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MUCH OF THE media attention surrounding the publication of the Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015 on 19 February last rested on same-sex adoption and Artificial Human Reproduction.
The Bill, however, has a much broader focus. It proposes to herald a new era for family law in Ireland. The cornerstone of family law, particularly in relation to issues concerning children has been the Guardianship of Infants Act 1964, which will be amended significantly upon the enactment of the Bill.
There are many positives in this new Bill
There are many positive elements in the Bill such as the best interests of the child being the paramount consideration in all proceedings relating to guardianship, custody and access.
The Bill also provides for enforcement orders in circumstances where one parent “unreasonably” denies custody or access to the other parent. These enforcement orders include the attendance at parenting programmes, family counselling or mediation and the inclusion of compensatory time (extension of periods of access) when access orders are breached.
Further, while the 1964 Act makes provision for the removal of a guardian, the Bill helpfully specifies the circumstances in which a guardian can be removed, for example, if another guardian is being appointed, if existing guardians are unwilling or unable to exercise their guardianship rights or have failed in their duty to that child to such an extent that the welfare and safety of the child is likely to be affected unless removal takes place. This again will provide transparency not only for guardians but for the courts if called to decide on this issue.
Introducing automatic guardianship for non-marital fathers
The legislation will provide for automatic guardianship for non-marital fathers who have lived with the mother of the child for a minimum of 12 months, which period must include three months following the child’s birth.
While welcoming this development, Treoir – the national federation of services for unmarried parents and their children – has reservations as to how cohabitation periods will be verified if parents are in disagreement as to the time they have been living together.
Though this is also an issue that arises in separation and divorce cases, it is resolved at the hearing of the application. If a judge has to determine the length of cohabitation in guardianship cases, it is hardly satisfactory that we have a situation that could potentially increase the volume of guardianship cases going to court. While the issue of time limits is being resolved, the unmarried father will be unable to make important decisions around the child’s life. This is not in keeping with the ethos of the Bill.
This allows cohabiting fathers to become guardians – but what about fathers who live separately?
The Bill also seeks to recognise the new concept of family in modern Ireland by proposing that the court may appoint persons who have acted in loco parentis (eg, step- parents, grandparents, etc) as guardians, with the consent of existing guardians. Treoir is concerned that if the unmarried father is not a guardian there will be no requirement to consult him. He will, however, be given notice of any application for guardianship of his child.
While amendments to the Guardianship of Infants Act 1964 thus far have improved the position of the unmarried father in Ireland by providing that he can apply to court for guardianship or acquire guardianship by signing a Statutory Declaration for Joint Guardianship jointly with the mother, this Bill goes a step further.
It permits cohabiting fathers to become guardians subject to cohabitation conditions; however, the Bill does not provide for unmarried fathers who do not live with the mother of their child but may have a strong relationship with the child. In such circumstances, the old regime applies in that such a father will have to apply to court or gain agreement of the mother to sign a Statutory Declaration for Joint Guardianship.
Putting both parents’ names on their child’s birth certificate
We are delighted that at the report stage of the Bill on 12 March, following pressure by Treoir and many deputies, the Minister for Justice and Equality Frances Fitzgerald amended the Bill to facilitate unmarried parents signing a statutory Declaration for Joint Guardianship at the point of birth registration. This dovetails well with the Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014 which, when commenced, will make it compulsory for both parents’ names to be entered on the child’s birth certificate, with a number of exceptions.
It appears that when an unmarried couple register the birth of their child, they will be given a statutory Declaration for Joint Guardianship to sign. They can sign at that point or within 14 days of the birth registration and the Registrar will witness the signing of the declaration. The advantage of the acquisition of guardianship at the point of birth registration is that the parents do not have to satisfy a cohabitation period of one year. It is a matter of regret to Treoir that there is no duty on the Registrar to record this information.
Creating a central register for guardianship agreements?
Since the introduction of the Children’s Act 1997 an unmarried father can become a guardian if he signs a Statutory Declaration jointly with the mother. There is nowhere to file the forms and thus, in the event of a dispute between the parents, or the document being mislaid or destroyed, an unmarried father has no evidence of his guardianship and as a result will not be in a position to make major decisions in relation to his child.
