Oh father, where art thou? How unmarried fathers can get a raw deal due to outdated laws

It's time to take another look at the rights of unmarried fathers, writes Dr Brian Tobin

The means by which an unmarried father can obtain guardianship without going through the time and expense of a court application fail to meet the needs of many such people in modern Ireland. Picture: iStock

Married parents are both automatically guardians of their child as soon as he or she is born, as is the mother of a child born out of wedlock. 

However, Irish law does not grant the same automatic privilege to the unmarried father.