A COLOURFUL parade of Santas through Dublin’s city centre yesterday highlighted the bitter-sweet message that Christmas is a time for families, including separated parents.

Up to 20 parents committed suicide over the past year because they were denied access to their children, it was claimed today.

A march of unmarried and separated fathers is taking place in Dublin this afternoon.

WHEN Dave Whyte, spokesman for Separated Parents of Ireland (SPI), woke up on Christmas Day three years ago without his two children, he contemplated suicide.