Judge channels King Solomon in child access case
Photo for illustrative purposes only
A FATHER who hasn’t seen his daughter in three months was granted temporary access to the child who is in the permanent care of her maternal grandmother in a difficult case heard behind closed doors at Athy District Court recently.
The hearing hinged on the fact that since the child’s mother had died last year, and the dad had since began a new relationship – and had another child – relations have been somewhat fraught in the extended, and blended families.
The grandmother told the court that since her daughter died “the child has been with me on Bank Holidays, Christmas, and when his new girlfriend was giving birth, I had her for 14 days”.
The court also heard that while the granny had applied for, and was granted sole custody earlier this summer, that ruling was set aside following an application by the father’s solicitor Joe Coonan “as my client wasn’t in court on that day”.
“He hasn’t seen her in three months,” said Mr Coonan, before the grandmother’s solicitor Seamus Boyle pointed out: “He is in a new relationship, and has (an infant) child”.
“If (named daughter) is getting on well with her granny, I don’t want to traumatize a young kid,” said Judge Desmond Zaidan.
“My client is putting his daughter first, but I think I can sort this out,” said Mr Coonan.
“He’d be happy to leave (named child) with (named granny) if he can have unsupervised access,” said Mr Coonan.
“I never stopped him from coming to see her,” said the grandmother.
“To be fair, he could’ve made it much more difficult – like having to cut the child in two halves,” said the judge in a nod to King Solomon.
“A father still has a right to access, even if he is in prison,” said the judge.
“She’s (child’s age). I presume she can talk?” he asked.
“And sing!” said a proud grandmother.
Mr Coonan told the court his client was seeking weekend access overnight, and the judge agreed.
“I’ll give him every second weekend,” he said.
“Your daughter is your flesh and blood, but your girlfriend is not.
“The moral of the story is don’t let any girlfriend or wife in the future come between you and your daughter.
“Your girlfriend has got to win (named child) over.
“If she does win her over, your daughter will be banging on granny’s door wanting to spend more time with her dad.
“They are at a beautiful age for accepting new dynamics in the family,” he said, before slightly amending his earlier ruling and granting the father two nights every second weekend from Friday after school to Sunday evening.
