Ah well. Let's pretend that we're having a Summer. If there's no dry weather in the next few weeks I'd say the farmer will be in trouble.

Today's Supreme Court Decision on a lesbian couple, their one year old child and the biological father of that child raises more questions than answers. In their appeal, the respondents sought to overturn the decision of the High Court Judge "...that the balancing exercise should be swung in favour of the child remaining in the jurisdiction, and within proximity of his father for the purpose of developing the relationship between father and child...."

The question is not one of guardianship because under Irish law, an unmarried father has no automatic guardianship rights, although these can be applied for. If the father was aware of this prior to donating his sperm and had any sort of expectation towards seeking guardianship, one would wonder why he decided to do so. One can only assume that this was an altruistic act which was not entirely thought through.

Equally, the decision of the couple to receive sperm from a friend may not have been made with sufficient foresight. A telling phrase in the judgment is that they anticipated that the role of the man towards the child would be that of a "favourite uncle" despite the fact that the child would know that this man was his father. How could this relationship be so clearly defined, at least in words, so early on when it was impossible to anticipate what feelings both man and child might develop towards each other over time? More fool them for thinking that that agreement was viable.

This case highlights the lack of clear legislation for the relatively large numbers of gay partners who decide to have a child but also for men who father children outside marriage in general.

There was a spectacularly snotgreen sea coming up from Wicklow at the start of the week. This pic is ruined a bit by reflections on the glass, but still it's a good reminder of why living by the coast seems like such a good option...

As I explained last night, I was beset by noisy teenagers on my way down to Dublin yesterday. But it didn't end there. We had an alarm going off all night in one of the flats above and are now being entertained by a bass-laden broadcast from another flat. Don't you just love city living?

My esteemed fellow-blogger has spotted me giggling and rolling my eyes and, fearing that the neighbours might end up wearing her bodhrán as an Elizabethan-style ruff (or maybe she is worried about my imaginative intentions towards her cipín), is taking me off to Wicklow for the weekend.

Adieu.