Woman taking case over state ‘bias’

An Irishwoman is going to the European Court of Human Rights over a refusal by the Irish courts to award her a lump sum payment for accommodation because her child was born outside marriage.

The 34-year-old Dublin woman, who claims discrimination by the state, has been engaged in legal proceedings since 2004 to obtain lump sums for accommodation and maintenance, as well as regular maintenance payments from her former partner, who is her child’s father.

In 2009, the High Court nullified an earlier court order which awarded her a €500,000 lump sum to buy accommodation for herself and her son on the basis that it had no jurisdiction to make such an award in relation to non-marital children. It also refused the claim for a lump sum for maintenance because she had been granted an order to receive monthly maintenance payments of €1,200.