Children ‘weapons of war in spousal disputes’

Disputes between estranged spouses frequently turn into a “war over children”, inflicting “terrible damage” on them, Justice Minister Alan Shatter has said.

He said children were often used as a weapon to “take revenge” and that some parents “untruthfully” accused their former partner of being violent or abusive to the child.

He said that in his 30 years of experience as a family lawyer, he had seen the children of these parents coming back to him with relationship difficulties of their own as a result.