Sir, - John Waters is quite right when he says that in Irish family law the father/ex-husband has virtually no say in the lives of his children in the event of marriage and relationship breakdown. I have some personal experience in this area, but by mutual agreement was allowed the privilege of being the one to raise my own children. I have, however, known men who have suffered great distress when, at the stroke of a pen, they have had their natural rights as fathers taken away from them when no blame could be laid at either partner's door.
Men love their children as much as women, but are considered in a concessional rather than an equal status when they end up in the family court. The snide and cold letters from some women regarding Mr Waters's concerns is to their discredit. What an outcry there would be if men claimed women were merely incidental to their children's lives. - Yours, etc.,
Glengarriff Road, Bantry, Co Cork.