Media – Page 2 – One Family

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Did you grow up in a one-parent family in Ireland?

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If so, One Family & The Ark Cultural Centre for Children invite you to share your experience to help develop a new work for the stage.

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One Family is delighted to partner for the first time with The Ark to develop an exciting new work for the stage which aims to reflect real life experiences of children in one-parent families in Ireland over the years.

The Ark commissions, presents and produces work for, by and about children for young audiences ages 2-12 throughout the year and from time to time also creates and presents work for grow ups which reflects and celebrates children’s experiences. To mark 50 years of One Family and our work supporting one-parent families in Ireland since our foundation in 1972 as Cherish, we will collaborate with The Ark to develop a new piece of documentary theatre. 1 in 5 people in Ireland live in a one-parent family and 1 in 4 families with children in Ireland is a one-parent family.

Created by playwright Kate Heffernan, the piece will reflect stories and memories shared by grown-ups about their experiences as children growing up in one-parent families in Ireland. The aim is that through these shared memories, they can shine a light on the real experiences of one-parent families over the years in Ireland. All names provided will be changed and measures will be taken to anonymise stories to ensure that no one is identifiable.

Today a call out was announced inviting those over 18 to share their own experience to help in the development of this piece of documentary theatre.

“We’re really excited to be working with The Ark and Kate Heffernan, to develop this piece of theatre reflecting the diversity of family life in Ireland. One in five people in Ireland live in a one-parent family yet their stories are seldom told this will be an opportunity to show the rich tapestry of family life in Ireland. If you grew-up in a one-parent family in Ireland, including a separated and divorced family, we want to hear your story.”

Karen Kiernan, CEO of One Family

“The Ark makes art for by and about children, putting their experiences and their voices at the heart of everything we do. We are delighted to work, for the first time, with One Family on a new documentary piece by Kate Heffernan reflecting seldom told stories of growing up in Ireland.”

Aideen Howard, Director of The Ark

Kate Heffernan is an Irish playwright whose first play, In Dog Years I’m Dead was a winner of the Stewart Parker Trust Emerging Playwright Award 2013 and audiences at The Ark had a chance to experience her work when the wonderful Peat premiered there in 2019. She has been commissioned by The Ark and One Family to create this new work.

If you would like to share your experience you are invited to consider the following areas:

Did you grow up in a one-parent family – with your Mam, Dad, or a grandparent? Did you live part of the time with each of your parents? Did you grow up with a step-parent? Where did you live and who with?
What were some of the things about your family that you may want to share and celebrate? Do you have any particularly vivid or favourite memories from your childhood?
How do you think your childhood shaped the person you are or the life you lead today?
Was your childhood different to those around you because you lived in a one-parent family?
Would you be interested in talking directly to playwright Kate Heffernan, in person or by video call, as part of her research?

You can share your story in a number of ways:

You can share your story by filling out this form.
Submit a video or voice note, by emailing Kate Heffernan at participation@ark.ie.
Or post your response to Kate Heffernan, The Ark, 11A Eustace Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2.

For Editors:

One Family:

One Family was founded in 1972 as Cherish and is Ireland’s national organisation for people parenting alone, sharing parenting and separating. One Family provides support, information and services to all members of all one-parent families, to those sharing parenting, to those experiencing an unplanned pregnancy and to professionals working with one-parent families. Children are at the centre of our work and the organisation helps all the adults in their lives, including mums, dads, grandparents, step-parents, new partners and other siblings, offering a holistic model of specialist family support services. For further information visit: www.onefamily.ie

The Ark:

Established in 1995, The Ark is a dedicated cultural centre for children. We create opportunities for children, along with their families and friends or with their school, to discover and love art. We commission, produce and present work for, by and about children, from the ages of two to twelve years old. We do so in our architecturally award-winning home in the heart of Dublin’s Temple Bar, leased through a long-term cultural use agreement with Temple Bar Cultural Trust. We also work through our online channels, off-site and on tour in Ireland and abroad. Through our work with leading Irish and international artists children can enjoy performances in our unique child-sized theatre, view engaging exhibitions or participate in creative workshops. We also curate specific professional development opportunities for teachers and artists.

We work in partnership with others as artistic collaborators and regularly share our resources and knowledge with artists, educators and all those interested in child-centred arts practice. We also work with other likeminded organisations to advance children’s rights to art and culture as part of their learning and development. The Ark is dedicated to creating brilliant art experiences for children, schools and families.

The Ark gratefully acknowledges the continued support of its principal funder, The Arts Council, and its other annual supporters: the Department of Education, Temple Bar Cultural Trust and Dublin City Council.

Available for Interview:
Karen Kiernan, CEO | t: 086 850 9191
Further Information/Scheduling:
Noel Sweeney, Communications and Events Manager | t: 085 7241294
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New Research Seeks to Shed Light on Families Sharing Parenting of Young Children

