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Persons who may apply for adoption order.
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11.—(1) An adoption order shall not be made unless—
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(a) the applicants are a married couple who are living together, or
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(b) the applicant is the mother or natural father or a relative of the child, or
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(c) the applicant is a widow.
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(2) Save in the case of a married couple living together, an order shall not be made for the adoption of a child by more than one person.
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(3) An adoption order shall not be made unless—
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(a) the applicant and, if the applicants are a married couple, each of them has attained the age of thirty years, or
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(b) the applicant has attained the age of twenty-one years and is the mother, natural father or a relative of the child, or
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(c) the applicants are a married couple and the wife is the mother of the child and she or her husband has attained the age of twenty-one years, or
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(d) the applicants are a married couple and one of them is the natural father or a relative of the child and each of them has attained the age of twenty-one years.
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(4) An adoption order shall not be made unless the applicants reside in the State.
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(5) An adoption order shall not be made unless the applicant or, if the applicants are a married couple, the husband is an Irish citizen or has been ordinarily resident in the State during the five years preceding the date of the application.
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