A chara, - Declan Coogan (January 19th) predictably rushes to protect the reputation of social workers, but his view sounds plausible only if you were never a professional in the child protection system in Ireland. I was.
I qualified as a social worker in 1990 in the UK. In this jurisdiction I have been a social worker and team leader in two health board settings. Sadly, there wasn't anything in John Waters's column last Monday that I found incredible.
I work with a group in Donegal which helps divorced, separated and unmarried fathers who have problems regarding access to their children. Within the confidentiality of the support group the men recount a consistent litany of bad practice by social workers in Donegal.
Of course, the plural of anecdote is not evidence. However, the scientific evidence is there aplenty. Prof Harry Ferguson published a government-commissioned report in 2004 which said that social workers routinely excluded "vulnerable fathers" from the lives of their children with little thought to the long-term consequences. Around the same time, we published a qualitative study, funded by Comhairle, which found much the same thing in Donegal as Prof Ferguson found in other parts of the State. Both reports concluded that social workers need training on fathers' issues.
To this end, Forever Fathers recently offered to develop, in partnership with the HSE (North West), a training package for its front-line staff. The initial response from HSE management has been open and positive. - Is mise,
PHIL MAC GIOLLA BHAIN,
Forever Fathers,
Glenfinn street,
Ballyboffey,
Co Donegal.