The State's requirement to uphold the rights of childrenas specified in the United Nations convention is not a new issue, write Pat Dolan and Sinéad McCoole
The absence of a children's rights agenda in Ireland has been identified in numerous policy reports over the years, notably in the report on the Kilkenny incest case in 1993 and in the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution.
Despite this, there has been substantive improvement in terms of meeting the needs of children, particularly in the past decade, as adjudged in recent weeks by Brian Lenihan, the Minister with responsibility for children, and other child welfare campaigners.
Nevertheless, it remains a fact that certain children still suffer neglect and are at risk of abuse while, constitutionally, their rights are not explicitly protected.
Prior to formation of the State, children's rights were pioneered by women such as Countess Constance Markievicz, Maud Gonne, Dr Kathleen Lynn, Sinéad de Valera (née Flanagan) and others, before and after the Easter Rising. It should be remembered that they did this at a time when child death was far more common in Ireland, with many people living in abject poverty, most notably in Dublin city.
These women advocated for children when the concept of a child having rights and being seen as an "individual" was unheard of. Women political activists in the early years of the 20th century saw themselves as working towards an improvement of society for Irish men, women and children.
At that time, by way of them taking a "rights perspective", they saw the importance of children as a future generation. They had a holistic approach to educate the young while also caring for their health and alleviating their hunger.
Specifically, this manifested itself in a number of ways. By the creation of Inghinidhe na hÉireann (Daughters of Ireland), the importance of educating children in the Irish language, dance, song and ancient Irish history as a given right was demonstrably developed. Free classes for children took place in the poorest areas of Dublin - these were also seen as a way of stopping recruitment for the British army. Later, many of these children became members of the Fianna, co-founded by Countess Markievicz.
Daughters of Ireland began as a group of women headed by Maud Gonne, who organised an event "just for children". A picnic for "loyalist" children had taken place during the visit of Queen Victoria in 1900 and nationalists decide to have an alternative picnic called the "Patriotic Children's Treat" to reward children who had not cheered for Queen Victoria.
This committee brought 30,000 children to Clonturk Park without incident. Apart from the political undertone of this event, from a human and social justice perspective this farseeing committee of women (at a time when women were not permitted to join any male nationalist organisations) then formed Inghinidhe na hÉireann (Daughters of Ireland).
Many women envisioned Irish independence as a new State with a new social order which would include upholding children's rights while attempting to redress inequality and poverty.
By 1910, the members of Daughters of Ireland had spread the sphere of their activity to provide food for schoolchildren; school canteens were set up and run by them in the poorest sections of Dublin.
Maud Gonne wrote that children in schools were being provided "food for the mind" but that the authorities were ignoring the need for "food for the body". By 1914, this initiative had been taken over by Dublin Corporation, and today it is continued by Dublin City Council.
The same women were behind some of the greatest improvements in the welfare of children in Dublin during this time. St Ultan's, the first infant hospital, was founded by two members of Daughters of Ireland, Dr Kathleen Lynn and Madeleine ffrench Mullen, in 1919.
Witnessing the rising infant death rate from the 1918 influenza epidemic, as well as from diseases brought back from the first World War, these women set about combating the problem by establishing a hospital for the treatment of infants and young children.
One contemporary is reported as having said: "If they were men, I would say they are mad - but they are women, so they may succeed."
At the outset, only women staffed the hospital. The hospital pioneered new advancements in medicine such as the use of the BCG vaccination more than 10 years before it was in general use in Ireland.
In 1934, Dr Maria Montessori, the first female medical doctor to qualify in Italy, visited St Ultan's, and a Montessori ward was established at the hospital.
This is not to suggest that, historically, the Daughters of Ireland were the only people motivated to support and protect the rights of children. Current initiatives by philanthropists to tackle disadvantage among Irish children are not new, but have been built on a history of business community support for children, mainly from men: for example, pioneers such as Victor Bewley and Thomas John Barnardo.
Given our current "Tiger" economy, it is critical now that there is a reinvigoration of the rights of children through collective action by the State, civic society and children's own voices to enshrine their rights into our Constitution and thus help activate a "must happen" pathway to better outcomes for children who are in need and at risk.
This should be done not just to realise the beliefs of Maud Gonne, Countess Markievicz, Sinéad Flanagan and Dr Kathleen Lynn, but, most importantly, for the children of today and tomorrow.
Despite the understandable complications involved in constructing a suitable constitutional amendment, giving a reality to children's rights should not only be seen as essential, but as possible - now.
• Pat Dolan is Senior Lecturer and Manager of the Centre for Child and Family Research at NUI Galway. On October 14th he will speak at a conference, Achieving Rights-Based Child Law, sponsored by the Human Rights Commission and the Law Society of Ireland, in Blackhall Place, Dublin.
• Sinéad McCoole is a historian and author of a number of books, including No Ordinary Women, Irish Female Activists in the Revolutionary Years, 1900-1923. She is Curator/Keeper of the Jackie Clarke Library in Ballina, Co Mayo.