According to Enda Kenny, the Children and Family Relationships Bill will be “the most important change in family legislation since the foundation of the State”. So what is all the fuss about and what do you need to know? Over the course of the coming weeks, I intend to go through in more detail the […]
Should Certain Barristers be Barred from Family Law Cases?
I recently ran a very bitterly contested family law case and while my client was not the easiest client to represent, the barrister on the other side was the most unpleasant, confrontational, vindictive professional person I have ever come across in my years in family law. There was never the remotest possibility that this case […]
BEST INTEREST OF THE CHILD?
I recently acted for a father, who had not seen his three young children for six months. He was trying to establish access with them. It was absolutely clear that he had the best interests of his children at heart and the reason why he had not seen them was because he had had a […]
Judging Parents!
Emma (not her real name) is 8 years old and her parents have spent exactly half of Emma’s life fighting in the Circuit Court about matters in relation to custody and access. We act for a very impressive and committed father, who is not married to the mother, and we argued that every obstacle possible […]
Child Kidnapping cases
There was considerable coverage recently of the two young boys who were wrongfully removed from New York to Ireland by their mother. The High Court decided that the children should stay in Ireland and on Thursday last, the Supreme Court agreed with this. The general rule in child kidnapping cases is that the children should […]
I WANT A DIVORCE BUT I CANNOT FIND MY WIFE!
A client made a consultation a few months ago to enquire about making an application for a Divorce and given that we specialise in Family Law there did not appear to be anything unusual about this at the outset. And so his story goes as follows: my client was married in 2004. His wife is […]
ACCESS TO CHILDREN – THE DIFFICULTIES FACING FATHERS
I was reminded again quite recently of the difficulties a father faces when making an application to the courts for access. We always hear about the very real problems unmarried fathers face but equally some married fathers after separation or divorce find themselves in a very difficult position. My client married his wife in 2005 […]