Madam, - As a group which, for 30 years, has provided support to people whose relationships have broken down, we endorse the views expressed by Geoffrey Shannon in his article "Outdated Family Law System requires nothing less than a major overhaul" (The Irish Times, April 13th).
Madam, - As a group which, for 30 years, has provided support to people whose relationships have broken down, we endorse the views expressed by Geoffrey Shannon in his article "Outdated Family Law System requires nothing less than a major overhaul" (The Irish Times, April 13th).
Our research fully supports his belief that a change is needed to Article 41 of the Irish Constitution. Our statistics have shown a substantial shift in patterns of marriage, with increasing numbers of people not marrying at all or postponing marriage, and rising rates of cohabitation and of births outside marriage. It is only when these relationships break down that people realise the lack of legal protection for cohabitees in the areas of maintenance, barring or protection orders, the family home, etc.
The Commission on the Family, which reported in 1998, concluded that Article 41 of the Constitution should be revised to give constitutional recognition to all family units including those not based on marriage.
The decision of the European Court of Human Rights in the Keegan case to the effect that the notion of "family" as expressed in Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights is not confined to marriage-based relationships, leaves the way open for change that might more accurately reflect the position we have in Ireland today.
Then there is the UN definition of the family to be debated.
We nevertheless commend Ms Mary Coughlan and her Department for continuing the debate on family life in Ireland and taking the trouble to visit and hear the views of the people in all parts of Ireland.
It is now up to her and her Government to rise to the challenges raised in the booklet Families and Family Life in Ireland: Challenges in Ireland. We await her initiative. - Yours, etc.,
MAURA MURRAY,
Chairperson, AIM Family Services,
D'Olier Street,
Dublin 2.