The Family- Marriage and Children

The National Men's Council of Ireland, in keeping with the Irish Constitution, extols the virtue and value of the two-parent, Marriage-based family as the foundation of society. We hold that Marriage can only be the union of one man and one woman and is intended to be life-long.

We decry unlicensed procreation and believe that the state and community should at all times promote and encourage the philosophy that sexual relations should be confined to lawful Marriage.

We trust in God, in rationality, in Bunreacht Na hÉireann and the Rule of Law.

[You can read more about us by clicking here]


Submission on the Review of Lone Parent Allowance
and One Parent Family Payment Scheme to

               (i) Steering Group chaired by the Department of the Taoiseach
    and    (ii) the Senior Officials Group on Social Inclusion

The law of Marriage is essentially the same today as it was thousands of years ago and can be paraphrased as the solemn vows that the prospective couple make to each other in their wedding ceremony. With only minor variations they each say that they take each, “to have and to hold from this day forth, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish till death us do part.”

In practice if something goes terribly wrong and one spouse deserts or otherwise abandons their commitment to the Marriage, the errand spouse can be forced, in law, to support the innocent spouse. The state also plays its part by making welfare payments available to support deserted spouses and their children and by seeking compensation for the public purse from the deserting spouse. That was the situation until 1989. Then common sense and the rulebook was thrown out of the window and feminist-inspired so-called non-judgmentalism took its place - all behind closed doors and contrary to the expressed intention of the Oireachtas!

This report exposes the story of how, it would appear, the then Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Dr Michael Woods turned upside down the regulations governing desertion and covertly allowed deserting spouses to avail of the One Parent Family Payment and rather sought to penalise the innocent deserted parent by making them the Liable Relative and Maintenance Debtor.

Since that time the state, through the Lone Parent Allowance and One Parent Family Payment schemes, can be seen to be complicit in the destruction of the fundamental basis on which Marriage is founded and itself to have initiated the transformation of society in Ireland into what it is today - a haven for deserters and an immoral paradise for radical feminists intent on eradicating Marriage.

This modest report was compiled within a few weeks to comply with a deadline set by the Department of Social and Family Affairs. It attempts two things - the first is to expose how the law of Marriage was corrupted and seriously undermined for the past sixteen years by the Department of Social and Family Affairs and secondly it provides an account in the words one Deserted Married Father, which stand as testimony to the hitherto untold human misery being caused by the Department’s misguided activities.

[You can read more about this indecent assault on Irish Families - Full Report -Click Here]


Irish Parents rights under Attack from the State

The Taoiseach has set up an All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution to review Articles 40.3, 41 and 42 which recognise inter alia the natural rights of the People of Ireland in the context of Family and Education.

In case anyone needs reminding the Constitution exists specifically to recognise and protect these rights of the People from interference or regulation by the state.

It is a very questionable exercise therefore when the state itself, without prompting from the people, initiates changes to the Constitution which will reduce the ability of Families to protect themselves from the state!

[You can read more about this threat by clicking here]


Read our most recent Reports and our Analysis of the work of the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution:

National Mens Council of Ireland presntation to the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution
The Taoiseach has set up an All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution to review Articles 40.3, 41 and 42 which recognise inter alia the natural rights of the People of Ireland in the context of Family and Education.In case anyone needs reminding the Constitution exists specifically to recognise and protect these rights of the People from interference or regulation by the state.

It is a very questionable exercise therefore when the state itself, without prompting from the people, initiates changes to the Constitution which will reduce the ability of Families to protect themselves from the state! 

Parental Rights in Ireland, November 2004 - An Analysis
This extraordinary analysis of parental rights in Ireland in 2004 is of extreme public interest especially at this point in time when the Government have asked for a Review to be conducted into the position of the Family in Irish society.

We believe it is of vital importance that parents know where they stand in Law in relation to their right to protect and nurture their children.

Preliminary Report On The Family And Marriage In Ireland In 2003
Today the married family is under unprecedented attack. One of the prime activities of the National Men’s Council of Ireland is to monitor, on behalf of parents, how legislation and social policy impacts on the family and marriage and in particular for children.

Brides of the State
Open letter sent to all TDs and Senators exposing in graphic terms how the state is distorting and undermining marriage with its subsidy of illegitimacy that is denying young men the opportunity to marry.

 [Top]