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Press Release

Wednesday, 9 March 2022

One Family, Ireland’s national organisation for people parenting alone, sharing parenting and separating is seeking parents to take part in an online survey on the experiences of young children living in families where parents are separated. The survey is being carried out by a joint research team from Trinity College Dublin and University College Cork on behalf of One Family. The research project is funded through the RTE Toy Show Appeal and Community Foundation for Ireland Fund and is seeking to develop guidance on contact time for infants and young children in separated families. To complete the survey click here.
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Niamh Kelly, Policy Manager with One Family said, “The most common time for parents to separate is when their child or children are very young. Many families seek help in setting up and managing contact arrangements but find there is no uniform approach. We see through our work with families, parents often struggle to determine how to best share the parenting of their young children. This can be extremely challenging for parents and children alike, particularly in situations where there is conflict, abuse and/or limited contact between parents. We want to change all this by developing a child-centred, best practice tool that can be used by parents, legal and social care professionals alike, to make safe and optimal contact arrangements for children under the age of six years.”
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The survey is open to Mums and Dads who have experience of sharing parenting of a child or children when they were aged 0-6 years old. Parents can answer for past experiences, once their child is under 18 years of age at time of responding. For more information and to take part in the survey click here. The survey is open until 31st of March and will take approximately 20-30 minutes to complete.
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Denise Charlton, Chief Executive of The Community Foundation for Ireland said: “Our mission of equality for all in thriving communities will only ever be achieved if it is rooted in the experiences of people. This is an opportunity for separated parents to have their voices heard and provide the real-world experiences and learnings which can help form a best practice tool which will benefit many others. On behalf of The Community Foundation we welcome this ground-breaking work as an important contribution to ensuring all children have the best start in life.”
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Dr Simone McCaughren, Assistant Professor, School of Social Work and Social Policy, Trinity College Dublin said, ““This research will examine the impact of contact arrangements on young children, from their parents’ point of view, following separation, divorce or where parents were never in a relationship but have a child. This is the first time in Ireland that this issue has been the subject of a research study. Part of it will examine the extent to which children’s voices are heard. It will look at the complexities and difficulties around decisions on guardianship, access and custody.”
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Dr Aisling Parkes, Senior Lecturer, School of Law, University College Cork said, “The time is ripe for a critical exploration into this issue which affects the lives of so many children and families in Ireland today. Recent times have witnessed a variety of legal and policy developments in Ireland in the area of children’s rights, but often the voices of smaller children are left unheard. This research seeks to tap into the unique perspectives of separated parents of young children who have direct experience of parenting a child in common. It aims to learn more about the main challenges associated with these arrangements and how parents seek to navigate their way through them. In particular, the research will provide a snapshot of the extent to which young children themselves are included in the decision-making processes around these arrangements.
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To complete the survey:

https://tcdecon.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_00WRfyxqpk7uN8y

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For Editors:

One Family:
One Family was founded in 1972 as Cherish and is Ireland’s national organisation for one-parent families and people sharing parenting or separating, offering support, information and services to all members of all one-parent families, to those sharing parenting, to those experiencing an unplanned pregnancy and to professionals working with one-parent families. Children are at the centre of One Family’s work and the organisation helps all the adults in their lives, including mums, dads, grandparents, step-parents, new partners and other siblings, offering a holistic model of specialist family support services.
For further information visit: www.onefamily.ie

Background to the research:
Pregnancy and the first year of a baby’s life is the most common point of separation for parents. Many parents seek assistance during the separation process; particularly when this intersects with pregnancy, an infant or young child, high conflict, abuse and/or limited parental communication. One Family works with parents and their children, providing counselling and parenting services during this time.
There is no uniform approach to contact with infants or young children for separated families in Ireland with the various stakeholders holding different perspectives and placing varying emphasis on factors such as the principle of the best interest of the child, child protection, parental rights etc. Due to the lack of a consistent, evidenced-based approach parents often struggle to determine how to best share parenting of young children. This research project funded through the RTE Toy Show Appeal Community Foundation Ireland seeks to develop guidance on contact time for infants and young children in separated families to support parents during this difficult time. To read more about this project click here.

Available for Interview:
Niamh Kelly, Policy Manager | t: 01-6629212
Further Information/Scheduling
Noel Sweeney, Communications and Events Manager | t: 085 7241294
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On Tuesday 15 February, we hosted, with our colleagues in Trinity College Dublin’s renowned School of Social Work and Social Policy, a wonderful online event commemorating our friend and colleague, Sherie de Burgh.

During the evening we remembered Sherie, her work, warmth and humour and our panel of experts looked at the role of pregnancy counselling in Ireland past, present and future – asking the question what would Sherie do?

We’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who attended and to our speakers on the evening Dorje de Burgh, Dr. Ruth Fletcher, who chaired the evening, Dr Catherine Conlon (TCD) and Anne McCarthy (NUI Maynooth) for making the event possible. A video of the event is now available and can be viewed below:

We’d also like to remind you of the Sherie de Burgh Memorial Fund which was set up to provide vital perinatal counselling services for mothers and to support vulnerable one-parent families. If you would like to donate to the fund you can do so here.
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Thursday, 10 February 2022
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Government measures to address the Cost-of-Living Crisis have been described as ‘a missed opportunity’ by One Family – Ireland’s national organisation for people parenting alone, sharing parenting and separating reacted to the Government ‘cost of living measures.’
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Karen Kiernan, CEO of One Family, said, “The cost-of-living crisis is having a disproportionately high impact on those who are already struggling. The measures announced this evening are a missed opportunity. By giving a little back to everyone instead of targeted resources at those most in need, the most vulnerable will continue to suffer. Right now, more than one in every four one-parent families are living in consistent poverty. This Cost-of-Living crisis is landing on top of families already in the midst of a poverty crisis.
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“One Family had urged the Government to choose targeted, sustainable measures, instead of short term, universal payouts. For example, the lump sum Fuel Allowance payment will help families struggling pay one, maybe two months’ bills; but extending the payable Fuel Allowance period to 32 weeks would have restored purchasing power for these families long-term. ”

Recipients of the Working Family Payment saw least gains in Budget 2022, with the €10 increase announced barely keeping a pace with inflation. Bringing forward this increase is a token gesture, when what these families really need is to be eligible for the Fuel Allowance. Such a move would have cost the Government approximately €43 millionbut would have protected the most vulnerable working families.

