This story is part of a series on the Family Court which can be viewed here>>
AN APPLICATION FOR an interim care order came before the court in which the mother is recovering from a drug addiction while the father remains on heroin.
Addressing the court the mother told the judge that she was separated from the father.
She said:
My children are my life. I would never go down that road again.
She added that when her partner went back on drugs she said, “that was it, I told him he had to go”.
The court heard that both the mother and father were attending treatment for their addictions and were giving regular urine samples.
The court was told that on one occasion the mother refused to give a sample, while on another she had tested positive for drugs. On one occasion the father also tested positive.
Both parents have access to the children on the weekends.
The court was told that the mother missed her access visit one week, but she said that she had no money. She claimed there was no money available in the post office when she went to pick it up. She said, “It broke my heart that I could not see them.”
“The bond with my children is stronger than it has ever been. My mother and sisters have been very good, but I am their mother. I feel if I do cry here, I’m seen not to be capable, and if I don’t cry I look like I have a heart of stone,” she said.
“If I can just get them back I can prove that I am capable to the court and to the social workers.”
The judge told the mother that a number of things had to be done before she would be given back her children. She was satisfied that the threshold had been met and extended the interim care order for one month.
‘A Week in the Family Courts’ series will be running all this week on TheJournal.ie.
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