Exactly a year ago today, RTE’s Prime Time documentary “A breach of trust” aired video footage that, to use a well-worn but entirely apt description, shocked the nation. We witnessed a child being slammed down on a sleeping mat and a blanket being thrown over him. We saw a member of staff swearing at a little girl for sticking her fingers into
“Leave the guilt at the door. It’s not helping anyone and just stresses you out : no one else” This week’s interview is with Martha Kearns, a journalist and mother of two. Originally from Sligo, she has lived in Dublin for 20 years. Martha is the News Editor of the Sunday
Ambition. Motherhood. Not always easy bedfellows. When women become mothers, they often see that career progression is hampered. Sometimes because they want flexibility and are therefore seen as less suitable for promotion. Sometimes even without seeking flexibility, they are put on the mommy-track, on the assumption that they’re less interested in work.
“Yes, the world doesn’t see fit to give me money for looking after my children but it is my job and I’m doing it very well ;) (My children are not available to give references). But yes, I do miss paycheques” I meet Joanna O’Sullivan for this week’s interview; she
“I did start off a level above my husband when we were both working in the same company doing similar jobs. While I started off ahead, he moved much, much faster through the career ladder” In this week’s interview, I meet Laura Kenny, a working mother of two living in
This week’s inspiring interview is with business-owner and mum of one Tina Murphy
“I think that most working mothers do look for a balance with work and raising their children and it baffles me that the corporate world can often look at that as a negative.” This week I meet Jenny Bishop, who is the Marketing Manager of The Marketing Institute and has
“I began a career break so my new job is stay at home mammy and my hours are now 24/7!” This week, I meet Lucy O’Connor, a mother of three who last June went from working full-time to taking a career break. Lucy has swapped HR management for school-runs, and
“Weekends and Christmas are sacred . One of my reasons for leaving the hospital was so that I’d never miss Christmas Eve or Christmas morning with my husband and kids.” For the twelfth instalment in the Office Mum interview series, I meet Nicola O’Byrne who is a lactation consultant in
“lower your standards! Housework can wait. If everyone is fed
The night before returning to work after Christmas, many of us feel The Fear; lying awake, mind buzzing, right at the time when we really, really need to sleep. But this is a just momentary quiver in comparison to the all-consuming, stomach-churning fear that some of us experience the night before returning to work
The next interview in this series is with Brenda Brooks; mother of two small children, actress and producer. She has just finished filming The Play Next Door by Deirdre Purcell which will be broadcast in January on RTE 1 and is currently filming Citizen Charlie a three-part drama about Charles
“I’m a firm believer that women can do everything men can, only better and with more humility!” Jill O’Herlihy has worked in Communications at O’Herlihy Communications for the past 17 years. She is mom to two children; Martha is six and Bill is three and a half. She doesn’t have
“I try hard not to compromise the kind of mother I want to be, by not letting work encroach on the children’s time. But inevitably, deadlines need to be met“ Next up, in this series of interviews with mothers, is Carmel Harrington, a sales manager turned stay-at-home-mother and now a published
“I always say ‘nobody died’ and then try and get on with it. Women are natural multi-taskers so we tend to think we can ‘do-it-all’. In my experience, something has gotta give” Lorraine Keane, well-known Irish broadcaster, is this week’s interviewee in the Office Mum interview series. In her capacity as Microsoft
It’s two months now since our nanny upped and left after just four days, with no notice and almost no notification of any kind. We were not impressed (the tears are almost visible here). She will be on the family blacklist FOREVER. I spent the following weeks worrying about work and
“I think once you become a parent, guilt is inevitable” “I often feel like I am present physically but trying to work on something myself while doing homework/cooking dinner etc. I feel like I may be around
This is the first in a series of interviews with mothers; chatting about home and work and family, and that elusive balance that we all seek. Topics range from childcare to career changes, working from home to stay-at-home mothers, setting up businesses, fitting in homework, the ever-present guilt, and mostly,
Maternity benefit has been cut in this week’s budget to €230 per week, down from €262*. This is getting some attention in the media, but understandably, it is overshadowed by more hard-hitting changes. There have been some comments from ISME, One Family, and from the Director of the National Women’s
Is there really a glass ceiling for women in the workplace? Or is it for the most part, something experienced by mothers in the workplace? I realise that this is a controversial question but I’m genuinely interested to know if there are people reading who have been held back in the workplace simply because