By Ruth Mercer
The High Court has put in place a structured contact arrangement between a father and his two younger children following a family law appeal from Roscommon Circuit Court.
The anonymised case concerns parents identified as Y.Y. and Z.Z., who married in 2008, separated in 2016 and have three children now aged 16, 14 and 12. The parties have been involved in extensive litigation over a number of years, including disputes about access.
In a judgment delivered on 11 December 2025, Ms Justice Nuala Jackson said the single issue before her was the appropriate level of contact between the father and the children. Under the Guardianship of Infants Act, their best interests were the paramount consideration.
Expert reports and supervised-access observations showed increasingly positive engagement between the father and the two younger children. The judge also spoke directly with those children and received a letter from the eldest. She found that the younger two wished to know and maintain a relationship with their father, but required predictable and carefully bounded arrangements.
The court ordered monthly contact with the younger children. From October to February this is to involve a two-hour meal at a hotel restaurant in Carrick-on-Shannon. From March to September, contact can extend to four hours and include a sporting activity followed by a meal. Weekly half-hour video calls and reasonable email contact were also ordered, with the mother copied on all emails.
No access order was made for the eldest child, whose consistently expressed wishes were respected, although she may join her siblings if she chooses.
The judge prohibited unplanned contact and required both parents not to disparage each other or their wider families in front of the children. The father must not be under the influence of intoxicants during visits.
The ruling modifies and affirms parts of the November 2023 Circuit Court order. The High Court retained limited oversight and listed the case for review in March 2026.