The High Court has refused all relief sought by an Irish man challenging the denial of a Widower’s (Contributory) Pension and a Widowed or Surviving Civil Partners Grant after his partner’s death.
In a judgment delivered on 19 March 2021, Ms Justice Miriam O’Regan found that Patrick McGovern had not established an entitlement to either payment. She also found there would be no benefit in referring a question to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
McGovern had married Elizabeth Casey in 1982. He said he obtained a divorce in London in July 1994 and married Pauline Carbery in Belfast the following month. Casey and McGovern were granted a divorce in Ireland in 1999. Carbery died in 2016. McGovern’s applications for the pension and grant were refused because the 1994 divorce was not recognised as valid in Ireland.
The court considered section 123 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005, which defines “spouse” for these payments. It held that where a claim relies on a marriage after a divorce, the divorce must be recognised as valid in Ireland. The judge rejected McGovern’s argument that the statutory wording could extend to his circumstances without that recognition.
McGovern argued that EU law required Ireland to take account of the UK divorce, including under rules on recognising facts and events in another member state. The judge found no evidence that he had travelled to the UK when the divorce was sought or granted, or that he had moved to and genuinely resided there while exercising EU free-movement rights. The court also held that Regulation 2201/2003 did not apply to proceedings from 1994 because it took effect in 2004.
The judge concluded that the EU arguments did not provide a basis to require recognition of the divorce for the purpose of the benefits. She found no demonstrated unlawful gap in Irish law or discrimination under the 2005 Act. The court also rejected the argument that McGovern’s de facto family life, which he said had been treated as a marriage by the Revenue Commissioners, made him eligible.
The judgment records that the Appeals Officer’s decision of 31 March 2020 refused both benefits. The High Court refused McGovern’s requested relief, including an order quashing that decision and a CJEU reference. It did not award either payment.