For almost two decades there has been much criticism of the lack of a central register for joint guardianship agreements. Both the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality and the Law Reform Commission have recommended the introduction of such a register.
While the Minister did not commit to the provision of a central register for guardianship agreements, she did agree to the commissioning of a report on the feasibility of such a register. Treoir would like this to be embedded in the legislation. Perhaps consideration will be given to doing so at Seanad stage.
A more child-centred approach
All of the issues raised above have the potential to affect relationships in the future. The Bill attempts to support a more child-centred approach in deciding issues of guardianship.
The amendment at the report stage last week will assist unmarried parents to become joint guardians more easily and will also alert them to the fact that the father, who is unmarried, is not an automatic guardian of his child.
An unmarried father can acquire guardianship in one of several ways – by signing a Statutory Declaration and having it witnessed by the Registrar at birth registration (or within 14 days); by the parents living together for 1 year, 3 months of which must be post birth; by both parents signing a Statutory Declaration at a later stage of the child’s life, in the presence of a peace commissioner or commissioner for oaths; or by application to the court to be appointed a guardian. The ideal is that court should be the last resort.
Whether these different options will provide clarity or cause confusion awaits to be seen but there is an onus on all concerned to provide information to parents at the earliest stage possible. Treoir has been committed to doing so for the last 39 years and will continue to do so in the future.
Dr Anne Egan is a member of the National Council of Treoir. Her doctoral research, awarded by NUI Galway was in the area of fathers’ rights.
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Fathers rights are a joke in this country I have 3 kids I have not seen my daughter in two and half years been to court over 20 times haven spoken to her in nearly 18th months my ex hides behind the law and refuses access and all court does is adjour the cases every 3 months last time I went see my child I had ring garda when they shoeed up I was told it was not a garda matter I now dont no where my child lives etc so no matter what NEW FATHER RIGHTS come in it will always be same bullshit when it comes to fathers its a joke of a court a joke of a law
It’s because we put womens’ rights above childrens’ rights and waaaaaaay above fathers’ rights
It is wonderful that unmarried fathers are getting equal rights. Does that mean they will also b taking on equal responsibility for their children regarding financial costs rather than in some cases letting th state take responsibility. Remember no more than a dog is not just for Christmas. Parenthood is more than entertaining kid on a Saturday and paying for th odd pair of shoes or xbox
Most unmarried father’s would welcome your proposal! It’s sickening to see some men leave mother’s (or mother’s to be) high and dry with no help whatsoever!
On the other hand I have sympathy for father’s who have to watch their child leave the country because said childs mother’s situation has changed
1) They aren’t getting equal rights
2) They already have equal responsibility
A step in the right direction anyway
Guardianship for fathers should be automatic. There should be no need for cohabitation or mother’s consent. In fact, there should be no need for father’s consent, especially when it comes to financial support.
It should be just like with mothers, automatic rights unless they are unfit
Completely agree, only problem is how does the state know you ARE the father without a court case and blood test? They give automatic guardianship to mothers simply because the woman gives birth to the child and therefor the state has proof she is the mother. A father has to do a blood test to prove biologically he is the father… I’m not saying this is fair but this is the facts. Otherwie women could name any man as the father to a child and without proof he would bare the responsibility of a father…It’s a very tricky subject but fathers deserve rights and more importantly children have the right to know their father unless he is proven unfit. It’s not fair but we need more men and more good fathers fighting for their rights and putting up the fight to ever stand a chance of changing it. We, as a society talk about equality constantly, but we will never be equal untill we treat both sexes the same in all circumstances.. Point being, women want equality in the work place, men want equality in the home life. The day we all look at each other as people , as humans…. that is the day we will have equality
Typical half assed Irish approach. Guardianship should be automatically appointed to fathers whether living with child or not (within reason). And provisions should have been made for the creation of a central register of Guardianship, the current approach is a joke.
Once you register the berth/birth of any child, the state decides on who has Guardianship as the state now owns the child.
It’s unfair to say it’s typically Irish. Depriving fathers of rights is par for the course in western democracies
Only fair, right and correct. Should have been done a long time ago….
