There are renewed calls to close the legal loophole – which prevents unmarried fathers from having automatic legal guardianship of their children.
It comes after a Dublin maternity hospital had to seek an order from the High Court – to allow it withdraw life support from a baby boy with severe brain damage.
The child's mother – who had sole legal guardianship – died on Tuesday shortly after the baby was delivered by emergency caesarean section.
The Government is proposing to address the legal anomaly in the new Children and Family Relationships Bill but groups representing unmarried and separated fathers say change isn't happening soon enough.
