While the debate on the legacy of Charles J. Haughey may occupy summer schools and academics from here until eternity, the importance of the 1965 Succession Act is not controversial and cannot be understated. It was both timely and ahead of its time.

The Act stands alongside a number of key statutes which did not arrive until over 10 years later in the 1970s, such as the Family Home Protection Act, 1976, and the Maintenance of Spouses and Children Act, 1976, which elevated the legal position of wives.

It must be remembered that only in 1974 was children’s allowance paid to the mother rather than the ‘qualified person’ being the father.

But families outside marriage have fared much worse than marital families in Irish law.

It was not until 1987 that the Status of Children Act was introduced, which was designed to equalise the rights of children whether born in or out of marriage, and not until the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010 that non-marital relationships could lead to entitlements to potential succession rights. 

Non-marital fathers have much greater rights now since the Child and Family Relationships Act 2015 — but they are still less than marital father’s rights.

No immediate further legislative changes to the law in relation to non-marital family seem likely following the defeat of the constitutional referendum last year, save for one exception — the necessary law to give effect to the findings in the O’Meara case in the Supreme Court.

The Oireachtas will, in the Social Welfare (Bereaved Partner’s Pension and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025, provide for the payment of death benefit to surviving qualified cohabitants and their children.

But what the state gives to cohabitants, it takes from divorced and legally separated couples who will be deprived of any benefits under the same bill. It now excludes a different category of family — the divorced and legally separated — from the Widow or Widower’s Contributory Pension.

In celebrating 50 years of the Succession Act, we should also focus on the work still to be done in ensuring that the position of the non-marital family receives greater protection in Irish law.

• Keith Walsh SC is a prominent family law solicitor and partner in Keith Walsh Solicitors LLP.