Ireland's Secret Courts

Childrens "Rights" Referendum back on the cards
Childrens "Rights" Referendum back on the cards

Reported last week in a Press Release that the Government will hold a Referendum in which several issues will be addressed. Among the items are;

    Inserting specific rights for children in the Irish Constitution
    Streamlining the Family Court System

In previous drafts of the Childrens Rights document which refers to Article 42, there was not one single right for children clearly defined in the document. Instead we had some wishy washy language such as "The State will endeavour to cherish all the children of Ireland equally".

In other parts of the Constitution you will see words such as "must" or "duty" and "guarantee", not terms like "will endeavour to" or "might" or "try to" or "cant make any promises". I can only imagine what the architects or the Constitution would make of the re-write. They are probably turning in their graves.

There was much discussion and debate about this so the Government, fearing that it would be defeated, came up with other excuses why the Document needed to be changed. It would "open the floodgates for all the Irish born children of Nigerian parents (who were deported) to re-enter the country legally". It would "allow for parents to demand special education for their children".

It would "allow parents to get treatment for their children in other countries at the expense of the Irish Taxpayer". God forbid that we should have to fork a few million to save the life of children who one parent described to me as "being on Death Row", after the HSE have handed down a "Death Sentence" to these children, an estimated 25 per year. I suspect that children wont have the Constitutional right to demand treatment for life-threatening conditions and that we will continue to see parents begging the Irish Public on TV3 (never see them on RTE for some reason) for money so that their child can receive treatment, often in 3rd World Countries.

The main opposition to the last draft was "who decides when a parent fails in his or her duty?", chances are it will be a newly graduated social worker and a judge who will accept heresay in court, will lower the burden of proof to mere suspicion and not allow the parents to know what evidence will be brought up against them. Most Irish people don't even realize that when accused of child abuse or neglect, that you will be tried in 2 seperate court for the same offence. If you are found not-guilty in a criminal court you will still be punished in a family court.

I haven't seen the new proposed Article 42 yet, so in fairness, cant speak about it with any authority. In the last few drafts, it became clear to a lot of people that changing Article 42 was more about parents giving up the right to determine what was in the best interests of their child to the Government, well let's be clear, not exactly the Government per se, the HSE to be more exact.

What I have consistently said is that it's more about allowing for Forced Adoption which although the Government tried to introduce this evil practice in Ireland by changing the Adoption Act so that they could introduce Forced Adoption just like Tony Blair did in the UK and Bill Clinton did in the USA. Only problem for the Government was that Article 42 of the Irish Constitution didn't allow for a child to be adopted against the parents wishes.


Every parent in Ireland should be aware of Forced Adoption. You can visit Ian Joseph's website Forced-Adoption.com to see for yourself what the UK Government have been doing and what the Irish Government have tried to do by changing the Adoption act. Why should we be concerned?

In the UK, the Blair Government paid hunderds of millions to Local Councils to "Increase Adoption Targets" of children in "Care". The Governments have known for some time that "Care" is extremely damaging to children. The Outcomes for children in "Care" are dismal so they came up with a plan, "lets get these kids adopted so the outcomes would improve", an improvement you might think, but unfortunately not. Governments and experts cannot claim to be ignorant of the outcomes for children, if they did so it would make them look incompetent, so they chose not to discuss it. The fact is that keeping children with their parents always results in better outcomes for children AND it's far less expensive. Adoption is not the panacea as one in four break-down and the child is handed back.

What happened was that the numbers of "white, healthy babies" being removed from parents increased dramatically. Nobody wants to adopt the Baby P's of this world and Social Services focused on "Adoptable" babies. This is a matter of public record, you can check this for yourself online. Interestingly what also happened was that the number of "less desirable" children plummeted. Also interesting what happened in the USA is that they paid a higher premium to adopt African American, Hispanic and "Disabled" children increased.

What also happened was that the reasons for removing children became so flimsy, "Risk of future emotional harm", female victims of domestic violence lost their children for "allowing their partner to shout in the home". It's important to note that the vast majority of parents who lost their children to Forced Adoption have never been accused or convicted or a crime. If someone abuses or neglects a child, in my opinion, they should lose their child IF they have been convicted of a crime. Removing a child and having the child forcibly adopted is punishment without crime. Google the case of Fran Lyon or Mark & Nicky Webster.

There is no doubt in my mind and that of many other people, that the ambitions of the Government is to introduce Forced Adoption in Ireland. The supposed benefits are that a child in "Care" gets a permanent home, the taxpayer wont have to pay between €339 and €4,500 per week/per child  and the child has a better outcome. Sounds good until you look at some other facts, children (mostly white healthy babies) will be removed in secret courts, one in four adoptions will break-down and the child returned to "Care" and more families will be damaged in the process.

