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visit us at www.military.ie UN sEcRETARY GENERAL BAN KI MOON vIsIT T he UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon visited the Curragh Camp on Monday 25th May, where he met with the Min- ister for Defence Mr Simon Coveney TD and the Chief of Staff Lt Gen Conor O'Boyle. He received a Guard of Honour from the 91st Cadet Class accompanied by the Army No 1 Band, as well as briefs from UNTSI, Mil Col and Ord Sch instructors. In The Irish Times, Ban Ki Moon drew correlations between the dread- ful famine experienced by the Irish people over 160 years ago and their commitment to International peace in the modern day, from the first major deployment to the Congo, to the courage shown by sending peacekeepers to the Middle East and a Naval vessel to the Mediterranean amidst palpable dangers in both. "Ireland's history with the United Nations shows a country that does not shy away from risk or difficulty. As we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the United Nations and look back at our achievements and setbacks, we can look to the future with some confidence knowing that the people of Ireland are so strongly committed to up- holding the Organisation's values of peace and security, development and human rights in every corner of the world." Photo by: Cpl Neville Coughlan, PR Branch M inister for Defence, Mr. Simon Coveney TD, accompanied by the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, Lt Gen Conor O'Boyle, attended the Commissioning Ceremony of five new officers at the Air Corps Headquarters in Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel on Thursday, 2nd April 2015. The members of the 31st Air Corps Cadet Class joined the 89th Army Cadet Class in the Curragh on the 24th September 2012, where they completed basic military and leadership training. On comple- tion of this module, the class moved to Casement Aerodrome and attended pilot ground school, un- dergoing over 750 hours of instruction on 15 diverse aviation related subjects ranging from Principles of Flight to Human Performance and Limitations. The class completed over 180 hours of flying training, including advanced aerobatics, aerial tactics and close formation flying. The successful completion of this training has prepared them to take up ap- pointments as junior leaders and pilots in the Air Corps. NEw wINGs The main legislation governing the registration of births, marriages, civil partnerships and deaths is the Civil Registration Act 2004. It has been amended a number of times. The Civil Registration (Amend- ment) Act 2014 which was passed in December 2014 provides for fur- ther changes. Some of the changes are not yet in effect. Some of the changes apply only to events which occur after the relevant parts of the Act are brought into effect while some can apply retrospectively. The following is a summary of the main changes: Registration of births Compulsory registration of father's name. The new Act provides that, once the relevant sections of the Act are in effect, it will be compulsory to register the father's name except where there are compelling reasons not to do so. This means that, if the father is not involved in registering the birth, the mother will be required to give information about the father to the Registrar. The Registrar will then contact the father to verify this information. The compelling reasons for not putting information about the father on the register are where the mother makes a statutory declaration that: • She does not know who the father is or • She does not know the whereabouts of the father or • She believes that providing the information is not in the best interests of the safety of the child; if this is so, the mother must provide evidence to that effect The registration of the father's name in these circumstances does not automatically mean that the father has guardianship rights and does not change the current law in relation to guardianship. The issue of the guardianship rights of unmarried fathers will be dealt with in the proposed legislation on child and family relationships. Marriages and civil partnerships In general, people intending to marry or enter civil partnerships must give three months' notice of that intention to the Registrar. It is possible to apply to the courts for an order shortening this period. The Act provides that, where one of the parties is a foreign national, (that is, they are not an Irish citizen or a citizen of an EU/EEA member state) the notification to the Registrar or the court order must be ac- companied by documents in relation to the immigration status of the foreign national concerned. The precise documents required will be decided by the Registrar. If you have any questions or queries about the act please contact your nearest Pss representative. Civil RegistRation (amendment) aCt 2014

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