*Making orders in the case “is not ideal in any way,” the judge remarked.
A JUDGE has ruled in a Confirmation celebration row between estranged parents that their children have their main course with their mother and then have their dessert with their father in post Confirmation celebration meals in different rooms at a hotel.
At Ennis Circuit Court, Judge Francis Comerford said that he was making the orders concerning the Confirmation celebration as the parents could not agree on dinner arrangements at the hotel with their children and their guests.
The parents are separated and have joint custody of their children.
Judge Comerford said that making orders in the case “is not ideal in any way”.
He said, “It is not ideal that people are coming to court when they can’t agree on matters like this.”
Solicitor, Mairead Doyle for the father had proposed that the parents, children and family guests all eat together at the hotel.
Judge Comerford said, “I am not going to direct that people stay at the same table if they can’t stay at the same table – it is really unfortunate”.
Instead, Judge Comerford said that at the hotel, the couple’s children will have their main course with their mother and her family guests in a room at the hotel.
Judge Comerford has directed that the children then go to another room to have their dessert with their father and his family guests.
On behalf of her client, Ms Doyle asked that the children’s dessert time with their father be one hour and Judge Comerford directed that this be the case.
Judge Comerford said that he could see the sense of the children having their meal with their parents for the Confirmation celebration “and it would be a good thing if it happened”.
Judge Comerford said that the father will have control of the children for one and a half hours after mass during which time photos would be taken.
Judge Comerford had urged both sides to reach a compromise. He said, “Whatever arrangements have to be put in place should be put in place by the parents in the best interests of their children”.
Ms Doyle was bringing the matter before court as the two sides in correspondence could not agree on dinner arrangements for the Confirmation Day outside court during March and April. Ms Doyle said that her client has an application for sole custody for the children currently before Limerick Circuit Court.
Ms Doyle said, “We are proposing a joint dinner because we are trying to promote a united front with the children”.
She said, “Proposing a joint dinner would the best approach to show that the two sides can set aside their differences for the day”.
Ms Doyle said that for the Confirmation Day, it is a day the children are going to remember for the rest of their lives.
Ms Doyle told the court that she had sent proposals for the Confirmation Day on April 10th to solicitors for the wife in the case and received a three page reply.
Ms Doyle said that her client contacted the hotel and added six people to the dinner reservation that the wife initially had for the day.
Ms Doyle said that her client went back to the hotel “and it transpires that those six people had been taken off that table by some third party”.
Ms Doyle said that the children’s mother says she didn’t cancel the six people “but someone cancelled it”.
Solicitor for the mother, Seán O’Hanrahan said that his client “really wants the children to have a great day”.
He said that his client was agreeable to the children’s father spending two hours with them for photos after the Confirmation mass.
Mr O’Hanrahan said that his client has no difficulty with her ex-husband if he wants to invite guests and pay for their meal at the hotel.
He said, “But we cannot make the dinner arrangement for him – that is something for the hotel. That is what is being asked of us and asked of you judge to you to fix his dinner arrangements”.
Mr O’Hanrahan said that he took it upon himself to visit the hotel and said that the distance between the two dining areas “are less than 70 yards apart”.
Mr O’Hanrahan said that his client had made a dinner booking in the room designated for Confirmation family celebrations.
Mr O’Hanrahan asked for his client’s costs in the case and Judge Comerford replied “not a chance”. Ms Doyle said that she had no application for costs.
