In what a judge described as a “heart-rending” case, a father wants orders directing the State to take immediate steps for the return to Ireland of his child who he has not seen since early this year.
The toddler was taken by her mother to her native Poland without her father’s consent and remains there after a Polish court directed her return to Ireland.
The parents are in dispute over the mother’s claim the child will receive better treatment in Poland for her medical condition.
On Wednesday, the man told the High Court’s Mr Justice Micheál P O’Higgins, who was dealing with the court’s vacation list, he has not seen his daughter since he saw her in a Polish court last January. He is “the only one fighting for her rights”, he said.
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Paul McCarthy SC, for various State defendants, said this is “a human story” and there was no lack of sympathy from the defendants for the predicament of the man and his child.
It is also a legal matter and the man has no cause of action against the State parties, counsel said. The State is “doing all it can” but there were legal and diplomatic limits on what it can do.
Mr Justice O’Higgins said it was a “heart-rending” matter and the court required further materials and legal documents and submissions before deciding how to proceed.
He made directions for exchange of those documents and returned the man’s application for various orders and declarations to October 8th.
He adjourned to the same date the defendants’ application to strike out the man’s proceedings on grounds they disclose no cause of action and are bound to fail.
The judge made orders preventing identification of the parties.
Earlier, he was told that a Polish ombudsman has sought to bring an appeal there concerning the court orders for return of the child.
The man said he wanted orders for the Irish Government to challenge Poland about the failure to return his child to Ireland. He has been left on his own and has “no time for legal gymnastics”, he said.
