Unmarried and separated fathers to plead case in Geneva

The Unmarried and Separated Fathers group are to travel to Geneva in September to protest at Irish laws which state they do not have an automatic say in the upbringing of their children.

Their protest will coincide with Minister for Children Brian Lenihan's trip to the UN headquarters where he will face questions on these laws.

This news came as a damning new report found Ireland may be in breach of the UN Convention on Human Rights for legislation in relation to unmarried fathers.

“Basically what we're doing is taking our situation to a European level,” said Ray Kelly, the national director of the Unmarried Father's group.

“You have to remember, one out of three children are born out of wedlock, so therefore one out of three children do not have a constitutional right to be loved and cared by both parties which is enshrined in the European Constitution.

“This is one of the most serious, fundamental rights we're going to be addressing and hopefully the Minister will address us before we get there and resolve some of these problems.”