Yesterday saw the release of a report into yet another case of failure by the State to properly protect children who are at risk from abuse (Irish Times summary). In this case, the risk emanated from the parents of the six children in question who inflicted horrific degrees of neglect and abuse on them. The(…)
Much has been written on the wholly inappropriate care arrangements for separated children in Ireland (see here, here, here, here and here). This research has found gross inadequacies in the separated child protection system; however the Irish government, in light of the Ryan Report, has committed itself to ensuring that separated children are treated on(…)
Two recent High Court judgments highlight the attitude of the Irish courts to interagency cooperation in child protection. On the one hand, it is seen as an indispensible tool in combating child abuse, but it must take place in a way which is administratively sound in order to safeguard the rights of alleged perpetrators.
We are pleased to welcome a third guest post from Kieran Walsh. In this post, Kieran continues Mairead’s discussion of forced marriage in the Republic and considers whether child abduction law could be used in Ireland to protect children from being forced into marriage. He argues, in particular, for a child-focused approach to child abduction,(…)
You can learn more about Nicola Carr on our guest contributors page. The case for an amendment to the Irish Constitution to specifically enumerate the rights of children has been well set out by a range of commentators over a period of time. The issues pertaining to children in care or those on the ‘edges(…)
We are still awaiting a draft version of the proposed children’s rights amendment to the Constitution. Aoife blogged about the proposal here. The government serves children very badly, as the Children’s Rights Alliance reminded us last week. In the fortnight since the announcement was made that the draft constitutional amendment was on the brink of publication (…)
Following the publication of the Report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (“the Ryan Report”) in May, Irish society has had to confront the appalling history of abuse, both sexual and physical in State-run institutions. The Ryan Report’s finding (Executive Summary at p. 21) that child abuse was endemic in Irish industrial schools(…)
