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[Original image] leah2saints via Flickr

New law may make it compulsory to include father's name on birth cert

A review of Ireland’s civil registration acts may make it compulsory for both parents’ details to be included on birth certs.

A REVIEW OF Ireland’s civil laws may make it compulsory to include a father’s details on a birth certificate, the Department of Social Protection has confirmed.

A report in yesterday’s Sunday Times said the government was taking legal advice on the move, ahead of a decision being made on whether to includ a provision in an update to Ireland’s current laws on civil registrations.

Today a spokesman for the Department confirmed that the matter was being considered – but added that the government’s final decision could depend on the advice of parliamentary counsel.

“Work is continuing on this, and other aspects of civil registration, and it is intended to publish an amendment bill this year,” the spokesman said.

“It is not possible at this point to say when the bill will be published or what precisely it will contain as there are many stages in the legislative process to be gone through yet.”

Reservations

Sohail Butt of the Families, Fathers and Friends group said the proposal was welcomed but it would only address “a tiny aspect of the problems with family law” – which could only be truly reformed by the creation of specialised family law courts.

The introduction of such a court system would ensure that well-meaning fathers were not kept from their children – sometimes for up to a year at a time – while paternity and DNA tests were ordered, he said.

Butt said he had engaged with some men who had been driven to suicide as a result of inadequate legal systems which meant they did not have access to their children for sustained periods.

The Law Reform Commission had proposed the establishment of such courts as far back as 1982, he said, but no government had ever acted up on the recommendation.

Irish law does not currently require a father’s details to be included in the birth certificate, though married parents would routinely include both details. There are a number of options for unmarried parents to register a child’s parental details if they so wish.

The formal register of births only records the names of the child and its mother, however.

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94 Comments
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    Mute Bingobango
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    Oct 24th 2019, 6:49 PM

    Good luck to them, they don’t like out of towners up there be they black, white, Cuban or Asian.

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    Mute Karl Charlie
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    Oct 24th 2019, 6:53 PM

    @Bingobango: be worse for them if they were from republic of ireland

    268
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    Mute Darren Bates
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    Oct 24th 2019, 7:01 PM

    @Bingobango: is this actually a thing? I’ve always found Belfast to be very welcoming.

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    Mute Bingobango
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    Oct 24th 2019, 7:07 PM

    @Darren Bates: It most certainly is a thing, Belfast City Centre is a great place to visit, great bars and restaurants but people live in the most polarised communities you have ever seen, and god help you if you’re not one of them.

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    Mute Gerry Cummins
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    Oct 24th 2019, 8:22 PM

    @Karl Charlie: Wher is that? No such State exists! The name of the country is “Ireland” or “Éire” if you prefer, as per the Irish Constitution. The RoI is a football team!

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    Mute Gerry Cummins
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    Oct 24th 2019, 8:24 PM

    @Karl Charlie: RoI is a football team…the name of the State is Ireland or Éire as per the Irish Constitution!

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    Mute Doire
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    Oct 24th 2019, 9:31 PM

    @Bingobango: we are also not fond of a*******s so maybe that is the category you fell into. Communities are in agreement on that issue

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    Mute Karl Charlie
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    Oct 24th 2019, 10:12 PM

    @Gerry Cummins: Ireland (Irish: Éire [ˈeːɾʲə] (About this soundlisten)), also known as the Republic of Ireland (Poblacht na hÉireann), is a country in north-western Europe occupying 26 of 32 counties of the island of Ireland.

    The island is Ireland but the bottom 3/4 is the Republic of Ireland and the top 1/4 is Northern ireland

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    Mute Nigel Barlow
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    Oct 25th 2019, 12:33 AM

    @Bingobango: a bit like the north west then

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    Mute Shauna Cochrane
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    Oct 25th 2019, 5:43 AM

    @Karl Charlie: Wrong. This is what the Iriah constitution says:

    Bunreacht na hÉireann

    ARTICLE 4

    The name of the State is Éire, or, in the English language, Ireland.

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    Mute Shauna Cochrane
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    Oct 25th 2019, 5:45 AM

    @Shauna Cochrane: FYI Wikipedia copy and pastes don’t count. It is not a reliable source which is why in academia – wikipedia is not accepted as such.