There are some lousy fathers out there,some lousy mothers to,why should the law decide the mother is automatically entitled to preferential rights,the mother is quick to expect the father to pay equally or more or else they blackmail the father with stopping visitations etc,50/50 straight down the middle,decent fathers being punished under the perception that they are to blame for the relationship failing when it’s just as easily the woman to blame, no worse punishment then being held to ransome to see your own kids
The media is responsibe for creating the myth that all mothers get custody.
Research proves otherwise.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/08/05/read-excerpt-from-phyllis-cheslers-book-mothers-on-trial/
Myths about custody still abound. Most people still believe that the courts favor mothers over fathers—who are discriminated against because they are men—and that this is how it’s always been.
This is not true.
For more than five thousand years, men—fathers—were legally *entitled* to sole custody of their children.
Women—mothers—were *obliged* to bear, rear, and economically support their children.
No mother was ever legally entitled to custody of her own child.
During the nineteenth century, pro-child crusaders gradually convinced the state that young children required maternal “tenderness”—but only if their mothers were white, married, Christian, and moral. The children of American slaves, of Native American Indians, of immigrant, impoverished, sick, or “immoral” parents—all were untenderly appropriated by slave owners and by the state. They were clapped into orphanages, workhouses, and reformatories or farmed out into apprenticeships for “their own good.”
No-one will be surprised to learn that Catherine is talking nonsense. http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/doctoral-thesis-confirms-poor-outcomes-produced-by-our-family-court-system-1.1625873
Definitely not my experience of it when my parents separated. My mother got absolutely everything she asked for while my dad was only allowed to see us for 6 hours during the week and every second weekend,I could go on with everything else that occurred but what’s the point?
Nobody ever wants to listen to the children’s experiences in these stories
Jay, had that problem a few years ago. Made the garda take a note of every time I was denied access and summoned the Sargent to the court to give evidence, didn’t take long for her to comply,
No what they want is more rights for gay adopting couples.
Only in Ireland could they try a stunt like this
Adolfo Hitler and David Inving.
I think we should sort out fathers rights before anything else to be honest.
Fathers can be gay, Glen. Luckily, it seems all fathers, gay and straight, are supported by legislation coming in. Someone who actually supports all fathers should be happy about that.
David, tell us about your conspiracy theories, just in case anybody still thinks you have any credibility.
No dough no show ,responsible parenting is not possible when drug,s involved
Isn’t this the bill that would allow non bio people apply for guardianship???
Like mothers new boyfriend etc??
How many guardians can a child legally have??
Still no automatic guardianship?
Pathetic.
Somewhat positive changes but laws are still flawed. Both parents should have the exact same rights; there’s no justification for anything less. How do they know I live with my kids? Surely I still need to apply to get “automatic” guardianship? Yet my partner does not.
Jay, it’s clear the court system is not working out for you. 20 court cases in two years sounds very stressful, for everybody involved. So why not try a different approach? Turn up (on time) for every visitation awarded, as per court order. Pay child support every week (regardless of whether you see her or not). Show respect to the mother of your child or children. In return you will get everything you supposedly want, access to your daughter, and much more.
Regarding your comment about the police not getting involved.. If you went to the police station every week with your court order in you hand and told them that the child’s mother is withholding access, then it worked be a police matter.
Your daughter is being damaged by not having you in her life. Therefore, you need to do EVERYTHING in your power to be a reliable patent. Forget about the ego, man up, protect and provide. That’s your role as her father.
Sent from my iPad
For a start I did turn up for access she did not show if she did show up it was without our child. I did go to the garda station a number of times only to be told over and over the same crap bring her to court and how can I show someone respect who has stopped me having a relationship with my child so no i wont be getting everything I deserve i had to beg another person to let me see my child and it did not get me anywhere and other thing I turned up for court dates she never did and maybe you should think before you comment cause it clearly annoying the way you seem think the man is in wrong
Why bother replying Jay, this ‘Julie’ knows more about your own case and own life than yourself. She is even blaming you because of your horrible ex.
I know it was stupid
@ Julie – you are talking shite.
