Irish divorce register delayed

Work on an Irish register of divorce decrees which was meant to be created under the Civil Registration Act 2004 will not begin until 2008 at the earliest.

Section 59 of the act stated that when a divorce or a marriage annulment is granted all the details should be entered into the register "as soon as may be", the Sunday Business Post reports.

However, when barrister John McGuiggan sent a letter to the country's Registrar General last week to ask for information on the matter he was told that work on the register, which falls under part seven of the act, will not start until next year at the earliest.

Thomas Doyle of the General Register Office wrote: "It is impossible to indicate when [work on the divorce register] is likely to be commenced, but it is likely to be 2008 at the earliest.

Barrister McGuiggan, told the paper: "Although the various County Court registrars keep records of decrees issued, they do not allow access to them.

"They justify this on the basis of the in camera requirement of family law proceedings. Thus, without the act's provisions, there is simply no possible way of ascertaining the date of a particular divorce."