Parents separated from children face seasonal heartbreak

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.

Christmas, he says, is a heart-breaking time for parents who are not living with their children. His situation has now improved but he knows of one father who hasn’t seen his children in two years.

For the eighth year running, to highlight the plight of children and parents prevented from seeing each other, a vigil will take place on O’Connell Bridge in Dublin on Christmas morning. Last year, more than 200 people attended the gathering. This year’s slogan is ‘stop the hurt, put the children first’.

The vigil, organised by SPI, is being held in conjunction with USFI (Unmarried and Separated Fathers of Ireland). A survey of 100 random members of SPI, due to be published in the new year, found that 50% were unmarried fathers, 40% were separated fathers, 8% were unmarried mothers and 2% were separated mothers.

“Of the unmarried fathers, 80% had legal guardianship of their children. Of that 80%, 80% of them had to go to court to get guardianship,” says Mr Whyte.

Legal guardianship gives a person rights to the moral, physical, religious, educational and emotional upbringing of a child.

According to Mr Whyte, it should be automatically granted to fathers apart from cases of incest or rape resulting in a child.

“The Government should be doing something about this. There should be an advertising campaign to highlight what legal guardianship means because so many people are cohabiting these days. It’s a simple matter of rewriting what’s there at the moment,” he said.

The Christmas Day vigil takes place from 11am-1pm on O’Connell Bridge, Dublin. Contact Dave Whyte of SPI on 086-2612400.