Taoiseach pledges action to allow killers of children be named

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said the Government will move quickly to allow killers of children to be named. Picture: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews.ie

The Government will move quickly to allow the killer of children to again be named, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said.

Since a landmark ruling in the Court of Appeal last October, the killers of children cannot be named but the ruling has also placed a gagging order on the families of such victims and they have demanded action to allow them speak out again.

Speaking in recent days, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has restated the Government’s commitment to addressing the dilemma thrown up by the court’s ruling.

“It will be early next year [2021] that we will be in a position to do that. I know the attorney general is working on that with the Minister for Justice. It has to be changed and we will. The specific nature of how we do it, we will have to wait to see the detail of that,” he said.

“I think it’s important in terms of, I believe in transparency on issues like that,” he said. 

Of course, we should know who is murdered, in certain circumstances it is essential.

On 29 October, Judge George Birmingham delivered a judgment in the Court of Appeal that gave a strict interpretation of certain reporting restrictions set down by the Children Act 2001.

In his judgment, Judge Birmingham’s ruling centred on section 252 of the Act, which created mandatory reporting restrictions where the trial relates to “an offence against a child or where a child is a witness in any such proceedings”.

In such circumstances, reporters are automatically and expressly prohibited from identifying “the name, address or school of the child” or any detail that might identify them.

Naturally, media outlets are also prohibited from publishing pictures that may identify the child victim or witness.

All of this is long-established, and all court reporters are well aware of the rules.

But in late October, Judge Birmingham found that Section 252 has a much broader application — he ruled that the reporting restrictions also apply in circumstances where the child is deceased or has turned 18.

Under questioning from Fianna Fáil’s Jim O’Callaghan Justice Minister Helen McEntee has said officials in her department are currently examining options to address the main concerns arising from that judgment.

“I am fully committed to finding the most suitable means to progress any necessary changes to rectify the situation as quickly as possible, irrespective of whether or not there is an appeal,” she said.

Any changes proposed to the Children Act will have to be consistent with the key principles of that act, which is of course safeguarding the best interests of the child, she added.

Mr O'Callaghan said that Section 252 of the Children Act was intended to protect the privacy of children who were victims of crime, but it was never intended that a dead child would be "anonymised".

"If a child is murdered or unlawfully killed, it is wrong that, in the prosecution of a person for that child's death, the public does not get the name of the person charged," he said.

A similar amendment was also proposed by Independent Senator Michael McDowell. 

The ban on the naming of child murder victims has been criticised in a statement to this newspaper by a mother of two children who were killed by her husband. The husband took his own life immediately after the killings several years ago.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Mr O'Callaghan said he hopes this law change can happen within the next few months.

"Having discussed the matter with the minister before Christmas I know that the minister agrees that the law needs to be changed promptly."

"The minister informed me that officials in her department are working on legislation to amend the Children Act and are using a draft prepared by Michael McDowell and myself for that purpose," he added.