ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the recent Irish cases and debate surrounding the 'clash' of parental and children's rights. The debate and reaction to this case, and indeed the prioritization of notions like parental responsibility over parental rights, display a fundamental aversion to an important parental right, the right to make mistakes. The Twenty-Eighth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2007 on children's rights was published as a response by the Irish government to concern expressed by children's organizations about a perceived constitutional failure to protect children's independent interests. In the Irish context then, adoption of this legal notion will clearly highlight the importance of the welfare of the child and the conditional nature of parental rights. Similarly, in the context of the discussion about Irish constitutional protections of the family, the notion of parental rights is condemned when the protection of these interests permits parents to make mistakes, or decisions that are contrary to the values of society.
