Family courts disruption 'leaves vulnerable children and families at risk'

Right to Transparency urged justice minister Jim O’Callaghan to act as distress, financial strain, and uncertainty continue to grow for families facing postponed hearings. Stock picture: Alamy

A five-week disruption at the family courts in Dublin has left vulnerable children and families at risk, as repeated closures stall critical decisions on custody, access, and domestic abuse protection, an advocacy group has said.

The Right to Transparency group has urged justice minister Jim O’Callaghan to intervene immediately as distress, financial strain, and uncertainty continue to grow for families facing postponed hearings.

Courtrooms empty

Courtrooms were unable to be used for sittings on Wednesday at Dublin's District Family Law Court, while the ongoing work-to-rule has resulted in repeated adjournments and disruption to court sittings.

Co-founder of Right to Transparency Síle Ní Dhubhghaill said people attending court for barring order applications, child custody, and access proceedings had spent days waiting, sometimes accompanied by their children, only to be told their cases could not proceed.

“For anyone whose own safety or the safety of their children depends on a court order, delays and uncertainty about the status of that order can have serious consequences,” she said.

One mother, Lavinia, who is involved in ongoing custody proceedings, said the disruption had added to an already distressing family law case.

“Every postponed hearing means more uncertainty for my children’s lives at a time when they need stability,” she said.

She said hearings involved considerable preparation and that cancelled cases meant wasted work, increased costs, and families being left in limbo. She said: 

The children are the ones who feel it most 

Right to Transparency is a survivor-led, expert-informed advocacy group campaigning for reform of Ireland's family law system.

One of its key focus areas includes ensuring that women and children experiencing domestic abuse are protected and heard.

The group said in a statement that it understands that the work-to-rule includes a refusal to take on additional duties, including recruitment-related work, and that a replacement registrar has not been appointed following the retirement of the previous registrar.

Ms Ní Dhubhghaill said the disruption had now lasted more than a month and called on the minister to engage with the courts service to establish how sittings could resume and postponed cases be heard.

'300 Silenced Voices' campaign

The latest disruption comes as the group’s “300 Silenced Voices” campaign has received more than 180 anonymous testimonies about experiences of the family justice system, just four weeks after its launch.

The campaign aims to gather 300 accounts for a planned submission to the UN Committee Against Torture, including testimonies from mothers who believe they or their children have been failed by the family courts or Tusla, and adults who experienced failures in the system as children.

• You can discover more about Right to Transparency and its '300 Silenced Voices' campaign on RightToTransparency.com. 

• If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please click here for a list of support services.