I attended the District Court recently with my client, a father of two young girls. My client admitted to his wife that he had been having an affair for the last two months, bringing their 6 year marriage to an end. My client was distraught and understandably so was his wife. She had never suspected that her husband was cheating; in fact she had assumed that everything was going well between them.
It is fair to point the finger of blame at my client; he did have an affair and the marriage had consequently ended. Although my client does not love his wife, he does love his children.
Should my client be punished for having an affair? Perhaps!
Should the children be punished because their father had an affair? Absolutely not!
Access concerns the rights of the child. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child states that a child who is separated from a parent has the right to maintain personal relations and direct contact with that parent on a regular basis, except if it is contrary to the child’s best interests. The best interests and welfare of the child are paramount and form the over-riding principle that ought to be applied by the Irish courts.
In this particular case, my client was distraught because his wife refused him access to his children after she had thrown him out of the family home. We openly admitted to the judge what had happened but explained to the judge that my client’s actions do not reflect on his ability to be a good father. I informed the judge that in the present case Access was being taken away from my client in an act of revenge by the mother, but the only people suffering were their two children. Fortunately, the judge agreed and a 50% access schedule was drawn up.
Laura Gillen
Brophy Solicitors
It is fair to point the finger of blame at my client; he did have an affair and the marriage had consequently ended. Although my client does not love his wife, he does love his children.
Should my client be punished for having an affair? Perhaps!
Should the children be punished because their father had an affair? Absolutely not!
Access concerns the rights of the child. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child states that a child who is separated from a parent has the right to maintain personal relations and direct contact with that parent on a regular basis, except if it is contrary to the child’s best interests. The best interests and welfare of the child are paramount and form the over-riding principle that ought to be applied by the Irish courts.
In this particular case, my client was distraught because his wife refused him access to his children after she had thrown him out of the family home. We openly admitted to the judge what had happened but explained to the judge that my client’s actions do not reflect on his ability to be a good father. I informed the judge that in the present case Access was being taken away from my client in an act of revenge by the mother, but the only people suffering were their two children. Fortunately, the judge agreed and a 50% access schedule was drawn up.
Laura Gillen
Brophy Solicitors
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