Low income families need a long-term strategy with targeted supports rather than piecemeal gestures, this is yet again, another wasted opportunity.
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For Editors:
One Family was founded in 1972 as Cherish and is Ireland’s national organisation for one-parent families and people sharing parenting or separating, offering support, information and services to all members of all one-parent families, to those sharing parenting, to those experiencing an unplanned pregnancy and to professionals working with one-parent families. Children are at the centre of One Family’s work and the organisation helps all the adults in their lives, including mums, dads, grandparents, step-parents, new partners and other siblings, offering a holistic model of specialist family support services.
These services include the lo-call askonefamily national helpline on 0818 66 22 12, counselling, and provision of training courses for parents and for professionals. For further information, visit www.onefamily.ie. The askonefamily helpline can be contacted on 0818 66 22 12 or 01-6629212.
According to the latest EU SILC data published by the Central Statistics Office in December 2021, 21.6% of households headed by one adult with one or more children were living in consistent poverty in 2020.
For further information visit: www.onefamily.ie
Available for Interview
Karen Kiernan, CEO | t: 086 850 9191
Further Information/Scheduling
Noel Sweeney, Communications and Events Manager | t: 085 7241294
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Ahead of the Oireachtas debate on the motion to establish a Joint Committee on Gender Equality today (9th November 2021), civil society organisations have welcomed the setting up of this Committee and called on it to implement the recommendations of the Citizens Assembly on Gender Equality in full, prioritising a referendum to make the recommended Constitutional changes in relation to non- discrimination (Art. 40), the value of care (Art. 41.2. on ‘woman in the home’) and Article 41.3 on the Constitutional definition of the family.

The recommendations by the Citizens Assembly are ground-breaking and send a strong and clear signal to Government and all decision makers that gender equality needs to be at the centre of our Constitution, our legislation and our policies.

These recommendations come after long campaigns by civil society organisations to reform our constitution to reflect a modern Ireland with the value of equality at its centre.

Orla O’Connor, Director of the National Women’s Council (NWC) said,

“We welcome and support the establishment of the Committee to discuss how we can best implement the comprehensive recommendations by the Citizens Assembly on Gender Equality. In particular, we call on the Committee to prioritise the necessary changes to our Constitution on women, the value of care and care work and on the definition of the family.

In line with the recommendations of the Citizens Assembly, we urgently need to replace the sexist and outdated wording of Art. 41.2 of our Constitution and replace it with wording that recognises the value of care within the home and the wider community.”

Karen Kiernan, One Family said,

“The establishment of this Committee on Gender Equality is very welcome to drive forward the implementation of the wide-ranging recommendations by the Citizens Assembly. The recommendation to recognise all forms of families in our Constitution, not only families based on marriage, will finally recognise the diversity of family life in Ireland and particularly provide status and recognition to one parent families.”

Organisations supporting this call include the National Women’s Council (NWC), One Family, Irish Council of Civil Liberties (ICCL), Children’s Rights Alliance, Treoir, Family Carers Ireland and Care Alliance Ireland.

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For more information, please contact Silke Paasche, Head of Communications, NWC, Tel. 085 858 9104.

Notes to Editor:

Full report on the recommendation of the Citizens Assembly

Recommendations in relation to the Constitution are:

Insert a new clause into Article 40 to refer explicitly to gender equality and non-discrimination.
Delete and replace the text of Article 41.2 (woman in the home) with language that is not gender specific and obliges the State to take reasonable measures to support care within the home and wider community.
Amend Article 41 so that it would protect private and family life, with the protection afforded to the family not limited to the marital family.

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Piecemeal budget fails to deliver for Ireland’s poorest families

Welcome moves as some inequalities for one-parent families removed while others are compounded

Press Release – One Family react to Budget 2022

October 12, 2021

Budget 2022 contained many measures to be welcomed but ultimately failed to deliver for Ireland’s poorest families. National statistics and numerous Government and independent reports have proven the link between one-parent families and poverty. This budget should have used the evidence and focussed on targeted measures to support the poorest families and loosen poverty’s grip on children. Instead, what we got was a giveaway budget that focused on headlines rather than solutions.

Karen Kiernan CEO of One Family said, “We welcome the measures such as the €10 increase in the Back to School Clothing & Footwear Allowance (BSCFA) for each qualifying child and we especially welcome that the income threshold for single parent households is now the same as that of two parent households; this is something we have campaigned for. The €5 increase in weekly social welfare payments and the paying of 100% of the Christmas bonus for social welfare will be welcome for families. While on the Carers Allowance, the income disregard increases for single carers and lone parents is to be welcomed too. We have huge concerns though, about the lack of supports for one-parent families in the rental sector while private landlords are supported, we see no help for these families. The investment in childcare is a welcome step on the road to a fully publicly funded system, but it’s imperative the additional funding makes access easier for low-income families.”

Niamh Kelly, One Family Policy Manager said, “We welcome some inequalities for one-parent families being removed such as changes to the BSCFA but we are concerned with others being compounded in this Budget such as with Parents Benefit. While an increase is welcome, one-parent families are still only entitled to half the leave of two-parent families. We can understand the difficulties of dealing with historical inequalities in an antiquated system, but this is an inequality that is newly introduced. We are also sceptical about the Fuel Allowance increase. The increase of €5 is below the basic rate of fuel/energy inflation. We would have preferred to see the payment period increase to 32 weeks to support families. Overall, this is a piecemeal budget that leaves many families in the cold.”

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Note to editors:

About One Family:

Statistics on one-parent families:

Source: Census 2016

1 in 5 people in Ireland live in a one-parent family.
1 in 4 families with children in Ireland is a one-parent family.
4% of one parent families are headed by a mother, and 13.6% by a father.
The number of one-parent families headed by a parent aged 15-34 has decreased, while the number of one-parent families headed by a parent aged 35+ has increased.
356,203 children lived in one parent families, representing more than one in five or 21.2% of all children in family units.
The average one parent family has 1.63 children compared to an average of 1.95 for the population overall.
The total number of divorced people in Ireland has increased from 87,770 in 2011 to 103,895 in 2016.This is an increase of over 44,000 people in the last ten years.