Jay. I can well believe your story as I know equivalent real situations that mirror yours. The wrath of a woman scorned is something that goes beyond any reasonable levels of retribution…and yes…if the separation is not what you might call amicable then women can indeed stoop to levels of cruelty in order to inflict pain in a very self righteous way. So much so they become a nemesis of sorts, consuming their entire lives to seeing somebody else suffer, and feeling great when they see them suffer. Julie…you probably see the world as a place where people have rights and those rights are always adhered to. And in the law those rights are enshrined…but only in the case where the mother actually wants to take notice of them. I’ve been witness to a mother gleefully laughing and practically celebrating at how she had reduced the father of her child to tears and made him beg to just allow him to give his daughter a birthday present. And this man is a good and honourable man, who never once struck his girlfriend…his only crime was that he couldnt handle her insane jealousy. She controlled every aspect of his life…even to the point of not allowing him to attend family parties, being rude to his siblings and parents, creating scenarios whereby every woman in his life, including my wife was somebody he was having an affair with. She locked him out of the family home on more occasions than I can remember just because she had an attack of jealousy, and all the time she was holding his child over him as a ransom. When he finally broke down and sought help…went to a counsellor and found some sort of sense in his life and left her she did everything she could to destroy him and his life. The pitiful thing is that he still loves her. He makes apologies for her, tries all he can to do right by her. He pays his maintenance on time every month and shows up to every visitation. He doesnt send her nasty texts or emails. He does all he can to try to be calm so that some day she will see sense, and see passed her pain…that he never caused. He hopes and actually prays that she will see all the harm she does and causes to both him and their daughter and finally accept responsibility for it. But…I hold very little chance of that because she is a bitter and twisted person. I dont think any other entity than a woman could ever be that. But still…neither he nor his family have seen his little girl in 8 months. How do I know this? That man is my brother. And the courts and the Gardai do nothing…because to take the child from its mother…no matter how bitter and twaited she is…is just not going to happen.
There is a referendum coming soon about Equality. Marriage Equality. When do we get a referendum on Parental Equality? Where mother and father are truly seen as equal and custody is not the automatic right of the mother. If anything it should be 50 / 50. Or if full rights are to be assigned then its done on a basis of who can best support the child…and gender bias is scrapped. Equality people. We all seem to be banging that drum and women particularly loudly. And I have no problem with women being paid the same as men, women having all the same rights and privileges…as long as men have all the same rights too…without exception.
Catherine…you are just a woman scorned…or possibly beaten. And Im sorry for that. No man should ever hit a woman. For any reason. Even if she is a twisted shrew who is out to make his life a misery. You seem to have a lot of anger issues, and a definite victim mentality. Im sorry you have found yourself in a situation where you see all men, even ones just seeking justice as your personal enemies. We dont need to be told that we are all cruel wife bashing monsters…because the majority of us just arent. And there are a fair share of bitter and twisted women out there too…who for no good reason other then their own personal issues cant see passed their own anger. Dont be one of those people…you add nothing of value to a debate and your point is all you care about. A man hurt me…therefore all men must pay. We never hurt you. Some of us are hurting ourselves…deeply and emotionally and cruelly…in ways that cut as deep as an physical violence.
Very well written John, and as a man, and a brother of a man who from your words, is being hurt in the most vindictive way. I applaud you that. But i reply to you not only as a woman, but as a mother, and i tell you that no matter how bad the pain she causes her innocent child, and the father, in a few years she will look back on her actions and be more hurt than anyone. For she caused her child to miss her father. She caused her child to feel hurt, unwanted and abandoned and so many things a child should never know. All because of her own pain/jealousy/anger. Women need to realize, they may hurt their ex by not letting them see their child but in the long run, deep down, the person they hurt and destroy most is their own child. Love your child more than you hate your ex. Every parent should live by that. Children come first……
Fantastic article :)
I love the hypocrisy….this is an article about slowly bringing the rights of the father in line with those of the mother (doesn’t even come close), and in the comments there are bitter women actually telling men they shouldn’t have more rights, there must be reasons for not having access, but in spite of what bad people men are we’ll still happily take your money. More please. More money please. What’s that? You want to see your kids? Feck no, more money please. Absolute joke.
My point is…stop blaming your ex, the government, the police and me. It doesn’t get you anywhere. The court order is there to protect you and your child. Your ex can’t stop you from seeing your daughter. The law is there to enforce that. It would be much more counter productive to spend your time actually searching for your daughter and being in her life.
