Children ‘need to know both parents’

ONE-in-three children born in Ireland yearly do not have the right to knowledge of, or contact with, their fathers, a lobby group has claimed.

Treoir, the national federation for unmarried parents and their children, is now alerting parents through an advertising campaign of their children’s need to know both parents.

An unmarried father has no automatic legal right to his children in the same way as a married father has.

Currently, almost one-in-four children do not live in a household containing both their biological parents, and most live with their mother.

Treoir chief executive Margaret Dromey said many unmarried fathers either lost contact with or never develop a relationship with their child.

“They may do this to avoid conflict with the child’s mother, particularly if she has a new partner, or because she is upset because he is in a new relationship.”

But, she stressed, at a minimum, parents should ensure that the father’s name is on the birth certificate.

“Too often ‘father unknown’ appears on a child’s birth certificate and this hinders a child from developing a sense of his or her identity,” she said.

She pointed out that Treoir encouraged the development of “shared parenting” where possible and desirable.

“Of course, the mere presence of a father is not enough. It is the nature and quality of parenting by the non-custodial parent that is crucial,” she stressed.

More than 400 of the calls to Treoir last year were from fathers, many wanting to be involved in their children’s lives but wondering whether it was better to opt out because they did not get on with the mother.

Ms Dromey said the State should help families manage separation in ways that best promote positive ongoing relationships and minimise children’s exposure to conflict.

But, she stressed, where there is abuse or neglect, exposure to domestic violence or severe parental conflict, it must be recognised that contact can be extremely damaging to children.

More than half of calls to Treoir’s national information centre last year concerned a range of parenting issues, including custody, access, guardianship, maintenance and establishing paternity.

The advertising campaign is being backed by the Family Support Agency.