Eileen Flynn had a hard time concentrating on her former minister. A young senator stood in the House of Councilors’ room trying to burn the government on the issue of the day, but her mind was miles away.
Upon returning to Donegal’s house, her toddler had a fever.
“Because you live with such guilt, this job can be mentally exhausting. You have a child, so you have a devil in your head,” Flynn said. Said.
An independent senator in his early thirties is the mother of two-year-old Billy and eight-month-old Lacy. She goes to Leinster House on a round trip of 7 to 8 hours each week and spends at least 3 nights a week from her daughters due to her public life demands. “It can lead to many sleepless nights,” she said.
When she gets home on Friday, she often says “overdo it” with extra bedtime stories and playground trips to make up for the guilt that catches her about the time she missed.
Flynn was able to take a six-month vacation after giving birth to Lacy, but it took only four months to return to Leinster House earlier this year.
“I felt guilty because I was a public representative. I felt like I had no choice but to go back to work. It’s a really great balance, how do you find it?
“It’s not just me. It’s the same with other women. And I don’t believe that men in Oireachtas have the same level of pressure as women for a minute. That makes me sexist. If so, I apologize, I don’t really believe it. “
One of the benefits of having more women participate in politics is that Leinster House has more young mothers.
Their first-hand experience of juggling early motherhood and politics may begin to influence policy, especially in the area of childcare. All TDs and Senators spoken for this work had a hard time finding a place to raise children, and in some cases the struggle may sometimes differ from the strategy of their party among female politicians. Informed the support of the public model of childcare.
Flynn, like many other young mothers in Ireland, was one of those who couldn’t find a nursery. Aldara, County Donegal has a long waiting list and little space.
She was fortunate that her aunts cared about her daughters, but she recognizes that the inability to raise children is a major problem for women.
“No one really knows what the criteria are for trying to get your child into a nursery.
“I wrote down Billy’s name when she was born. Some people wrote down the names of the children before they came out of the womb. I couldn’t do that. For the children until they were born. It would be against the culture of the traveler community of not buying things, “she said. “The cost is exorbitant. I know people who are paying over 1,000 euros. I think they should be published.”
Mayonnaise-based Republican Senator Lisa Chambers has a two-year-old son called Louis. Like Ms. Flynn, Ms. Chambers said that the “biggest challenge” in balancing her motherhood and politics lived far away from Oily Chatas.
“You are missing bedtime, you are missing breakfast, there are a few days of the week when you can’t meet your child. That’s a sacrifice. But I’m a nurse And she has a friend who works in shifts for 12 hours, and she goes before the kids wake up, so she doesn’t see the kids either, so it’s not limited to this job. ” She said.
Ms. Chambers also had a hard time finding a childcare for her son. Her son was finally on the waiting list for eight months before starting the nursery earlier this year. Until then, Ms. Chambers managed a combination of “juggling” with the support of her family.
She believes that the only reason she is currently raising children is because she has two Louises. That is, Cresh can provide him with a place in a room that requires less staff. So-called “baby room” regulations mean that many rural day care centers cannot provide day care to infants under the age of one, and in some cases under the age of two.
“We are very lucky to be able to join it. It’s a really good creche, but the waiting list was very long. It seems to be true for everyone. I email to 50-60 locations. I know one person who sent me, “she said.
Ms Chambers states she understands the government’s childcare policy. This is intended to increase the amount of financial support provided directly to parents while at the same time lowering the fees charged by daycare centers. But from her own experience, she is not sure if her strategy is “right for the country.”
“I think it’s better to just start building a public system. It will probably take 10 years to do that. This is beyond the life of any government, but I’m an early educator. I’m in favor of a system that effectively treats as a teacher, “says Chambers.
“Then you can control what you actually charge your parents.”
The party’s colleague, Catherine Ada, is also the mother of two and a half-year-old twins, Darag and Seant, and believes that childcare should be public. It will be sorted.
“Ireland’s childcare policy is devastating. You don’t have to pay thousands of euros a month for each childcare.
“It’s outrageous for most people, and the only way we can do it is if we both work full-time,” Alder said, in order for women to abandon their careers altogether. He added that he understands this subtle pressure. She works as a full-time lawyer and senator, and her partner also works full-time.
She couldn’t take her children to childcare until she was nearly two years old. Her family pays just under € 2,000 a month, but she knows she’s still incredibly lucky to have a nursery for boys.
While working in public puts certain pressure on mothers, Alder gives work flexibility to other women who have a more traditional role in conflicting with the unpredictable demands of young children. It can be a blessing that can’t be done. “If I had a boss who was doing a real job and said you had to be at your desk by 9 o’clock, I would definitely be fired.”
DonnchadhÓ Laoghaire, TD of the Sinn Féin Party in Cork South-Central, has had two babies in the last two and a half years. Ó Laoghaire and his family had a hard time trying to put their two youngest children in the same daycare, so they eventually had to find a private childminder.
He said the cork had a terrible shortage of baby rooms. Ó Laoghaire said she knows many cases where women add unpaid leave to their maternity leave to cover the weeks and months left without childcare.
“Childcare is a public good and I have long believed that it should be a public service. It’s too expensive for too many families,” he said.
