Outdated law threatens to exclude unmarried fathers from children’s lives

UNMARRIED fathers are in danger of being excluded from their children’s lives due to outdated family law practices which are “unsustainable” as they do not reflect modern Irish society.

Under current laws, branded unsustainable by unmarried parents’ group Treoir, only married fathers have automatic guardianship rights to their children. But with 33% of children now born outside of marriage – half of whom are born to parents who do not live together – there are growing concerns that the interests of both parents are not protected.

In 2008, 2,448 unmarried fathers applied for guardianship, a 140% increase from 2000, but according to Candy Murphy, One Family policy and research manager, there are no true figures for how many men are guardians of their children because no formal register exists.