The answer is simpler than anyone imagined, "You cant improve on Nature". The answer is to stop taking children into "Care" and support them and their families. In Ireland, the number of children in "Care" has DOUBLED since 2004, the same story in the UK where there are currently 90,000 in UK State "Care". Northern Ireland has the highest number statistically, interesting they also have the highest number of Social Workers per capita. The HSE use NI as an example of how "under-resourced" they are. What amuses me about this claim is that there were more than enough Social Workers to take children into "Care" but not enough to even visit the ones in their "Care"?. Empire Building by the HSE created the "shortage" of social workers so, in effect, this was a manufactured crisis by the HSE.

We now have a new Minister for Children, Frances Fitzgerald, a Social Worker by profession. Minister Fitzgerald made a dramatic announcement that the HSE will be removed from Child Protection. Let's examine that for a moment. A new State body will be set up to provide Child Protective Services, how is that going to work? Will we not see the same children "looked after" by the same Foster "Carers",  being visited by the same social workers, the same Judges, Solicitors, Forensic Psychologists, Guardian-ad-litems and the thousands of people who make up the Child Protection Industry, making millions damaging children in the process? I think at best it will be "re-branding", just a new letterhead and logo but the same incompetent, greedy people. Quite possibly they will be given new powers. As one solicitor told me, "they are more powerful than the Police, The KGB, the Mafia and Murder Incorporated, all they are missing is guns!.

To her credit, Minister Fitzgerald increased the support to children "Aging-Out" of the System, or what I call being dumped on the streets at age 18 by your loving Foster "Carers" who no longer receive a salary for looking after you or the Resindential "Homes" run by private (very private) who receive €4, 500 per week per child who dump these children on the street when the money dries up. I don't know exactly what help and support these children receive but I would give the Minister a big thumbs up for even trying.

As for the Family Court Referendum, I believe that Family Courts should be scrapped. There is no reason that these secret courts should exist. If child abuse or neglect is a crime, then it should be investigated by the Gardai, Prosecuted by the DPP, Judge by a Judge or Jury and punished by the Prison Service. As it stands, people are tried by 2 seperate systems, the Criminal Justice System and the Family Court.

With the Criminal System, any member of the Public may visit and Criminal Court from start to finish and the media report on the proceedings. 4 seperate bodies are involved and the standard of proof is Beyond a Reasonable Doubt. Generally this is seen as a fairy fair system although people are sometimes innocent but found guilty. The case of Nora Wall and Pablo McCabe springs to mind.

In the Family Court, The HSE investigate, prosecute and punish. Some say that they also Judge as Judges rarely refuse requests from Social Workers. Judges are so in fear of making a mistake that they go along with Social Services. If the judge sends the child home and the child comes to some harm, the reputation of the Judge on the line, if they grant all the wishes of Social Services and the child dies in their "Care" the Judge is absolved and nobody from the HSE is responsible. You are not entitled to know what evidence will be brought against you and Heresay "evidence" IS admissible. Innocence or guilt is not even an issue, everyone is punished and the Judge doesn't even hand down a written verdict. Want to see your children while they are in "Care"? you'll probably end up losing your job, your life savings and your home. You'll be destitute at the end of the process and living on Welfare. If you get your children back, they will be so damaged by the process that may never recover. Even children as young as 6 months are twice as likely to suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which may four times more severe than troops returning from Afghanistan. And you are told that if you breathe a word of what happened to you by Judges, HSE and Gardai, that you will go to jail and your children will be taken into "Care".

It's important to realize that you are punished even if you have not been accused of a crime. Nobody ever makes mistakes in the HSE, they are always right and never accountable if a child dies. A child is 6 TIMES more likely to die in Irish State "Care" than in the care of their parents. You could lose all contact with your children without ever have been convicted of a crime. This is punishment without crime, it is unjust. If the Government ever find a way of removing the rights of a parent to decide what is in their childs best interest, Forced Adoption will become the norm as it has in the UK and USA.

Regardless of what the Government intend to do in setting up new Family Courts, you should vote against this. Family Courts are unjust and child abuse or neglect should not be in the remit of social services. Only the Gardai should be allowed to investigate crime, only the DPP should prosecute, only a judge should decide and grant orders, in serious cases, a jury should be empannelled and decide, the decision to remove parental rights is too severe a punishment to inflict on any pareent for the decision to be made by a single judge.

If I have said anything in this blog that you believe is not correct or that you may believe is misleading in any way, please respond with your comments. This blog is not censored or moderated in any way. I will respond as soon as I can.

Regards,

Joe Burns