Constitution facilitates child abuse horror stories

THE Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) agrees that the upbringing of children is, in most cases, best left to the parents and that the various family support services should assist, and not supplant, parents in this vital nurturing task.

However, the jailing of a Roscommon father for 12-and-a-half years for the horrific and systematic sexual abuse and rape of his son, following on the seven-year jail sentence of the boy’s mother after being convicted last year on 10 counts of incest, sexual abuse and neglect of their children, shows that blind adherence to the doctrine of the “inalienable” rights of parents can result, albeit in exceptional circumstances, in horrific suffering for children.

This shocking case brought into stark reality the fact that the best interest of the children came into play far too late and that concerned welfare personnel were defeated by the unqualified primary rights of parents as currently enshrined in our constitution.