Members Joan O’Mahony and Jason McGoey attended a conference  on 29th May, at Croke Park organised by the charity Barnardos. The conference was entitled “What about Me? Prioritising Children in Family Breakdown Proceedings”.

The speakers were Fergus Finlay, CEO of Barnardos; Mr Justice Michael White of the High Court; Geoffrey Shannon, Child Law Expert; Dr. John Sharry Social Worker/ Psychotherapist of the Mater Hospital; Jan O’ Sullivan TD and Dearbhail McDonnell, Legal Editor of the Irish Independent. The conference dealt with topics such as Child Centred Family Law Reform; Challenges in Family Law Proceedings; Promoting Child-Centred Cooperative Parenting following Separation and Divorce using the Parents Plus Programme; Resolving Family Breakdown in a Child Focused Manner and Reporting Family Law Cases in the Media.

There was a facilitated panel discussion which focused on how to support children going through family breakdown, both in and out of the court setting followed by Masterclasses on Separation and Domestic Violence; the Role of Court Welfare Officers and Child Contact Centres.