It is still the law in Ireland that unmarried fathers do not have automatic Guardianship by virtue of being the biological father.
If you are living with the mother of your child for two years or more, then certain rights may accrue to you or the mother over the property owned by you or for maintenance for the mother. These are set out in our Article on the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights of Cohabitants Act, 2010.
Your Obligations to pay maintenance are referred to in our article on Maintenance.
The only Guardian in this situation is the Natural mother.Fathers have the right to Apply to become guardian.They also have the right to Access to their children.
It is possible for the parents of a child to agree that the father become a guardian and swear a declaration to that effect, without having to go to court.
There have been many applications to the court in this area , including an Application to the European Court of Justice in the case of Keegan - The existing Law was upheld.
The law Reform Commission has been working on an overhaul of this area of law.
Click here for a link to the latest report in this area from the Law Reform Commission.
The following are statistics on the amount of Guardianship Applications made from 2008 to 2010 in the District Court.
It shows that the vast majority of applications are granted, while some are withdrawn before they go into court.
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Year: 2010 |
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Year: 2009 |
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Year: 2008 |
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