GE, In the Matter Of (A Female Child Aged 4 Years)

Ms B Cleland (instructed by the Elliott-Trainor Partnership solicitors) for the Grandmother

[2]������ I heard the application on 7 November 2023 and at the conclusion of the hearing I gave a short ex tempore judgment granting the residence order. I indicated that I would deliver a written judgment at a later stage, and this is that judgment.

[3]������ The two issues before the court are whether the court has jurisdiction and, if it does, whether it should make the residence order.

[4]������ GE lives with the grandmother in a border county in the Republic of Ireland (�R of I�).� The grandmother has lived there all her life.� The mother was brought up there but moved to a border county in Northern Ireland (�NI�).� The father lives in that county in NI.

[5]������ Section 19 of the Family Law Act 1986 (�the 1986 Act�) states that a court in NI cannot make a �Part I Order� (defined in section 1(c) as including a residence order) unless it has jurisdiction under the Hague Convention 1996 (�the Convention�) or the Convention does not apply and at the �relevant date� (defined by section 24(c)(i) to be the date of the application - 13 March 2023) the child was habitually resident in NI.