One Family » Law Reform Commission

Seminar on proposed changes to family law by LRC

webmaster — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:33:40 +0000

Mary Wilson and Karen Kiernan

One Family seminar puts the spotlight on proposed changes to the laws governing family relationships

One Family, Ireland’s leading organisation providing specialist support services for people parenting alone and sharing parenting, held an important seminar on 18 January in response to the Law Reform Commission’s report on the legal aspects of family relationships, chaired by RTE Drivetime’s Mary Wilson and attended by a number of other NGO’s, service providers and interested parties.

Speakers included Geoffrey Shannon, Special Rapporteur for Child Protection, Fergus Ryan Lecturer in Law DIT, Ciara Matthews family law solicitor with Gallagher Shatter and Candy Murphy, Policy & Research Manager, One Family.

‘We were discussing the LRC report so that we can respond to it in an informed and measured way,’ explains One Family Director Karen Kiernan, ‘the report examines many issues including family rights and relationships and asks whether guardianship rights for non-marital fathers should be changed, whether there should be compulsory joint registration of births and whether rights and responsibilities should be extended to other family members such as step-parents and grandparents. Our seminar has ensured that our response will be informed by the expertise of legal professionals and the experience of those working with families directly involved in these issues.’

Candy Murphy, Policy & Research Manager of One Family said:

‘We welcome informed analysis of the issues affecting the rights and responsibilities of members of ‘non traditional’ families, with a strong focus on the rights and welfare of children and on the development of a new language in family law that reflects this emphasis.’

Geoffrey Shannon, Special Rapporteur on Child Protection, was one of today’s key speakers.

‘I welcome the fact that the guiding principle for the Law Reform Commission in considering the area of family law is the welfare of the child as enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child,’ he comments, ‘the introduction of a statutory presumption in favour of granting a non-marital father an order for guardianship unless the welfare and interests of the child dictated otherwise has much to recommend it, given the realities of modern family life. However, much more consideration needs to be given as to how such a presumption would operate, informed by recent judgements and by national and international experience.’

More photos of the day here.

Rights, Responsibilities and Children

webmaster — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 01:37:22 +0000

A discussion of the Law Reform Commission report on legal aspects of family relationships

A One Family Seminar

The seminar was held on Monday 18 January 2010 in DIT, Aungier Street, Dublin 2, chaired by RTE Drivetime’s Mary Wilson.

Speakers included Geoffrey Shannon, special rapporteur on children; Fergus Ryan, family law lecturer in DIT;

family law solicitor Ciara Mathews of Gallagher Shatter and Candy Murphy, One Family Policy Manager.

The Law Reform Commission’s Consultation Paper on Family Relationships, launched in September 2009, examines changing patterns of family relationships, in particular how the law should approach the rights and responsibilities of fathers, step-parents, grandparents and other members of the extended family in contemporary Ireland, taking into account the best interests and welfare of children.

One Family held this seminar in order to inform our response and to provide clear information to other interested organisations. All can* (One Family’s campaigning and advocacy network) members were invited to attend as well as other family support providers who have a particular interest in this area.

The seminar focussed specifically on the following recommendations, topics and questions and provided informed comment on the implications of these proposals for Irish law, policy and practice:

Whether automatic guardianship (parental responsibility) for all fathers should be introduced.
Whether there should be a statutory presumption that a non-marital father be granted an order for guardianship (parental responsibility) unless to do so would be contrary to the best interests of the child or would jeopardise the welfare of the child.
Whether the distinction between birth registration and the allocation of guardianship (parental responsibility) should remain. This would be accompanied by provisions to encourage greater joint registration of births.
Should there be compulsory joint registration?
Should the current two stage procedure for applying for access (contact) by members of the extended family be removed.
Should rights and responsibilities be extended to other family members.

Everyone attending the seminar was encouraged to give their views on these important topics and the views of all can* members will inform our ultimate submission. We know that these issues really matter to you and we want to make sure that your voice is heard. To ensure that we consult with all can* members, including those who may not have been able to attend, we will make One Family’s draft submission to the LRC available for feedback . We would greatly appreciate it if you could send your email address to info@onefamily.ie so that we can alert you to this. Also feel free to let us know your views by post or phone.

Supporting Family Contact for all Children

webmaster — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 09:52:45 +0000

Today One Family welcomed the Law Reform Commission’s Consultation Paper on the Family Rights and Responsibilities of Fathers and Grandparents supporting their views that there should be a stronger focus within family law on parental responsibility in the best interests of the child and that the rights of unmarried fathers should be improved.

Welcoming the report and the call for submissions on how best to progress these issues Karen Kiernan, Director of One Family said: ‘It is vital to look at this issue from a child’s perspective and to adapt the language used in family law to reflect this focus.’ Ms. Kiernan continued: ‘For many years One Family has been calling on the Government to recognise that it is the quality of the relationships between parents and children that matters rather than legal structures. One Family’ she added ‘has been developing its services in recent years to support both parents in the many different types of family relationships that now exist to maintain and develop positive relationships with their children. We hope that this report and the resulting consultation process will create a positive climate within which we can develop this work further’.Candy Murphy, Policy and Research Manager, One Family, said ‘One Family has been carrying out extensive research on the needs of children and parents in family and relationship breakdown and is calling for greater supports for families going through this process including the establishment of child contact centres in Ireland similar to those provided in most other countries. One Family will be publishing research Supporting Child Contact: The Need for Child Contact Centres in Ireland*in the very near future’. ————————————–ENDS———————————

*Definition of contact centre: Child contact centres are defined as ‘safe, neutral, welcoming venues which exist to promote and support regular contact between parents and children who do not live together’ (Scottish Executive, 2003).

Submission in relation to consultation on discussion paper on the rights and duties of cohabitees

webmaster — Tue, 14 Sep 2004 22:16:40 +0000

One Family broadly welcomes the treatment of the issue of non-marital relationships by the Law Reform
Commission on this occasion. Particularly given that 2004 marks the 10th anniversary of the UN International Year of the Family, it is imperative that current and persistent barriers to the full equality and equal status of all families and family types, in legal, policy and service provision arenas be addressed.

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