For further information visit: https://onefamily.ie/

Available for Interview

Niamh Kelly | Policy Manager

Further Information/Scheduling

Noel Sweeney, Communications and Events Manager | t: 085 7241294
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In 2020 there was a 20% increase in demand for One Family’s services for lone parent and separating families including 17% increase in demand for Parenting during Separation courses

Press Release

Ireland is facing a tsunami of separation and divorce following the pandemic and family law and support services are not prepared according to One Family – Ireland’s national organisation for people parenting alone, sharing parenting and separating. The charity, commenting at the launch of its Annual Review for 2020, said demand for its specialised family support services dramatically increased in 2020 with a 20% rise in client services and a 17% increase in demand for its parenting during separation courses.

One Family CEO, Karen Kiernan said, “For many separated families the pandemic and lockdowns acted as a pressure cooker exasperating old grievances and increasing conflict. There was a huge increase in calls from parents in distress (68% increase in calls to the askonefamily helpline in Q2 2020 compared with the same period in 2019) as issues of relationship breakdown, access, guardianship and child maintenance coincided with reduced access to courts services; leading to increased conflict and mental distress. We worked to support parents and we provided information guides, advocated on behalf of parents, and brought all our services on-line affectively bringing our services to every county. But this demand for services, particularly our mediation and Tusla funded Separating Well for Children service, has meant services are now extremely stressed and we are worried about a future surge as families struggle with family breakdown.”

Geraldine Kelly, One Family Director of Parenting Services said, “What we found is that support services are there in local communities if you have a parenting issue or if you are separating amicably but if there is conflict, or legal issues, which is often the case, specialist services are very hard to find. Currently, we are receiving calls from support services across the country looking to refer families to us and we are trying to accommodate them. But we have limited resources and demand is so high. This leaves many families in crisis waiting longer than we would like. At the moment, we have with a six-month waiting list for Separating Well for Children and eighteen-month wait for counselling services; when your family is in crisis this is a long-time. Any delay can increase the level of conflict in the family and impact greatly on the wellbeing of children and parents.”

One Family CEO, Karen Kiernan said, “We need to see a commitment from Government to provide funding in local communities for separating families, people sharing parenting and particularly for those in conflict. There is a tsunami approaching which will have a knock-on effect on children and families unless we prepare now.”

/Ends/

For Editors:

One Family was founded in 1972 as Cherish and is Ireland’s national organisation for one-parent families and people sharing parenting or separating, offering support, information and services to all members of all one-parent families, to those sharing parenting, to those experiencing an unplanned pregnancy and to professionals working with one-parent families. Children are at the centre of One Family’s work and the organisation helps all the adults in their lives, including mums, dads, grandparents, step-parents, new partners and other siblings, offering a holistic model of specialist family support services.

These services include the lo-call askonefamily national helpline on 0818 66 22 12, counselling, and provision of training courses for parents and for professionals. For further information, visit www.onefamily.ie. The askonefamily helpline can be contacted on 0818 66 22 12 or 01-6629212.

Link to One Family Annual Review:

Two case studies of how One Family supported families during the pandemic:

For further information visit: https://onefamily.ie/

Available for Interview

Karen Kiernan, CEO | t: 086 850 9191

Further Information/Scheduling

Noel Sweeney, Communications and Events Manager | t: 085 7241294

One Family is inviting people who are parenting alone, sharing parenting or separating to participate a focus group on the organisation’s strategy 2022-2025. We are asking parent to share their thoughts about the services and policy areas we should be focused on for the next three years. The focus group will take place online and will take approximately an hour and a half.

Focus group takes place on:

• Thursday, 9 September 10.30am

If you have any questions and/or are interested in taking part, please email: policy@onefamily.ie

Children’s rights should guide family law reform.

Courts should be last resort for separating families, where there are no safety concerns.

Wednesday 2 June 2021

A webinar on family law reform has been told children’s rights should guide family law reform. The Building a Family Law System for Children webinar hosted by One Family, heard from national and international experts with panellists from the Department of Justice, Courts Service, academia from the UK and Ireland and a High Court Judge from Northern Ireland.

Dr Jan Ewing of the University of Exeter’s Law School and member of the Family Solutions Group which authored the report “What about me?”) said, “Ireland has the opportunity to learn from the experience and mistakes of England and Wales to create a world-class family law system centred on the rights, needs and safety of the child. Where there are safety issues, these must be prioritised and accessible, affordable access to legal advice and the Family Court are needed. However, in the absence of safety or other welfare concerns, court should be a last resort for parenting disputes. Instead, parents need access to information, advice and well-signposted support to help them to look beyond their relationship issues and toward the rights and needs of their child and the child’s right to have a relationship with both parents.”

Dr Stephanie Holt from Trinity College Dublin said, “In domestic violence the perpetrator targets the whole family. However, our family law system focuses on the perpetrator and immediate victim, failing to understand what it is like to be a child and live with domestic violence and abuse. In reforming family law we must challenge the myth that it is possible to be an abusive partner and a good father; this is simply is not true. Doing so however involves prioritising children’s voice and children’s rights and ensuring mechanisms are in place so the voice of the child is understood at every step of the process.”

Karen Kiernan CEO of One Family said, “We know from our work with families that they are often traumatised from going through the adversarial family courts and this can cause long-lasting damage to children. We strongly advocate for a Family Law Service Model to be developed alongside the new legislation to provide assessments, safety and family supports to families before and during court. When families separate or have issues that need to be agreed, the first responder shouldn’t be a solicitor – instead child-focussed, affordable supports should be available locally”.

Emer Darcy, Head of Family Law Reform, The Courts Service said, “The Courts Service is looking forward to continuing to collaborate with One Family as we progress with our Modernisation Programme to deliver better outcomes for all our users including children and families.”

