Fathers' rights group to step up campaign

The battle to improve fathers’ rights will step up in the New Year as campaigners today claimed the Government now has a golden opportunity to address the issue.

Tens of thousands of men are believed to have had no access to their children over the festive season, according to the Unmarried Fathers of Ireland (UFI).

And they warned plans for a constitutional amendment on children’s rights late next year could create a two-tier system of family law.

“This is the golden opportunity for the Government to call a referendum and put it to the people to decide if we want to bring the interpretation of the family in line with international laws,” UFI spokesman Donnacha Murphy said.

A vote on the issue is being planned for the summer and the Oireachtas Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children has been set up to agree recommendations by April.

But the UFI have yet to be consulted on the wording.

They believe there are around 120,000 unmarried fathers in the country and with laws as they stand the the vast majority have no legal access to their children unless they have been officially named guardians.

The UFI carried out a survey earlier in the month and found 80% of unmarried fathers do not expect to see their kids this Christmas.

The Committee’s terms of reference include drawing up recommendations for making the rights of children more explicit; removing obstacles for adoption of children in care; and ensuring the best interests of the child apply in court relating to adoption, guardianship, custody and access.

The proposed wording also includes a uniform standard of child protection for all children, regardless of their parents’ martial status.

The UFI called for more debate.

“If these proposals were to be introduced it would create a two-tier system of children’s rights where children in stable families based on marriage would be sitting on a constitutional pedestal, whereas those from unmarried families would only receive a limited form of protection,” Mr Murphy said.

“The current proposals will further erode the limited parental rights unmarried parents have.”