We’ve put their rights into law but are not taking childhood seriously

Every child born here on November 10, 2012, was born full of potential but about 30 of them will an entire lifetime where discrimination will be the thing they’re guaranteed, writes Fergus Finlay

A total of 196 children were born in Ireland on November 10, 2012. That’s five years ago this week. Two of the boys were called Jack, and two of the girls Emily — the most popular names that year. I’ve often wondered what life has been like since for Jack, and Emily, and all the other children born that day.

Of course, the numbers I have to use here are averages (according to the Central Statistics Office, a total of 71,624 were born in Ireland in 2012), but those children were all born on a pretty significant day. It was the day we decided, by a substantial enough majority (about 60:40), to recognise in our Constitution that children had rights of their own.