About One Family:

One Family is Ireland’s organisation for people parenting alone, sharing parenting and separating, offering support, information and services to all members of all one-parent families, to those sharing parenting, to those experiencing an unplanned pregnancy and to professionals working with one-parent families. Children are at the centre of One Family’s work and the organisation helps all the adults in their lives, including mums, dads, grandparents, step-parents, new partners and other siblings, offering a holistic model of specialist family support services.

These services include the askonefamily national helpline on 01-662 9212, counselling, and provision of training courses for parents and for professionals.

For further information visit: www.onefamily.ie.

Services such as our Tusla-funded, Separating Well for Children project show the depth of demand that exists from people going through the private family law system. This project deescalates the conflict within the family using mediation, parenting support as well as creative therapies for children, allowing parents to put aside their own grievances and focus on the welfare of their children.

Available for Interview

Karen Kiernan, CEO | t: 01 662 9212 or 086 850 9191

Further Information/Scheduling

Noel Sweeney, Communications and Events Manager | t: 01 622 9212 or 085 7241294

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Saturday, 15 May
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To mark UN International Day of Families, One Family – Ireland’s national organisation for people parenting alone, sharing parenting and separating is calling for Article 41.3 of the Constitution on the definition of the family to be changed. The call comes following the publication of the recommendations of the Citizens Assembly on Gender Equality and the publishing of the Mother and Baby Home Commission Report.
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One Family/Cherish founder Maura O’Dea Richards said, “As a so-called ‘unmarried mother’ in 1970s Ireland, I felt the full weight of the Constitution on my shoulders as I struggled to raise my child alone against a system that sought to constrain us. I repeatedly saw women with no choice, who were forced to put their children up for adoption, go into Mother & Baby Homes or become homeless and outcast.
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This is why I founded Ireland’s first organisation for single parents, to change how Ireland treats it most vulnerable citizens. Now, while Article 41.3 of the Constitution has little practical impact on the lives of families – I believe it is a symbol. A symbol of discrimination and isolation. It tells families they are ‘other’ they are outside our community and society. This must end, all families are entitled to respect and protection. Discrimination against families who are not married must end. Never again will they be isolated and incarcerated. Never again will they be stigmatised and shamed. We need to tell the thousands of women and their children who were imprisoned in homes and adopted against their will that we see and acknowledge their pain and this will never happen again. We need to change Article 41.3 now.”
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One Family CEO Karen Kiernan said, “The recommendations of the Citizens Assembly on Gender Equality to “Amend article 41 so that it would protect private and family life, with the protection afforded to the family not limited to the marital family” provides a clear pathway for our political representatives and we are asking Government to set a date for a Constitutional Referendum on Article 41.3. We are today calling on parents, other NGOs and public representative to support our call on social media on Saturday 15 May using the hashtag #WeAreFamily & #FamilyDay to make Ireland a better place for all families.”
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For Editors:

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One Family was founded in 1972 as Cherish and is Ireland’s national organisation for one-parent families and people sharing parenting or separating, offering support, information and services to all members of all one-parent families, to those sharing parenting, to those experiencing an unplanned pregnancy and to professionals working with one-parent families. Children are at the centre of One Family’s work and the organisation helps all the adults in their lives, including mums, dads, grandparents, step-parents, new partners and other siblings, offering a holistic model of specialist family support services.

For further information click here:
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For Interview:

Karen Kiernan, CEO | t: 086 850 9191

Further Information/Scheduling:

Noel Sweeney, Communications and Events Manager | t: 085 7241294
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One year on from our first webinar focused on Family Law Reform in Ireland , Building a Family Law System for Families, One Family want to focus attention on the most vulnerable court users – children in our on-line conference Building a Family Law System for Children on Wednesday, 2 June 2021, from 3pm-5pm.
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The conference will be hosted by Sinéad Gibney, Chief Commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and will include a distinguished panel of national and international experts from the Department of Justice, Irish Court Service, Trinity College Dublin and the UK. Panellists will examine current Irish Family Law Reform plans and what the Irish system can learn from developments in other jurisdictions.
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One Family have made a submission to the review of the Student Grant Scheme – SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland). To read the submission including One Family’s recommendations for changes to the SUSI grant to improve access and administration of the scheme for one-parent families click here.

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To celebrate Single Parents Day, 21 March 2021, we will be running a campaign to celebrate everything that is brilliant about being a single parent and we’re looking for parents to share the positive things about parenting alone.

We will turn as many quotes as we can into graphics, with your quote, your first name and the town/city you live and share them on social media in the run up to Single Parents Day.

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Privacy Policy

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One Family, today launched 5 new, low-cost, on-line e-learning parenting courses. The new e-courses, which are on the organisations new e-learning platform, can be completed in the comfort of your own home, at your own pace and are specially designed for people parenting alone, sharing parenting and parenting post separation (separating). To view courses click here.

One Family’s Director of Parenting Services, Geraldine Kelly said, ” It’s so exciting to have these courses available to parents to complete in the comfort of their own homes and at their own pace. We know how much pressure parents are under especially with the schools still off and we hope the courses will support parents to overcome some of the challenges of parenting during lockdown and parenting through separation. While the courses are self-directed, we are still here for parents if they need further support.”

The e-courses are self-directed and include built in tutorials from One Family parenting staff. Courses include:

Parenting Through Stressful Times
The Skill of Clear & Direct Communication
Positive Parenting – For Changing Families
Family Communications – Coping With Family Life and Teens
Family Communications – Parenting When Separate

To view courses click here.

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Submission to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice in relation to the General Scheme of the Family Court Bill

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– February 2021
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One Family have today made a submission to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice in relation to the General Scheme of the Family Court Bill. To read our submission click here.
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One Family this week made two submission to the Joint Committee on Children, Disability, Equality and Integration in relation to the General Scheme of the Parent’s Leave and Benefit (Amendment) Bill.

