Men are ejected from their home in 99 percent of divorce cases where the court decides to award sole residency of the family home to one spouse, a new study says.

The study, reported in this week’s Sunday Business Post, is based on the outcome of almost 500 judicial separation and divorce cases conducted in Dublin, Cork and the Southeast.

In seven out of ten cases, the court transferred the family home to one spouse, and in 99 out of 100 cases where this happened, the home was awarded to the wife.

In Ireland, roughly two in three divorce and separation cases are initiated by women, which is in line with the British and American experience.

The study, conducted by law graduate Roisin O’Shea, found that 73pc of separation cases are brought by women and 54pc of divorce cases.

Not every divorce or separation is contested because the couple reach a legal agreement out of court, but according to O’Shea, “To date, all of the contested cases I have observed were brought by the wife.”

She added: “I have not seen a single case where the wife was ordered to pay maintenance for children or a spouse. Without fail, where maintenance is at issue, it is the husband who has been ordered to pay.”

She said that in most contested maintenance cases, the fathers said they were being denied access to their children.

She also said that although many fathers ask for joint custody, in only two of the cases she has observed had this been granted.