Legislation is to be brought to Cabinet next month, aiming to remove guardianship rights from convicted killers.
The legislation, which will be known as Valerie’s Law, has been announced by Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan.
Valerie’s Law would see guardianship removed from a person convicted of the murder of manslaughter of another parent or guardian of a child.
At present, people who kill their partners or ex-partners fully retain guardianship of any shared children.
The law is named after Valerie French, a native of Cork who was murdered at the age of 41 by her husband James Kilroy at their home in Westport in June of 2019.
Following her death, Ms. French’s three children were found by Gardaí in their rural home hungry and “very dehydrated”.
