This article is from page 6 of the 2007-09-18 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 6 JPG
THE plight of hundreds of unmar- ried Clare fathers who have no legal rights to custody of their children under the Irish Constitution took a dramatic step forward last week fol- lowing the Mr G case in the High Sous
According to the local representa- tive of the Unmarried Fathers of Ire-
land Organisation, pressure 1s now on the Government to propose an election to change the constitution. “Our main objective is towards the fundamental right of a child to have both parents involved in its life. We are not about fighting parents against parents. It’s about the kids. We love our kids and we want to have a life around our kids,’ said Andrew White, Munster Spokesperson for
the Unmarried Fathers of Ireland. ‘This is so widespread, there are so many cases of unmarried fathers. Un- married fathers don’t have any rights to their children in this country. “The case last week will have a massive impact. It brought out the problems with the constitution in this country when it allowed a mother to take two kids out of this country and completely take them away from
their father, without the father having any say in the matter at all.”
According to the Unmarried Fa- thers of Ireland, the lack of contact between fathers and their children is having a massive impact of Irish so- ciety as a whole.
“Look at the suicide rate among young men in Ireland. In 2005, eight out of 10 male suicides were fathers who were being denied access to their
kids or young children who were be- ing denied access to their fathers,” he continued.
“T have been fighting for the last four years for this to happen. It’s a disgrace that two kids were essen- tially abducted away from the father before this has become an issue.”
For more information on the Un- married Fathers of Ireland, contact Andrew White on 086 1641513.