2 and a half years without seeing your daughter..and you’ve been to court 20 times??… I’m sorry jay, I don’t buy it.
Like I care what someone behind a screen thinks I couldnt give a toss if you ‘dont buy it’ instead of trying to be a keyboard warrior why dont you try something useful like and go live in the real world I bet you sit there wait for people to comment on things and makes your little day all the brighter when they reply to you I do not wish to answer your smart comments and digs when your clearly either not the full shilling or your just a total fool but its ok there is help out there for you..and this is clearly the nice verison of my reply
Yes once the order is in place, the child has to dragged by the hair of the head if necessary to access point. Even if the child is ill, s/he has to be brought to contact.
If the child says no because of former abuse, the child still has to go. The court can order ECT to burn out all memories of violence and abuse, in order that the father has access.
The secret courts need to open up and place all judgments in the public areana – names changed of course.
Then we will see the truth.
Now now Jay, Julie has devoted entire seconds of thought to her well-thought-out judgement of your life. Respect her hard work and knowledge. She’s the expert here.
In custody cases there is rarely any dispute unless domestic violence and or child abuse is reported.
The research is there to prove it.
http://www.domesticviolenceabuseandchildcustody.com/
“One of the findings you’ll learn about in this book is that, of the small fraction (5%) of child custody cases that are contested to trial and often beyond, perhaps 90% involve abuse allegations against the father.
These are not good guys sincerely wanting to raise their children—these are, for the most part, batterers who want to punish, hurt, and control their exes.
Another factor contributing to the surge in men’s filing for custody of their children was the federal child support enforcement law that was put into place in 1993. In the decade prior to that, male supremacist groups had begun to encourage abusers who had little involvement with the children during the relationship to seek custody as a vindictive tactic against their partner. (We cannot count how many women have told us that their abuser had threatened them with some version of, “If you leave, you’ll never get the kids!”) Courts who are certain that children do better with both parents in their lives (regardless, apparently, of how sociopathic, addicted, or mentally deranged the parent may be), are delighted to see fathers who appear to be so devoted to their children that they will fight for them in court.
Contrary to what many might assume, the people who staff our nation’s custody courts have no real expertise about topics related to children’s best interests—children’s developmental needs, the mother-child attachment bond, the benefits of long-term nursing, the harms of maternal-child separation, and so forth. Judges usually aren’t required to have any education whatsoever on the major issues affecting the litigants who appear in front of their bench. Although there is plenty of published literature on such topics, such as on the effects of domestic violence on child witnesses or the developmental impact of lengthy mother-child separations–it’s hard to find anyone in the legal system, including custody evaluators, who bases recommendations on the generally accepted research on children’s mental health and developmental requirements.”
Iv lived with my girlfriend for 8 years now we share her concil house and have a beautiful daughter as i moved to be with her and due to childhood abuse i suffered for years whic i am regularly attending couciling for iv been in out of work as someone needed to raise our daughter ( i believe at lest one parent should raise their kids instead of minders ) my girlfriend happily continued her job and i have done mostly all other family due to circumstances …….Anyway its not been easy on both of us good times never seem to last long , now we agrued last about her takeing our daughter to her familys function i disagreed on grounds that her family never bothered attending her grandfathers my dad furnal ony a year before …..And now this is where fathers lack of rights is no laghting matter and we need stand up for all dads ……I went to collect my daughter for school like everyday only to learn my girlfriend had collected her early and gone to her moms when i rang to tlk she told me We’re finished id no right to try tell her What to do and cant speak or see my daughter unitll i leave the house Which because of family situation Would make me homeless this is rediculalis someone can do that to someone els im meeting a lawyer and will fight to get this mess sorted but i have to say my lack of rights is a joke really ….Sorry for the rant
I am called Adeline and 28 years old Cameroonian of nationality, and gave birth to a lovely baby named Angel Hazel brooke. The father is an Irish from Ireland i knew him here in Cameroon n we were lovers for almost 3 yrs during which i got pregnant form him and gave birth to our daughter Angel..everything was fine until he suddenly stop taking care of her. and i lost my job.she stop school cos i cant afford her fees and her daily needs…she needs her fathers support n has been seriously sick all this while… Am writing to get help on how to get him to take care of her.
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