Should the parents of badly behaved young children be allowed to bring them out to eat in fancy restaurants? 

Recently, former BBC journalist Jan Leeming revealed that her lunch at a country hotel had been ruined by the presence of a screaming baby and young child. 

Ms Leeming added that she was shocked that the parents were “oblivious” to their “menace” of the screaming around them. 

She urged any parent with a badly behaved young child to leave them at home with a babysitter. 

On The Claire Byrne Show, Journal.ie’s Niamh Maher said, as the mother of a baby and toddler, she felt young children should be included in social events, such as outings to restaurants. 

“We know now that it's important for their social development,” she said. 

“I think it teaches patience, I think it teaches appropriate volume levels and how to interact with people that are outside your family. 

“I also find it hard to believe that parents are oblivious if their children are screaming in a restaurant.” 

Ms Maher accepted that parents should always take something with them that will entertain a child. 

“It doesn't matter if it's McDonald's or if it's a fancy-pants restaurant, my kids have every right to be in a public space [in] the same way that they have a right to be on a plane, the same way that they have a right to eat their dinner inside the home and out,” she said. 

“So, I don't think the fanciness of the restaurant really [matters].” 

Also on the programme, barrister Brenda Power said she had huge sympathy with Jan Leeming. 

“I [would be] absolutely glowering at the parents who let their children run around, I think it's absolutely outrageous,” she said. 

“Yes, children can be welcomed into restaurants once they are taught to behave themselves; I've seen children in France sitting in expensive restaurants not heard a peep out of them.” 

Ms Power continued that parents should have a “little bit of courtesy and a little bit of consideration” to other people and hire a babysitter.

Main image: A young child throwing a tantrum in a restaurant. Picture by: Alamy.com.