Protecting children must be first ‘priority for society’

President Michael D Higgins has welcomed the upcoming referendum on children’s rights, claiming it was a chance “to set down a marker once and for all”.

Addressing a conference organised by Barnardos, the children’s charity of which the former Galway TD is a patron, President Higgins said the history of the State had showed that a focus on property had always overtaken the guarantee of children’s basic rights.

His comments at the conference on the future for child welfare in Ireland came as Barnardos chief executive Fergus Finlay said there was now a “once in a lifetime opportunity’” to overhaul child protection services based around a community hubs model.