Feb 9, 2015
Are Europeans dying out as Vladimir Putin suggests and is our headlong rush to oblivion demonstrated by our near consensus endorsement of same sex marriage? Putin concludes that it is, and accordingly, with a rush of logic to the brain, justifies Russia’s homophobic...
Feb 27, 2014
Interview with Anne O’Neill http://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/healthandlife/parenting/will-a-ban-on-slapping-children-leave-parents-legally-exposed-259465.html
Feb 27, 2014
‘There was a lot of romance in the air for Valentine’s Day yesterday, but what happens when the love birds stop singing? To look at the financial fallout when relationships fall apart, we’re joined by Frank Conway of the Irish Financial Review...
Jan 21, 2014
In Kinghorn, Scotland, a Magistrate called George MacKay fined a husband for hitting his wife in the face a small sum telling the husband “it is a well known fact that you can strike your wife’s bottom if you wish, but you must not strike her on the face”. When did...
Oct 4, 2013 |
I am bothered greatly by the child care system in Ireland. Most of the children taken into care are from poor and marginalised groups. Let me say at the outset that I do not believe that the privacy of the family trumps everything and support fully the idea of...
Sep 12, 2013
It is several decades since Ireland decriminalised homosexual behaviour. It was, however, many years after that before we were prepared to take the next step forward and allow for the registration of civil partnerships. At this stage, it would seem from recent polls...
Jun 25, 2013 |
I always thought that one of the reasons why so many of my clients ask me questions about our family law system that suggest an enormous number of people have strongly held incorrect views about what happens in family court, is because our cases are heard in camera...
Apr 20, 2012 |
When you are in the middle of an upheaval such as the ending of a relationship or marriage, you crave certainty in an uncertain world. One of the most difficult things for emotionally traumatised clients to learn from their solicitor is the uncertainty of outcomes in...
Nov 17, 2011 |
Human beings have basic emotional needs some of which are to be accepted, respected, valued, needed and useful. All these needs can be called into question if a person or couple finds that they are unable to conceive a child for any reason. Infertility, and the...
Sep 21, 2011 |
The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction is an international human rights treaty to which 86 countries have now signed up. The Convention is a legal mechanism to recover children abducted to another country. It is designed to bring...
Jul 20, 2011 |
In 1997, Dr Lydia Foy an Irish dentist, at that time unemployed, registered as male on her birth certificate, applied to the courts in Ireland represented by FLAC (Free Legal Aid Centres) for the right to alter her birth certificate to reflect her gender of choice....
May 27, 2011 |
To prenup or not to prenup, that is the question! Most people think that a prenuptial agreement is far too cutting edge for the “likes of them” however, I saw as I researched this topic that no less a radical body than the Irish Farmers Association were calling for...
May 12, 2011 |
Sometime ago I wrote a short piece for my website on nullity of marriage. It intrigues me that, out of all proportion to its usefulness in practice, this area tends to fascinate. Why this should be so, I am not entirely sure. Perhaps it is the very archaic nature...
Apr 21, 2011 |
As topics go, this one is highly charged! The “Dads R Us” brigade are not for the faint hearted but then I am not faint of heart. I have spent some weeks now looking at this area. This arose because of a case I became involved in where the Dad was looking for 50%...
Mar 23, 2011
When we think of family, we usually think of Mum, Dad and 2.5 children. That pretty much describes your typical nuclear family and it is the model or standard by which we tend to judge all other types of families. I always want to add “apple pie” to the Mum and Dad...
Feb 10, 2011 |
Light relief in family court is somewhat unusual. Even by family law standards, however, child relocation cases tend to be particularly glum affairs. While it is fair to say that in most family law cases, no one wins, there is no doubt that this is most poignantly...
Jan 14, 2011 |
The pain of a relationship breakdown can be so intense that many of us imagine we are going crazy. Grief is painful. Few of us have real understanding of the grief process. Grief is a natural response to loss. Any loss can cause grief. Grief needs to be expressed...
Dec 8, 2010 |
Over the years I have noticed that a significant number of parents resist strongly any attempt to discuss the children with me or indeed with anyone else. Any discussion is vigorously blocked. For parents, I suspect that one of the most upsetting things about...
Nov 24, 2010 |
More than any other time of the year, Christmas tends to pose the greatest challenge for separated and divorced parents. The biggest issue is generally – where will the children spend Christmas, followed by – who has them on Christmas eve, followed by – how will we...
Oct 19, 2010 |
An impending sense of doom lies over us here like a pall as we await the budget. When we went into this recession, we were reasonably confident that we would be out of it by now or thought we would, now we are getting the truly uncomfortable sense that we are in this...
Sep 24, 2010 |
When I was a small child aged between 6 and 12, my favourite word was “negotiation”. I loved that word with a passion. It was not the meaning that enthralled me, rather the sound. I thrilled to the way you could break it down and roll it around in your mouth. ...
Aug 12, 2010 |
In the early 1990s, which heralded in the modern approach to family law in Ireland, it was commonplace for a wife to be allowed to remain in the family home, particularly while the children were young and for the property then to be sold at some point in the future. ...
Jul 23, 2010 |
Even the title of this Act is cumbersome and ill-conceived! I am trying to work out where I stand on this piece of legislation. I have no issues whatsoever with the sentiments behind this Act, on the contrary, looked at from one perspective it does not go far enough...
Jul 15, 2010 |
After a long hard winter weather wise and economically, Summer, especially on sunny days, is a welcome respite. However, Summer brings its own strains. For us lawyers there is the frantic rush of June and July to finalise as many cases as possible before the summer...
May 31, 2010 |
When a marriage or relationship is in trouble, I don’t think that having more money will do any more for that couple, than simply paper the cracks. If lack of money was the main reason for a relationship breakdown , then we would not get wealthier people separating. ...
