Cork's only female TD: Ready for an election... and to welcome our baby

It’s going to be a Christmas with a difference for Holly Cairns, leader of the Social Democrat Party. She’ll be cocooned in West Cork with her partner and their first baby, and she said she can’t wait.

“At this stage, we are so looking forward to meeting her,” she said, speaking from her Dáil office.

Holly’s due date is November 22, which is being touted as a potential polling day for the upcoming general election – something the politician describes as being “quite tricky”. To put it mildly!

Your guess is as good as mine when the election will be, but November 22 is a date that’s been mentioned.

“There’s never been a party leader pregnant before, not to mind one who is due to give birth on polling day, so there’s no template for this, which says a lot about where we’re at with female participation in politics,” she said.

“I’ve said lately that the job of a party leader is designed for someone who has a housewife and it’s never felt like that so much as now!” she joked, admitting that she was beginning to feel the physical demands of pregnancy combined with being at the helm of the Social Democrats.

“As a party, we’re just taking things one day at a time, and trying to figure out what’s best, but one thing we can’t control is when she arrives,” said Holly, adding that her hope is that she’ll go into labour while in Cork, and not Dublin.

Holly announced her pregnancy on Instagram in June, and said it was something herself and her partner, hotelier Barry had wanted for a long time

“While I’m delighted to share this news now, I was initially hesitant because like so many other couples hoping to start a family, ours has not been a straightforward journey. But all the signs look good for this pregnancy, so we are really hopeful,” she said.

Holly later disclosed that she had had two miscarriages over the past year.

It’s something we know happens to one in three women, and we just don’t hear a lot about it. 

"Hearing other women speak about it, I found it comforting, you feel less alone, so it’s really important I think we talk more about it.”

One was an early miscarriage, she said, but the other was further along, and required a medical procedure while she was outside of Ireland.

When she announced her latest pregnancy, she also highlighted the fact there is still no formal arrangement to allow TDs to take maternity leave. Her party has been to the fore in legislation for maternity provision for county councillors.

“However, I’m really grateful for the support from my party who have been so encouraging, and deputy leader Cian O’Callaghan will be ready to step in,” she said.

Holly’s original plan was to take six months maternity leave, but that was made before an election was on horizon.

“If programme for government talks are taking place, I’ll pause the leave, but that’s all still to be decided,” she said.

So too is how she’ll juggle the logistics of living in West Cork and working in Dublin.

“I’m not sure how I’m going to manage it to be honest,” she admitted.

“It would be very different if I was living in Dublin or on the commuter belt, but I’m one of the TDs who lives furthest from the Dáil so it’s going to be particularly difficult. 

The journey takes around four and a half hours, or five if I stop.

But being the leader of the party, she insisted, was “such a big honour”.

“I’ve said it before, but people laughed in my face when I initially ran for the county council, but I was given a chance by Cork South West and I’ve put my heart and soul into this – that’s my nature, I don’t do things half-heartedly and I have given it everything I have over the past five years,” she said.

It’s been a roller-coaster journey, but one she’s relishing.

Right now the party is in full-on canvassing mode, with just over 20 candidates in 40 constituencies.

“We’re getting amazing feedback on the doorsteps and are really harnessing that momentum we gained at the local election where our numbers almost doubled,” Holly said.

I know how easy it is to feel hopeless and disengaged with politics in Ireland, but we are at a turning point as a country. The potential for change in the upcoming election is huge.

“We have the opportunity and the resources to build a better, more equal Ireland. To tackle the crises which are facing us in housing, health, childcare, disability services, and climate action.

“And it is up to each of us to vote, and ensure that the change that will happen is the change we want to see,” she added.

It’s certainly a time for plenty of decision-making, both professionally and personally, and we have to ask: has she chosen a baby name?

“Not yet! We want to meet her first and are literally counting down the days now, we can’t wait!”