The Gazette 1981

GAZETTE

MARCH 1981

Recent Irish Cases

Plaintiff and her parents or other members of the family from the time she went to Dublin in 1971 until the Summer of 1973 when she returned for a short period to her home for the funeral of her grandmother. Towards the end of 1973 the Plaintiff and "M" brought the child for the first time to her home in Cork. The Plaintiff and her husband separated in 1974 and did not have any significant contact with one another after that time. In the Summer of 1974 contact between the Plaintiff and her parents had been re- sumed and they visited her in Dublin from time to time. The Plaintiff then asked her mother to look after the child and she brought the child down to Cork. This arrangement was intended to be of a temporary nature. The Plaintiff then obtained employment and lived on her own in various flats in Dublin. By the commencement of 1975 the Plaintiff was beginning to suffer from depression and in the Spring of 1976 there was superimposed on this a physical ailment necessitating an operation and a period of con- valescence. Contact was maintained between the Plaintiff and her parents during all this period, and from time to time she visited her parents in Cork and saw the child although frequency of these visits was disputed. By the year 1977 the Plaintiff's condition of depression had worsened and after a major break-down in- volving an attempted suicide she was admitted as a patient to a psychiatric day centre. She attended there on a daily basis between October 1977 until the end of February 1978. During this period she developed a friendship with another patient, "P." In March 1978 the Plaintiff took an overdose of drugs and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. After being discharged she stayed with one of her brothers in Cork and later returned to Dublin. Having obtained an annulment from the Catholic Church of her Canonical marriage with "M" the Plaintiff married "P" in July 1979 according to the Rites of the Catholic Church. Her parents strongly dis- approved of this marriage and all sig- nificant contact ceased between the Plaintiff and her parents. The matter first came before the High Court on an interlocutory application in July 1979 and the

President (Finlay P.) made an Order that the Plaintiff should have access to see the child in Cork on stated occasions. Significant disputes arose relating to access and the matter came before the President on two other occasions before the full hearing. At the time of the full hearing the Plaintiff had been employed for 18 months as an assistant in a pre-play- school run by nuns in Dublin. "P" was 21 years of age and came from a broken home. He had been working at various different jobs and at the time of the hearing was earning £55 net per week as a store assis- tant. He had been treated for depres- sion in a psychiatric day centre and, as stated, above it was there where he met the Plaintiff. The Plaintiff was earning £35 per week and both of them were residing in a two-room flat but at the time of the Court hearing they secured a lease of a furnished three bedroomed house which they expected to occupy within three weeks. The Plaintiff sought custody of the child and proposed altering her working days in order to bring the child to and from school. She proposed that the child should have frequent staying access with her grandparents. The grandparents (i.e. first and second Defendants) on the other hand contended that it was in the interests of the welfare of the child that the child should continue residing with them and continue attending school in Cork. They proposed that the Plaintiff should have frequent access. Both the Plaintiff and the grand- parents agreed that "M" (the father of the child) should have access to the child in Cork, but, both agreed that "M" should not be given staying access. "M" did not seek custody but sup- ported the grandparents contention that the child's welfare would be better served by the child living with the grandparents in Cork. The grandparents contended that the Plaintiff had not shown a true maternal affection or care for the child and they contended that the Plaintiff was not interested in the child. The Court rejected this con- tention. The Plaintiff contended that she had been consistently seeking the return of the child whereas the child's grandparents contended that the

FAMILY LAW — CUSTODY Mother seeking custody of her seven year old daughter who had been living for some years with her maternal grandparents and had only been visited occasionally by the mother during that period. Mother granted custody and grandparents ordered to have access to the infant for lengthy periods. This was an action brought by the Plaintiff seeking custody of her 1 \ year old daughter. The proceedings were originally instituted naming as Defendants the Plaintiff's mother and father with whom the daughter in question was residing but on the direction of the High Court at a preliminary hearing the father of the infant child (hereinafter referred to as "M") was added as a third Defendant. The Plaintiff was aged 31 years and the first two Defendants were aged 70 and 71 years respectively. After completing third level education the Plaintiff returned home to live on the family farm in Cork. She became friendly with a young man, "M", of her own age who was working as a labourer on the famil) farm. Her parents disapproved of this relationship. She and "M" in effect ran away from home and came to Dublin where they lived for some period in 1971. By the commencement of 1972 the Plaintiff had become pregnant and she then married "M" in January 1972. The child was born in June 1972. The Plaintiff and "M" lived in various flats in Dublin and suffered considerable poverty. "M" was an alcoholic and there were problems from the very start of the marriage. There was no contact between the

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