Sir, I was delighted to read in The Irish Times (June 12th) that the Government is, at long last, going to amend the legislation on child custody. With the way now clear for the introduction of divorce it is imperative that the current unjust practices in relation to child custody be brought to a speedy end.
During the divorce referendum campaign the infamous "Hello Divorce, Bye Bye Daddy" poster was denounced by those who supported the introduction of divorce, which included all the main political parties. Now that they have their victory it is incumbent on all of them to ensure that divorce does not mean the destruction of fatherhood, as currently applies in separation cases. At present in over 90 per cent of cases which come before the family law courts, sole custody is awarded to mothers, and fathers are granted such limited access that they could not possibly continue to function in any meaningful way as fathers. Since Parental Equality was set up three years ago, approximately 5,000 victims of this cruel injustice have contacted the organisation for help and advice. At last we can offer such people the hope that the cruel, evil practice of depriving a man of his custodial rights and obligations and the privilege of rearing his children is coming to an end.
While Parental Equality has long been campaigning for joint custody to be the norm in divorce/ separation circumstances, we accept that there are circumstances where sole custody is justified. Such cases would include extreme instances of violence, criminality, substance abuse/addiction but, in any event, should not account for more than five per cent of custody cases coming before the courts. Also, of course, there are cases where both parents agree that one should have sole custody in such cases it would be illogical to argue for joint custody.
The new legislation should therefore guarantee continuation of custody rights and obligations after divorce/separation except in certain specified circumstances. Where any parent applies for sole custody the onus should be on them to prove the case for depriving the other parent of his/her custody rights and obligations. Also, they should be required to prove that they will provide adequate access to the non custodial parent to enable him/her to maintain a good child/parent relationship. Yours, etc., PRO Parental Equality, North Circular Road, Dublin 1.