Cathal BarryThe head of a newly-formed lobby group has called for the Children and Family Relationships (CFR) Bill to be “radically amended”.
Prof. Ray Kinsella, Chairman of Mothers and Fathers Matter, insisted the Bill should be amended “to take proper account of the natural ties and to protect children’s right to a relationship with their natural parents”.
“We believe this legislation seriously undermines the rights of children. It is extraordinary that a Government, which professes to be pro-child, would seek to push legislation through the Dáil that treats the natural tie, and by extension the complementarity of motherhood and fatherhood, in such a dismissive fashion.
“We should have learnt the lessons of the past by now. We know the pain it can cause to children when they do not know their natural parents. The Government should do what it can to spare children this pain rather than inflicting it on them,” he said.
Mothers and Fathers Matter is also warning that, in its present form, the proposed legislation undermines the special status of marriage in the Constitution; commodifies children; and puts the wants of adults first.
Referring to adoption, Prof. Kinsella said the law “should seek, whenever possible, to place children with a married mother and father”.
“Only in exceptional circumstances should this preference, which common sense confirms is in the best interests of the child, be set aside,” he warned. “The proposed Bill goes against this. It allows individuals living in a whole spectrum of relationships to adopt.
“Common sense, as well as our Constitution, acknowledges the place of mothers and fathers in conceiving, nurturing and raising children.
“We should not be legislating to subvert this most basic entitlement of a child. Legislators have an enormous responsibility to oppose the ideology behind this Bill and to press for its amendment,” Prof. Kinsella said.