The first submission was on behalf of One Family, that submission can be read here and the second was a joint submission with other NGOs (Barnardos , Children’s Rights Alliance , FLAC (Free Legal Advice Centres) , Focus Ireland , National Women’s Council , One Family , Society of St Vincent de Paul , SPARK and Treoir) as part of the National One-Parent Family Alliance, that submission can be read here.

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One Family issue a statement in reaction to the Mother and Baby Home Commission’s Report

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18 January 2021
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One Family, Ireland’s national organisation for one-parent families, today issued a statement on the report of the Mother and Baby Home Commission. In the statement One Family said they were shocked at the cruelties outlined in the report’s findings but not surprised given their years of work with mothers and families who have experienced unplanned pregnancy. To read the statement in full click here.
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One Family called for a number of actions in response to the report including:

Full, swift and appropriate redress for victims.
A call for all children who were born into Mother & Baby Homes or who were adopted to have full and appropriate information about their origins, birth families, places of residence, health or medical issues and more.
A call for an evidence-based and adequately resourced action plan to combat child poverty.
A Referendum on Article 41.3 of the Constitution to expand the definition of the family to provide rights and protection for all families including unmarried families and in particular unmarried mothers and their children.
The organisation also calls for symbolic reparation at a national level to recognise and celebrate unmarried families through a National Family Day where the State can work to remove the veil of shame and celebrate all families including non-traditional families.

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2nd Annual Sherie de Burgh Commemorative Event

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We are pleased to announce the 2nd Annual Sherie de Burgh Commemorative Event in memory of our friend and former colleague Sherie de Burgh. On Monday 15 February 2021, her fourth anniversary, One Family in partnership with Dr Catherine Conlon, School of Social Work and Social Policy, TCD will host an online cultural event entitled Artistic Responses to Reproductive (in)Justice.
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Alison Lowry, glass artist, will discuss her exhibition (A)Dressing our Hidden Truths, an artistic response to the legacy of Magdalene Laundries and Mother and Baby Homes in Ireland opened at The National Museum of Ireland in March 2019.
Catherine Conlon discussing collaboration with Opera composer Evangelia Rigaki (TCD) to produce The Pregnant Box, seven miniature operas with a wandering choir out of her PhD research exploring narratives of women concealing pregnancy in contemporary Ireland.
Kate Antosik-Parsons (TCD) Art Historian talking talking about her recent paper on ‘Haptic Touch’ examining Pauline Cummin’s Becoming Beloved (1995) and Sarah Browne and Jesse Jones’ The Touching Contract (2016), two performance-based artworks located in Dublin maternity hospitals to discuss how Irish performance art has responded to the political, social and cultural climate of restrictions on women’s bodies.
We will also have readings from writer Molly Hennigan and photographic artist Dorje de Burgh.

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Date: Monday, 15 February 2021

Time: 7.00pm

Location: Via Zoom
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To register, email info@onefamily.ie
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We will also be providing an update on the Sherie de Burgh Memorial Fund here
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Watch Sherie’s 2nd Annual Commemorative Event here

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Budget fails to provide income security for most vulnerable families

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Budget 2021 was a missed opportunity to provide income security for Ireland’s poorest families. National statistics consistently highlight one-parent families as among the worst off in society and children in these families being particularly vulnerable to poverty and deprivation. Since 2016, there have been 12 major reports on lone parents and poverty all with similar recommendations. While Budget 2021 has some welcome measures; Government have not used the evidence available to them. Parents and children are struggling now and will continue to do so after this Budget. The Budget does little to help working lone parents keep their job if their children are sick and contains no targeted supports for one-parent families and nothing on childcare – the most pressing issue for working lone parents.
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Karen Kiernan CEO of One Family said, “We welcome that Government listened (even partially) to us and made necessary increases to the Qualified Child Increase (QCI) and Fuel Allowance. We are disappointed that the Working Family Payment (WFP) has not been adjusted to support people parenting alone although the increase is welcome. And we welcome the change to the One-Parent Family Payment (OFP) though this will impact only a small number of parents. But we are concerned that Government is not using the evidence available and seems happy to adopt a scattergun approach rather than introduce targeted measures for the most vulnerable. Budget 2021 does nothing to lift families currently living in poverty out of it. It maintains the status quo; but the status quo kept thousands of children in poverty. We had hoped for a strategic and progressive vision of the future with targeted measures for the most vulnerable, what we got was a little for everyone.”
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“We understand the difficult decisions Government must make in the midst of a double threat of the pandemic and Brexit but Ireland’s most vulnerable families need targeted supports. We call on Government to use the evidence that is available.”

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Note to editors:

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About One Family:
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One Family is Ireland’s organisation for people parenting alone, sharing parenting and separating, offering support, information and services to all members of all one-parent families, to those sharing parenting, to those experiencing an unplanned pregnancy and to professionals working with one-parent families. Children are at the centre of One Family’s work and the organisation helps all the adults in their lives, including mums, dads, grandparents, step-parents, new partners and other siblings, offering a holistic model of specialist family support services.
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These services include the lo-call askonefamily national helpline on 1890 662212, counselling, and provision of training courses for parents and for professionals.
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Read One Family’s Pre-Budget Submission.

Read our Budget 2021 Factsheet.
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Statistics on one-parent families:
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There were 218,817 family units with children (of any age) headed by a lone parent (Census 2016).
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1 in 4 families with children in Ireland is a one-parent family (Census 2016).
1 in 5 people in Ireland live in a one-parent family (Census 2016).
356,203 children lived in one-parent families, representing more than one in five or 21.2% of all children in family units (Census 2016).
In November 2018, 14,349 One-Parent Family Payment recipients (39 per cent of all recipients) are in employment, and of 14,418 Jobseeker’s Transition recipients, 4,037 recipients work. The Working Family Payment is an important support for working parents; almost half of recipients are households headed by a lone parent.
The Survey on Income and Living Conditions 2017 (SILC) revealed that one-parent family households experience the most deprivation in Ireland. Almost 45% of lone parent households experience more than one form of deprivation.
55% of homeless families living in emergency accommodation are one-parent families, at any time.

