A chara, - Michael Stephens (November 26th) states that the current family law system is designed to persecute men. He is wrong.
The system is designed to deal with the disaster of marriage breakdown, and in particular, to make sure that the children of broken marriages are adequately looked after.
When couples split up, there is less to go around, and the children's welfare is the priority. It is therefore usual for the children to live with their main carer, who is usually the mother.
The most common legal outcome is for the mother to live with the children in the family home until the children are of age, or until they have completed full time education. Then the family home is usually split equally between the parents, either by one buying the other out, or the house being sold and the net proceeds divided.
I have, as a solicitor, dealt with cases where the mother has been ousted from the family home because of addiction or violence. I have seen outcomes where, in the case of a childless couple, the family home has been given to the man and the woman has had inadequate financial compensation. Each case on its particular merits will have a different outcome.
Court decisions will be as varied as the couples are varied. To blame solicitors for the family law system is like blaming plumbers for replacing burst pipes. If there was no legal framework, then what would happen to the children in a bitter break up?
As for Amen and John Waters, they just create a male dreamland where everyone is at fault except men. We all know that when a marriage breaks up, most women have greater dedication, commitment, have a better support network, and pick up the pieces and the nappies, while most men moan and aggress into their pints. It is the women who should be wary of marriage. - Is mise,
MUREDACH DOHERTY, Lower Beechwood Avenue, Ranelagh, Dublin 6.