Workshops - Treoir

Nationwide TREOIR Workshops

TREOIR offers a variety of workshops and training around the country to groups of unmarried parents and to groups of workers who provide services to unmarried parents. Workshops can be tailored to the individual needs of your particular group to include some of the following:

Legal rights of unmarried parents, including cohabiting parents

The aim of this workshop is to provide accurate up to date information on the legal rights and responsibilities of parents who are not married to each other. The legal situation of unmarried parents is different to that of married parents. Parents can be confused about guardianship rights of fathers, what it means to put the father’s name on the birth certificate, the importance of making a will, and many other topics.

The workshop clarifies the legal situation of unmarried parents with regard to guardianship, access, custody, maintenance, birth registration, establishing paternity, passports and more.

The workshop will explain the impact of recently commenced, 18/1/2016, family legislation contained in the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 e.g.

an unmarried father who is cohabiting with the mother of his child for at least one year, 3 months of which are following the birth of the child, will automatically have guardianship rights in respect of his child. This is not retrospective: only cohabitation after the commencement date (18/1/2016) will be taken into account
step-parents, grandparents and those who have acted in loco parentis may be eligible to apply for guardianship.

An information session on the changes affecting unmarried cohabiting parents arising from The Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010, which was commenced in Jan 2011, can be included to cover issues such as:

how are cohabitants defined in the Act
what is the Redress Scheme that is available to qualified cohabitants if their relationship ends. (This scheme deals with property, maintenance, pensions and more.)

Shared Parenting & Explaining Family Relationships

The aim of this workshop is to raise the awareness of workers of the importance of both parents in the lives of their children.

This workshop also looks at the legal and emotional complexities involved in co-parenting.

Work it out – Social Welfare Payments and Going back to Work/ Education/Training

The Social Welfare System is very complex. The aim of this workshop is to provide information on social welfare payments and to look at the options / schemes which are available to lone parents when considering employment and/or education / training programmes. The workshop examines how these schemes interact with social welfare entitlements / earnings.

Testimonials from Treoir Outreach Workshops

“The trainer provided a very informative and interactive session. Going away more confident.’ Mediator, 30/3/2026.

‘The trainer was really informative, lots of opportunity to ask questions, and information very clear and concise.‘ Senior Social Worker, 21/02/2026.

‘the thoroughness of accounting for all family situation and dynamics and the rights that apply.‘ Support Community Development Worker and Team Leader, 14/04/2026.

‘The trainer’s knowledge was extremely evident given the complexity of this topic. Explained extremely well, and lots of examples and scenarios given.‘ Family Carers and Older Person Development Worker, 14/04/2026

‘This was really helpful and has put me at ease about my decision making for my child goin forward.‘ Parent from Kerry, 11/03/2025.

‘Treoir staff were fantastic,‘ Parent from Kerry, 11/03/2025

‘this training was a very high standard, informative and engaging.’ TESS, 16/01/2026

‘Great workshop, very informative and took a lot from it. Great to now have this information and knowledge to share with families.‘ Social Worker, 14/04/2026.