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    Mute Karl Charlie
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    Oct 25th 2019, 7:51 AM

    @Shauna Cochrane: so explain the “republic of Ireland act 1948″ where we left the commonwealth and became THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

    7
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    Mute Shauna Cochrane
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    Oct 25th 2019, 9:46 AM

    @Karl Charlie: I refer you again to the Constitution which supersedes EVERYTHING.

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    Mute Marie Mc Laughlin
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    Oct 24th 2019, 7:24 PM

    There is polarisation in the South of Ireland as well between the rich, the poor,the travelling community etc. If you live on a council estate your looked down on by a lot of house owners. I’ve been turned down for jobs because of my address,even though I’ve been more qualified than the people who got the jobs. I’ve also been told to go home because I’m not from the South of Ireland and accused of taking a job from a girl in the South. I’ve been treated very badly by people from the South of Ireland. It seems to be who you know in regards to housing and jobs as well. This has been my own personal experience. Random statements don’t help anyone.

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    Mute Chin Feeyin
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    Oct 24th 2019, 7:32 PM

    @Marie Mc Laughlin:”I’ve been turned down for jobs because of my address”

    That’s a very random statement. Did the employer tell you they were turning you down because of your address?

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    Mute Lar Meyler
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    Oct 24th 2019, 7:33 PM

    @Marie Mc Laughlin: I would look a little deeper for the real.issue here. Take a hard look and do yourself a favour in the.long term. Best of luck..

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    Mute Ali Ní Dhomhnaill
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    Oct 24th 2019, 7:40 PM

    @Chin Feeyin: employers are not going to tell you “sorry you didn’t get the position because of where your from” it happens a lot and you would have to have your head in the clouds to think otherwise (not all jobs do it but there are jobs out there that do)

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    Mute Marie Mc Laughlin
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    Oct 24th 2019, 7:40 PM

    @Chin Feeyin:
    yes they did actually ,it was a job in an off licence that a friend got for me. I had the job until they found out my address. I was then told I couldn’t have the job in case my neighbour’s hassled me because they had alcohol problems. Like I said it’s my personal experience not a random statement.

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    Mute Marie Mc Laughlin
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    Oct 24th 2019, 7:41 PM

    @Lar Meyler: meaning ?

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    Mute Pseud O'Nym
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    Oct 24th 2019, 7:43 PM

    @Marie Mc Laughlin: ” I’ve been treated very badly by people from the South of Ireland”
    Ah now Marie not all Munster people are that bad. There are a few sound ones.

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    Mute Marie Mc Laughlin
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    Oct 24th 2019, 7:45 PM

    @Lar Meyler: what do you mean ? Why would I want to take a good look at myself for ?

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    Mute Marie Mc Laughlin
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    Oct 24th 2019, 7:46 PM

    @Ali Ní Dhomhnaill: It’s what they told me, I don’t lie.

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    Mute Marie Mc Laughlin
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    Oct 24th 2019, 7:49 PM

    @Pseud O’Nym: didn’t mean everyone probably worded that wrong, yes there are very good people here

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    Mute SC
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    Oct 25th 2019, 7:17 AM

    @Marie Mc Laughlin: you were more qualified than the person who got the job in an off license? I rented in Dublin 1 and from my CV you wouldn’t know where I was originally from. I got plenty of work as an engineer. You need to get some skills and stop blaming everyone else.

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    Mute ken gray
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    Oct 25th 2019, 2:14 AM

    Children with beards !

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    Mute Nora McElhinney
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    Oct 25th 2019, 10:47 AM

    @ken gray: In reality they’re probably about 30 – 40 years old – we’ve seen and heard it all before ugh!!!!!!!!!!

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    Mute Peter Murphy
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    Oct 26th 2019, 10:55 PM

    @ken gray: Shave the children

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    Mute Spiderman
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    Oct 25th 2019, 12:25 AM

    Someone’s cleaning house. Could be tied to those bodies in the back of a truck. Someone’s panicking and cutting them lose. Only question s are who’s and where are the adults matched to those kids

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    Mute cníchi
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    Oct 25th 2019, 8:27 AM

    A very sad story. Here’s hoping they don’t get lost in the system. We don’t realise how lucky we are to have our children tucked up in bed, safe and sound.

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    Mute thejamer
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    Oct 25th 2019, 10:10 AM

    Could have been worse they could have landed in Ireland, the land of a thousand unwelcomes

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