Fathers Day events 15 June 2001.
Reports on events below, plans further below.
Subject: [Parental-Equality for all] DADS BURN ACCESS ORDERS
"WHAT ARE ACCESS ORDERS?" said the man with the megaphone. "JUDGES LIES!" the crowd roared. It was Fathers' Day in Dublin. The dads and their supporters met outside Dolphin House, the Dublin District Court - or "THE CHILDSNATCHERY" as dads prefer to call it. The Irish Times put the numbers at "more than 60"; the Mirror said "about 200". But whatever the numbers, the dads were all angry. "Why are they taking away our homes? Why are they taking our children?" the speaker asked. "Because lawyers find it a highly profitable business - and because we do not have a judiciary independent of the lawyers." It brought the biggest cheer of the day. "But that's not enough for them. It's not enough to take away our children; they even obstruct our right to visit them! Look at these pieces of paper, these so-called 'visitation rights'. They are no more than judicial lies. Their one purpose is to hide the cruelty of taking children away from parents. They are not enforced; they are NEVER enforced! We see our children by permission or not at all. WHAT ARE THEY FIT FOR?" "THE FIRE!" roared the crowd. Peter Coleman, Chairman of the PARENTS' DEFENCE CAMPAIGN, the umbrella body which organised the demonstration, then collected all the court orders for visitation "rights" and put them in an iron tray. They were then sprinkled with white spirit and publicly burned. The dads then marched to St. Stephen's Green where a band played music. It was a sad day, but a very proud one!
First a massive thank-you to Tony for an 11th hour appearance with some really excellent banner posters. These are printed by ink jet printer and are llllllloooonnnggg. Expect to see these in action again.
About 13-15 people turned up which is good for a weekday protest. Poppy, Annette, me, Ian, Ian's mate, South American chap, Terry, Simon, an FnF east anglia chap, and then the late arrivals.
Our first supporter turned out to be a security guard at the Family Court who had been 'processed' by the family courts! The COW report desperate to blacken his name had accused him of taking his children to the Hindu temple. His reply to them was to challenge the judges 'christianity' and he apparently told the judges that Hindu judges would never have done what they did. Apparently the court had been informed about our arrival on Thursday (hmmmm). Cuuuuiiiiii hello you boys in blue!
The Cambridge Evening News reporter and photographer turned up and a team photograph was taken with banners plastered all over the entrance to the family court. At this point the reporter was firing questions for an article and right on queue dah dum .....
Mark Harris arrived with his mum and Renate (a German national, with a German son - who has been taken from her by the UK SS). With the case histories the reporter had plenty to write down.
Next we and Poppy my 2 year-old daughter delivered the CDROM, video, and blurb to Julie Brown the court manager.
Len arrived and it was time for a bit of a go on the loud hailer. This was very effective when we moved out into the high street, and there was good effective leafleting and plenty of banners.
After a bite to eat outside by the river in pleasant sunshine Mark and Co left and we came to my most favorite bit of the afternoon.
A chap had emailed us to say he was very sorry not to be able to make the protest as he was 7000 miles away in Thailand. However would we mind protesting outside the offices of his ex-wife's solicitors who encouraged his wife in PAS, lying, and inflaming an already poor situation. This chap does not even know where his daughter lives, school, or anything. The solicitor Miss O'Donnell also refuses to forward Birthday cards or presents even though the solicitor is the only address the father has. The chap asked in the email if the fathers could also protest outside the offices of this solicitor Miller and Sands 75/79 Regent Street, Cambridge. IT WAS WITH THE GREATEST OF PLEASURE THAT WE DID SO. Len has placed the pictures outside the solicitors on his web site for the chap in Thailand to view tonight. After the pictures we delivered our letter of protest to the receptionist with a few leaflets and then began a session on the loud hailer. This quickly brought down the administrator who began hostile, and after discussion with us, left wishing us all the best!
Pictures of the protest are available at (History section under Father's day):
www.lbduk.org/
A live interview will be done by BBC Cambridgeshire at 10:45 on Sunday.
A big thank-you to Stephen Fitzgerald for an excellent video and organisation.
Brian Robertson, 23.30, 15 June 2001
"We had a reasonably turn out on Friday at the Exeter court, where we handed in the video and policy statement.