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For further information visit: www.onefamily.ie.
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Available for Interview

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Karen Kiernan, CEO | t: 01 662 9212 or 086 850 9191
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Further Information/Scheduling

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Noel Sweeney, Communications and Events Manager | t: 01 622 9212 or 085 7241294
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As the economy re-opens and people are called back to work, we are asking parents to complete a quick two-minute survey about their childcare concerns and whether they think it will impact their income/job security.

To fill out this anonymous survey click here:

We are looking to quantify parents’ concerns as part of the #ChildcarePreventsHomelessness campaign with Focus Ireland, Children’s Right Alliance, Barnardos Ireland, Treoir, FLAC, Dress for Success and the National Women’s Council of Ireland.

One Family’s tips on how to make blended families work was featured in an article by Sheila Wayman in the Irish Times on Wednesday 2 September. The article featured comment by One Family’s CEO Karen Kiernan on how to make blended families work – to read the article click: Irish Times article:

Meanwhile, our helpline staff have come up with a list of books that parents could find helpful when starting conversations with children about blended and shared families. Diverse families: onefamily.ie/booklist/diver and Blended Families: onefamily.ie/booklist/blend

One Family’s tips on how to make blended families work:

Never presume just because you as adults are in a good relationship that your children will be overjoyed to meet your new partner’s children;
Ensure your couple relationship is strong and stable before subjecting children to a blended family. You will need to agree how you both play a role in parenting each other’s children, especially if they are young and you are left in charge at times;
It must be made very clear to children that new partners are not replacing mum/dad. They should always call the new partner by their first name;
Children usually choose who they become friends with, so being landed with someone else’s children all of a sudden is not easy and they may not get along. Yet they need to feel at home in each parent’s home;
Children want to spend time with parents and not always with new blended families, unless you are very lucky. Sharing you may be a challenge;
If you have no children but are moving in with your new partner and their children, you need to do it in stages. It is a bit like being an uncle/aunt. You need to support the children to have a good relationship with both biological parents and extended family – this comes before your family;
Couple time is crucial. If you get caught up in childcare and parenting with no time as a couple, you will fall down. You must have a strong relationship, take time to talk and compromise, so you can parent children in the one home and meet their needs;
Include children in the planning to become a blended family. Include the other parent(s) in this plan too;
Explain family forms to children – do not presume they get it. Be factual and help them understand about whose mum/dad is whose biologically and otherwise, about step siblings and grandparents etc Help them explain their family form to others and to feel proud of the family form they belong to.

For more parenting tips click here:

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Specialist Employability programme for Lone Parents sees 90% success rate

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The award-winning, European Social Fund -funded, New Futures Employability Programme, for lone parents on social welfare has seen over 90% of graduates progress to education or employment. The programme run by charity, One Family, recorded an 85% success rate in 2018 and new figures further show the phenomenal success of the community-based programme. The figures are revealed in the charity’s Annual Report for 2019 which has just been released. The programme uses a ‘one-to-one’ mentoring system to support lone parents who are looking to return to education or work as well as an accredited training programme and wrap around family support services.

Niamh Wynne, Coordinator of the New Futures Employability Programme said, “Many of the parents we work with are experiencing poverty,domestic abuse, homelessness and social isolation. Despite the incredibly difficult circumstances they are in, all are motivated to change and improve their situations. The New Futures Employability Programme provides the skills, challenges and support they need to build their confidence to take the next step for their family.”

New Futures graduate Tracy*said, “Before starting with One Family in 2019 I had left a relationship due to domestic violence. I had two very young kids and I was only starting to gain back some of the confidence I had lost. I saw a post on Facebook for the New Steps programme and decided to apply with a view to starting the New Futures programme afterwards and get my life back on track. These programmes were a God send! I learned how to deal with so many emotions I was struggling with; instead of letting them get on top of me, I learned new strategies to cope with them. I also learned to look at life from a different perspective. It was great to meet with other people in similar situations and know that I am not alone. The help and support in the 1:1 mentoring was second to none and I would advise anyone no matter what your background or struggles to try this programme as it’s one of the best decisions I made. I am now in a job and my life has improved incredibly since completing the course.”

One Family CEO, Karen Kiernan said, “The success of these proven education programmes shows how targeted supports, such as these specialist bridging programmes, can support parents on social welfare to take the next steps into education or employment. These programmes need to be available nationally so that parents from all over Ireland can also be successfully supported off social welfare and into long-term careers. In 2019, 93% of graduates who completed the New Futures Employability Programme went on to further education or employment. We must support parents so that they can support themselves out of poverty.”

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Notes to editor:

One Family was founded in 1972 as Cherish and is Ireland’s organisation for people parenting alone, sharing parenting or separating.

*Tracy is not her real name

One Family Employability Programmes:

New Futures Employability Programme is One Family’s flagship 24 week personal and professional development, specialist bridging programme, accredited at QQI level 4. New Futures won the Special Recognition Award for an ESF Initiative at the Aontas Star Awards in 2019 for making an outstanding contribution to adult learning.
New Steps is an eight week parenting support and self-development programme.
For more cases studies of New Futures graduates click here
To read One Family’s Annual Report click here
To learn more about One Family’s educational supports click here

Statistics on one-parent families:

There were 218,817 family units with children (of any age) headed by a lone parent (Census 2016).

