Children taken from home country by mother can remain in Ireland, court rules

A three-judge Court of Appeal (CoA) has been split in its decision to permit siblings to reside in Ireland with their mother instead of being returned to their home country, where their father lives.

Ms Justice Úna Ní Raifeartaigh, supported by Mr Justice Donald Binchy, said the fact the mother has twice abducted the children “weighs heavily” with her.

She said there is “no doubt” that the policy of deterring child abduction – which is central to the Hague Convention governing the law of wrongful removal and cross-jurisdictional rights of custody – would be best served by returning the siblings to their EU home state.

However, she added, the eldest child had a “strong” objection to this idea, and the court ordering their return to the other country does not seem to be in the child’s best interests “at this point in time”.

The judge noted the child, now aged in their mid-teens, associates the home country with “deep unhappiness and isolation”.

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