family law

This is incredibly poor advice.

The OP has to attend Court. The Court take their power to compel people to attend Court extremely, extremely seriously. It is absolutely vital that if you are summoned to Court you attend. I can't overstate how idiotic your advice is.

If he doesn't attend Court, he may not be arrested but the Court will proceed in his absence to make whatever Orders his ex is looking for.

Anyhow OP, I used to be a family law solicitor but left it as it was too depressing. Your best option is to get a solicitor you can talk honestly to.

In Court, you will have a very short window to convince the Judge of your side of the story. Ime, it's always good to create a good impression by turning up on time, in clean clothes, presentable etc. Sounds like a minor thing but you'll literally only have a few minutes to create an impression so stack up everything you can in your favour.

Good luck

He doesn't have to be charged with anything for her to get a barring order against him, which she's presumably going for in Court. It would be extremely foolish for him to follow your advice.

@maestroamado please stop. Will all due respect, you obviously know nothing about how Safety, Protection or Barring Orders are granted or how the Family Courts operate. If you want to start a discussion on the legal aspect, start a thread on Legal Discussion. (sorry mods, not trying to mod, but it needs to be said).

Non-attendance at the Court on foot of these proceedings would result in any order his partner has applied for being immediately granted to her by default.

OP, if your were called by a Garda, it appears your partner / spouse (?) may have already had an ex-parte hearing in front of a judge. You are not in a good position. She is playing hardball. Did the Garda advise if any temporary order has been granted?

Whatever you do, attend the court, and seek legal advice. Please also contact Mensaid Ireland.

If you feel you are being railroaded you can also contact Womensaid - don't let the title fool you, they will also offer advice and assistance to men.

As also mentioned earlier in the thread, FLAC offer specialised FLAC Family Law Clinics.

Inform yourself on what constitutes "Domestic Violence", so you are prepared to answer anything you may be accused off at the hearing.

Domestic Violence is a lot more than just physical abuse - emotional abuse, manipulative or controlling behaviour can also be classed as DV. (That is not me saying you are guilty of these things - just that you need to be fully informed).

The purpose of the in camera rule is not to prevent discussions on family law.

The purpose of the in camera rule is to protect the identity of the parties and any child to whom family law or childcare proceedings relate.

No one's identity is being revealed here, and discussion of the in camera rule is not relevant or helpful to the OP.

OP, please don't concern yourself with worrying about the in camera rule.

Judges will err on the side of the law, and she is going to need a lot more evidence than an emotive note to secure a full barring order.

From Womensaid.ie/Services

Women’s Aid provides a range of inclusive frontline services, detailed below, which are available to all women, including transgender women.  The services are available to women of any sexuality, ethnicity, nationality, age or ability. We assist men who contact the Women’s Aid 24hr National Freephone Helpline and also signpost to partner organisations offering dedicated services to male victims and survivors of domestic violence and abuse.7

Men are not turned away by Womensaid, and I know some personally who have received advice and court accompaniment by WA.

Also, she is not "entitled" to remain in the house until the youngest child is 23. The Court will determine what happens to the house. Whether the house is a family home or a shared home, is unclear. (Which is why I asked earlier if the OP was referring to his partner, or his spouse). Given the OP has also stated that the house is mortgage free, there is a reasonable chance he could win a property adjustment order for the sale of the house, and the proceeds split, allowing both parties to walk away with enough of a deposit to start afresh, if he chooses to pursue that route. Or he could request she remortgage and buy him out. Either/Or.

I hope, OP, that you have sought legal advice at this stage. Also FACT CHECK everything.

I'm not going to get into a debate here on theory, as its not helpful to the Op.

Nor is telling the OP the outcome of his case is a forgone conclusion, before he has even had a chance to go to Court.

Hence my advice to the OP to do his own "due diligence" and do his own fact checking.

Good luck getting to see the inside of a family law court in the next two years. The waiting times should be a crime. I wouldn't be listening to advice here to not show up in court. That's silly.

You're not the only man who is having his honour, integrity and reputation destroyed in this process. But it's not the sort of thing a man can speak opening about because people would think "No smoke without fire". In other words, the very fact you're being accused of something bad has deemed you guilty in the eyes of many.

It's very, very much a tactic pushed by a large number of solicitors and the whole, utterly outrageous "I believe her" campaign is doing nothing but encouraging these false allegations against innocent men.

As said already, I'd note all the times it suited her to have you look after the children - when she wanted to lie on, go out, and so much else. I'd also start taking notes on all her instances of negligence of the children, and I'd note the children's comments to you about how they feel at her behaviour. In Irish law, there are no consequences for these vile people making such false allegations against innocent men.