Rights for unmarried fathers in spotlight following baby's life support case
The government is being urged to fast-track legislation to close the legal loophole - stopping unmarried fathers from having automatic legal guardianship.
It comes after a Dublin maternity hospital had to seek an order from the High Court - to allow it withdraw life support from a baby boy with severe brain damage.
The child's mother - who was legally the sole guardian - died on Tuesday night shortly after the baby was delivered by emergency caesarean section.
The Justice Minister Alan Shatter is proposing to give unmarried fathers automatic guardianship - if they've been living with the mother for a year before the birth.
Geoffrey Shannon - a Child Law Expert - says the new Children and Family Relationships Bill will address the legal anomaly.
"The unmarried father has neither an automatic right to the day-to-day care f his child, nor has he … a say in the upbringing of his child - whereas the birth mother enjoys both."
"No matter how lengthy the relationship, our law tends to regard the unmarried father as a legal stranger [in relation to] his child."
