Marilyn Leneghan-Play Therapy Kerry

25/07/2025

The “care” system is anything but care

None were in care, but two were in aftercare and others were known to social work services

25/07/2025

𝐈𝐬 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐎𝐦𝐛𝐮𝐝𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐘𝐞𝐭 𝐀𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐒𝐞𝐱 𝐀𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐞?

The Ombudsman for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon, has strongly criticised the Government for failing child victims of domestic and s*xual violence and for disrespecting his office. His remarks follow a three-year dispute over funding that ultimately led to his office being excluded from monitoring the state’s “zero tolerance” domestic abuse strategy, despite being asked to take on the role.

The plan, launched in 2022, was the first to recognise children as victims of domestic abuse in their own right. Although the Government initially asked Dr Muldoon to oversee the plan’s impact on children, his office never received funding to carry out the work. Both the Department of Justice and the Department of Children refused to take responsibility for the funding.

Despite repeated letters to then-Justice Minister Helen McEntee and prolonged discussions with officials, Dr Muldoon received no concrete response or funding over two budget cycles. In frustration, he requested that all references to his office be removed from the strategy, accusing the Government of using his office’s name for credibility without providing the support necessary to protect children. He called the situation “shameful” and said vulnerable children had been “let down.”

The Government’s failure to fund the role it asked the Ombudsman for Children to perform is more than just bureaucratic dysfunction — it is a betrayal of the very children the “zero tolerance” strategy claims to protect.

Using the Ombudsman’s name to lend credibility to a plan to supervise zero tolerance of children experiencing domestic and s*xual violence, while denying him the means to hold it accountable exposes a cynical disregard for both oversight and child welfare.

If children are to be treated as victims in their own right, then their rights must be backed by action, not abandoned in political deadlock. Successive governments have shown a determination to cover up child s*x abuse. 

21/07/2025

The study from UCC and the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland University of Medicine and Health Sciences found that large caseloads and staffing issues prevent them offering vital care to children

20/07/2025

Great article on the reality of the court system. The court system punishing parents who protect their children and allows children to be put at risk.