Madam, – Tomorrow, May 15th, is the 16th United Nations International Day of the Family.
One Family (formerly known as Cherish) was founded in 1972 by a small group of single, unmarried mothers. These mothers took on every aspect of the State as their children were routinely expected to be given up for adoption. Many of these women were thrown out of their homes by their families or landlords, dismissed from their jobs and were deemed by many in society to be immoral.
That seems ludicrous now, but why is it not equally ludicrous that in 2009 the Irish Constitution still discriminates against many Irish families?
The UN takes a different view, recognising that families take many forms, defining the family as: “any combination of two or more persons who are bound together by ties of mutual consent, birth and/or adoption or placement and who, together assume responsibility for, inter alia, the care and maintenance of group members, the addition of new members through procreation or adoption, the socialisation of children and the social control of members”.
Yet the Irish Constitution only recognises and affords rights and protection to families based in marriage. This affects how laws are interpreted, policies enforced and how many parents and children feel and are treated by the rest of society. This lack of rights and equal respect for all family types can lead to unacceptable levels of hostility towards one-parent families with accompanying shame and stigmatisation. Such families often suffer high levels of poverty and inadequate supports.
At a time in Ireland of unprecedented family change and diversity, wouldn’t it be the mark of a mature society to afford equal respect and rights to all children in all their family forms and types? Whether that is a one-parent family, an unmarried family, a traditional two-parent married family, a same-sex family, a foster family, a family of grandparents and grandchildren, or any of the other myriad of loving and stable homes that children grow up in.
This nation and our organisation were founded on the principle of “cherishing all the children of the nation equally”. It can no longer be acceptable that certain families and children are shamed and stigmatised.
Happy United Nations International Day of the Family. – Yours, etc,
KAREN KIERNAN,
Director,
One Family,
Cherish House,
Lr Pembroke Street, Dublin 2.