There’s only one way to secure children’s rights

YOU report (June 19) that Minister for Children Barry Andrews stated the child protection issues facing the Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children may be best dealt with through the legislative process rather than through constitutional change.

We welcome the committee’s intention to explore all options, including legislative proposals where appropriate.

The fact remains, however, that the Government made a promise to the people of Ireland and, more importantly, to the children of Ireland that they would seek to place children’s rights at the centre of our constitution. Constitutional change has been recommended time and again by national bodies and the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. Amending the constitution to respect children’s rights is not a theoretical exercise — Irish society no longer believes, and has not believed for some time, that children should be seen and not heard.

A referendum to strengthen children’s rights is the only means available to the Government to respect the recommendations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and to honour its promise. I respectfully remind the Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children that its role, as its name suggests, is to ensure it finds a wording for a constitutional amendment that will allow children to take their rightful place in our constitution.

Jillian van Turnhout

Chief Executive

Children’s Rights Alliance

Upper Mount Street

Dublin 2