1 in 4 families with children in Ireland is a one-parent family (Census 2016).
1 in 5 people in Ireland live in a one-parent family (Census 2016).
356,203 children lived in one-parent families, representing more than one in five or 21.2% of all children in family units (Census 2016).
In November 2018, 14,349 One-Parent Family Payment recipients (39 per cent of all recipients) are in employment, and of 14,418 Jobseeker’s Transition recipients, 4,037 recipients work. The Working Family Payment is an important support for working parents; almost half of recipients are households headed by a lone parent.
The Survey on Income and Living Conditions 2017 (SILC) revealed that one-parent family households experience the most deprivation in Ireland. Almost 45% of lone parent households experience more than one form of deprivation.
55% of homeless families living in emergency accommodation are one-parent families, at any time.

For further information visit: www.onefamily.ie.
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Available for Interview

Karen Kiernan, CEO | t: 01 662 9212 or 086 850 9191

Further Information/Scheduling

Noel Sweeney, Communications and Events Manager | t: 01 622 9212 or 085
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Thank you to everyone who was able to join our webinar on Building a Family Law System for Families. The panel was chaired by One Family CEO Karen Kiernan with panellists including Deputy Secretary General, Department Justice & Equality, Oonagh Buckley, former CEO of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service in England and Wales (Cafcass), Anthony Douglas, His Honour Judge Colin Daly – President of the District Court and Peter Mullan – Head of Circuit & District Courts Directorate, Court Service of Ireland.

The panel looked at the experience of England and Wales in reforming their family law system and the proposed family law reforms set out in the Irish Government’s Programme for Government. A recording of the webinar is now available: https://youtu.be/ssGCZSsePng

Courts should be last resort for separating families

One Family CEO, Karen Kiernan, has said, Ireland is decades behind the rest of Europe in supporting families and protecting children who use the family law system. Ms Kiernan’s comments come ahead of a free seminar of leading Irish and international experts on Family Law this Thursday, 2 July from 3pm – 5pm live online. The seminar Building a Family Law System for Families examines how the proposed family law reform as set out in the Programme for Government will work and will offer a vision for how radical change could be implemented for the better in the future.

Karen Kiernan, CEO of One Family explained: “Many of our family law systems are antiquated and overly focussed on conflict and court. What children and their separated parents need is support to share parenting well such as appropriate policies, legislation, mediation as well as necessary parenting and therapeutic services. They do not need to be unnecessarily funnelled into court hearings because there are no alternatives to resolve difficulties. Court should be the last resort.”

Speaking ahead of the seminar, Anthony Douglas CBE, former CEO of The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service in England (Cafcass) explains how the organisation re-engineered the entire family law system in England and Wales over the last ten years to provide a system rooted in the need for children’s safety and well-being:

“In England and Wales there was willingness amongst policy makers, practitioners and Government for a radical change in the provision of family law. There was a feeling that court practices were out of touch with the way children and families lived their lives. Working together, we transformed the system to reduce delay, be more child-focussed and to understand both the advantages and limitations of family courts in resolving family problems. Our goal has been to provide a therapeutic justice system focused on conflict resolution rather than having your day in court where there are rarely winners and losers. Ireland can learn a lot from the English and Welsh experience.”

Ms Kiernan added, “We have opportunities in the coming years to begin building a reformed family law system that focuses on the needs of families rather than on the courts, the legal practitioners or the state. The implementation and adequate resourcing of the proposed legislation on the Family Law Courts by the new Government is absolutely critical to begin this process. We need more family support services such as the counselling and parenting programmes provided by One Family and others funded to help families navigate the difficulties of separation and divorce.”

Speakers at the seminar include:

Oonagh Buckley – Deputy Secretary General, Department Justice & Equality
Anthony Douglas CBE – Former CEO of Cafcass
His Honour Judge Colin Daly – President of the District Court
Peter Mullan – Head of Circuit & District Courts Directorate, Court Service of Ireland.

For more information on the seminar click: https://onefamily.ie/family-law-conference/

For Editors:
One Family was founded in 1972 as Cherish and is Ireland’s national organisation for one-parent families and people sharing parenting or separating, offering support, information and services to all members of all one-parent families, to those sharing parenting, to those experiencing an unplanned pregnancy and to professionals working with one-parent families. Children are at the centre of One Family’s work and the organisation helps all the adults in their lives, including mums, dads, grandparents, step-parents, new partners and other siblings, offering a holistic model of specialist family support services.
For further information visit: www.onefamily.ie

Cafcass:

Cafcass stands for the Child and Family Court Advisory and Support Service. Cafcass is a national arms-length Government body sponsored by the Ministry of Justice, providing a court-based service to 140,000 children a year in public and private law cases throughout England. Their remit is to understand and advise courts about the needs wishes and feelings of individual children.

Anthony Douglas CBE:

Anthony Douglas was Chief Executive of Cafcass from 2004-19 and now has a small consultancy business working in the UK and internationally. He took Cafcass from an ‘inadequate’ to an ‘outstanding’ Ofsted rating and from working with 60,000 children a year in 2008 to 140,000 in 2019. Anthony was an economist and a journalist prior to becoming a social worker and has written 4 books on UK social care and is now writing a fifth on the importance of social care in a civilised society. He was Director of Social Services in Suffolk between 2002 and 2004. He is now a Visiting Professor at the University of East Anglia and was a member of the Family Justice Board and the Adoption Leadership Board in England and Wales for many years. He was awarded a CBE in 2008 for services to family justice and adoption and was given the ‘outstanding contribution to social work’ award at the Social Worker of the Year Awards in November 2018. He is currently a member of a small advisory group to the President of the Family Division for England and Wales about transparency in the family courts.

For Interview:

Karen Kiernan, CEO | t: 086 850 9191

Anthony Douglas, former CEO of Cafcass

Further Information/Scheduling
Noel Sweeney, Communications and Events Manager | t: 085 7241294