this country and should be scrapped immediately.
yours sincerely
John