Barnardos poll - Children’s rights must be enshrined
The difficulties likely to confront those framing the constitutional change were eloquently described yesterday by Minister for Children, Brian Lenihan.
But surely, given the ground swell of popular support for change, it should not be beyond the political and legal resources of the State to surmount the legal obstacles.
To the minister’s credit, he made no bones about the fact that Ireland’s failure to protect children in the past demands that an amendment must constitutionally enshrine “robust safeguards for the rights and liberties of all the children of our nation”.
By no stretch of the imagination could the demand for constitutional change be described as a recent development. Notwithstanding the sudden sense of urgency engendered by the Taoiseach’s call for a constitutional referendum on the rights of children, successive administrations stand accused of sitting on their hands up to now.
Regrettably, ever since constitutional change was first recommended 13 years ago in the report on the Kilkenny incest outrage, this key aspect of the document has gathered dust on ministerial shelves.
Meanwhile, the lid has been lifted on a depressing catalogue of child abuse, poverty, disadvantage and neglect. In a shameful illustration of the appalling treatment of children in Irish society, a litany of sexual and other violations went unchecked under the unseeing eyes of officialdom for decades.
It is patently clear from the results of a national opinion poll, conducted for Barnardos, Ireland’s biggest children’s charity, that the public wants constitutional change in order to guarantee that this kind of abuse never happens again. Effectively, the poll shows that 70% of adults are in favour of changing the Constitution to give special recognition to children’s rights.
Doubtless, it will be difficult to produce an acceptable formula that avoids undermining the rights of the family while extending greater protection to children. As Mr Lenihan put it, any proposal must take account of the delicate and intimate relationship that exists between child, parent, family and the State.
With the political parties apparently singing from the same hymn sheet on the urgency of this matter, the question confronting them is what degree of change is required to strike a balance between the equal rights of the family and those of the child.
Conceivably, the approach outlined by Barnardos chief executive Fergus Finlay represents a possible solution to this dilemma. Whatever transpires, the organisation deserves to be commended for stimulating debate on this vitally important question.
According to the Barnardos formula, the State would guarantee to support the welfare of children, making it a matter of paramount concern in any State decisions that relate to children.
As an organisation working at the coal face of this problem, it is keenly aware of the need to underpin the rights of the family. With this in mind, it believes only in exceptional cases should the State intervene in order to protect the rights of a child. At present it can only do so where it can prove that parents have failed in their duty in this regard.
Our politicians stand accused of failing to ensure that all the children of the nation are cherished equally under the Constitution.
With the wind of public support behind them, they are duty bound to put this issue before the Irish people so that the rights of children can be put at the heart of our laws and Constitution, once and for all.
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