O. (A.) v. O. (M.)

The plaintiff is the father of the child named in the title. The defendant is the mother. The plaintiff seeks a declaration that the removal of the child from the jurisdiction of the courts of Ireland was wrongful within the meaning of Article 3 of the Hague Convention.

As will become apparent from the facts recited below the reason for these proceedings is a declaration made by the defendant to the German Courts (in the course of an application under the Hague Convention made on behalf of the plaintiff herein) for the return of the child to Ireland to the effect that she and the plaintiff were never married and a consequential assertion that the plaintiff never had custody rights to the child within the meaning of Article 3 of the Hague Convention.

I determined that notwithstanding the declared intention of the defendant to apply for legal aid in this jurisdiction and in view of the times allowed and her failure to enter an appearance that it was now in the interest of justice that this application should be permitted to proceed. The plaintiff in his grounding affidavit properly informed the Court that the defendant is now asserting that she is not and has not been validly married to him. Accordingly this present position of the defendant is a matter which must be taken into account in hearing and determining the application.

In January, 2003 the plaintiff requested the central authority in Ireland to initiate a request in Germany pursuant to the Hague Convention for the return of the child to Ireland.

The plaintiff has exhibited correspondence passing between the Central Authority in Ireland and the Central Authority in Germany and communications to him from the Central Authority in Ireland from which the following background to this application appears: