Every child has the right to life, to a name and identity, to know and be raised by their parents where this is possible and in their best interests, to be protected from abuse, exploitation, and neglect, to education, to play, and to have their voice heard in decisions that affect them. The best interests of the child are the paramount consideration in all decisions made by the state concerning children. The minimum age of marriage is eighteen years. Children in state care retain all the rights of this article and additionally have the right to stability, to placement with family members where possible and safe, to an independent advocate, and to have records of any abuse they have suffered preserved permanently.
The right of every child to be raised by their parent where this is possible and in their best interests includes the right not to be separated from a loving and caring parent by reason of that parent’s nationality or immigration status. The provisions of Article 10 give constitutional effect to this right in the specific context of the foreign parent of a Native Irish child.
The standard of care owed to children in state and institutional care, the nation’s acknowledgement of its historical failures toward children and other vulnerable people, and the permanent mechanisms of remembrance and accountability that follow from that acknowledgement, are established in Article 121.