There was a good response from the public when we distributed the EPC leaflets.
The whole lot was filmed by ITV and we appeared on the Friday lunchtime and evening broadcasts.
Overall, a good success."
Edward Diggins, 16 June 2001
Father's Day Demonstration - Friday 15th June at noon in the following venues -
Belfast Co-ordinator - John Junk 02890 743952
Glasgow Co-ordinator - Robert Ray 0141 5866556
Cardiff Co-ordinator - Mathew Mudge 07866 566045
London Co-ordinator - Tony Coe 020 7590 2701
Exeter Co-ordinator - Andrew Crook 01392 424188 / 07890 295135
Birmingham Co-ordinator - Robert Whiston 01922 615957
Liverpool Co-ordinator - Steve Dennett 0151 5127303
Cambridge Co-ordinator - Brian Robertson 01223 353430
Bristol Co-ordinator - Anson Allen 01179 744535 / 0794 121 0898
This is to confirm that there will be a protest before father's day:
WHEN: Friday 15 June 2001 at 12:30 lunchtime duration approx 1 hour
WHERE: outside the Cambridge Family Court - Cambridge County Court, Bridge House, Bridge Street, Cambridge, CB2 1UA. (about 300 meters from the rail station)
ORGANIZER: Brian Robertson, 15 Edward Street, Cambridge Tel 01223-353430 email: [email protected]
SUPPORTED BY: FnF East Anglia, Mankind, UKMM, EPC etc etc
Please bring banners and let me know if you can attend. If time permits we plan to move 100 meters to the local radio station to express our dissatisfaction with our family courts and the portrayal of men by the media.
No need to take time off work - just have a long lunch hour.
Thanks
Best Regards
Brian Robertson.
IMPORTANT PLEASE - FOR WIDEST DISTRIBUTION
I hope we can have a great turnout for the Equal Parenting Protest on 15 June, which is kindly being spearheaded by Steve Fitzgerald. Steve is arranging for the production of a CD containing video interviews with victim parents and at least one child victim describing how the system failure has affected her life now that she is an adult daughter.
This will be delivered in London to the Law Lords as part of the protest and Steve is arranging for it to be delivered to other family courts around the UK by mail. We therefore want to get as many people as possible to London for the protest.
I should be grateful for input, especially from our illustrious Chairman, Anson Allen, who I know will be engaging his powerful campaigning machinery and human resources, on timing and venue for 15th. We need to make an immediate decision on this, so input from all lead activists by email today would be appreciated please - input on timing and venue proposed below.
My suggestion is that we target the steps of the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand for this one at 12 Noon. It is highly visible and a good focal point for the media. There will be good footfall at lunchtime.
Please email that you can definitely come and how many supporters will be coming with you. Yes, please take personal responsibility for bringing others with you. Sorry to be bossy, but please don't send excuses. Many of us have jobs and other pressing commitments too. It's no good complaining about the system if you're not willing to stand up and be counted on occasions like this! You're either part of the problem or part of the solution, there's no middle ground!
I guarantee you will not be sorry you came to this one!
Anyone willing to be a volunteer to help with preparations/organization, please don't be shy - email me your contact info. today. We have to get cracking immediately.
Best wishes, Tony
Tony Coe, President, EQUAL PARENTING COUNCIL Speaking Out for Children of Broken Homes Direct Line 020 7590 2701 - mobile: 07768 366 100 Information Line: 020 7590 2709 - Email: [email protected] "Children need BOTH Parents!" www.EqualParenting.org
UK CHAPTER - CHILDREN'S RIGHTS COUNCIL OF USA
On this day the following will be delivered to the above courts -
Family Policy Document - The Judiciary - Need for change and Code of Conduct -this will comprise a list of grievances and a request for reform.
CD - this will comprise a video/audio record of interviews of children and parents who have been through the system and are demanding reform.
All other County Courts will receive the document through the post.
For further information contact Stephen Fitzgerald - 01643 862289
Please do not leave it to others - ring your nearest contact and pledge your support. Leaflets, documents & CDs will be supplied.
Hi folks
Fri. 15 June I go to Belfast crown court, to hand in documents, at 12 noon,on behalf of the equal parenting coalition. I would like support!
Ring me(028 7083 6235) or just turn up at the court 11.45am.