Single fathers to seek law change

At about 1 p.m. tomorrow a minute's silence will be observed by a group of men in O'Connell Street in Dublin. A similar group will gather in Patrick Street, Cork.

Unmarried Fathers of Ireland, the pressure group lobbying for the rights of single fathers will also mark the suicide of four of their members within a two-week period.

Mr Ray Kelly, the group's press officer, said the demonstration was to highlight the difficulties men had in having access to and guardianship or custody of their children and the consequences, including suicide in some cases.

Two of the four men had overdosed on tablets, and the other two had hanged themselves, he said. "One man had made his room into a shrine to his daughter, and her Christmas presents from the previous year were still in the attic, as he had not seen her."

The organisation has been running for the past six years, seeking changes in the courts system for family law cases and formalised recognition of fathers as single or lone parents.

"Grandparents, uncles and aunts are also affected by this," said Mr Kelly, who pointed out that there were 68,000 single mothers in the State "so there must be 68,000 single fathers". In 1992 there were 47 unmarried father's who had sole custody of their children. This year the number had risen to 417.

He said the demonstrators would be standing "in front of the Irish Times Internet camera to show the world that we exist and to try and support each other over Christmas when many fathers will not see their children. We are asking for sympathy."

They are seeking changes in the in camera system of hearings for family law cases. "Judges must be properly trained for the job. Some are coming in from dealing with criminal cases and have absolutely no training in family law cases, and some of the decisions are absolutely outrageous."

There is a 24-hour helpline at (01) 4514295 over the holiday period for fathers who don't have access to their children.