Maternal Mental Health Supports: Motion
Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-11
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Tom Clonan (IND), University of Dublin

I thank the Minister of State for coming along today. I am here to support my colleagues in the Cross-Party group and Senator Cosgrove for this Private Member's motion. I also want to thank the Government for not opposing it, but more importantly, for supporting this motion on maternal mental health supports. I want to say, as a man and as a father, I have had five children and have been in and out of the Coombe plenty of times, as well as Holles Street hospital. It is a very fast-moving, tough environment for everybody, and all sorts of unexpected and unanticipated outcomes arise. In the past, as a species, when we had babies we had the extended family, what our Constitution, Bunreacht na hÉireann refers to as “an teaghlach”, the household. We had grandparents, aunts, neighbours and so on and they would all step in and support. However, women today, Irish women who are having babies, go from - and the throughput is very fast, one can be out of the Coombe or Holles Street very quickly, they can be home within 24 to 48 hours. There is then a period of isolation which is unnatural. Irish women are expected not only to carry the economic burden of this Republic and to participate fully in our economic activity, but to carry the burden of child rearing and everything that childbirth brings in the postnatal space.
As a parent, I have experienced parental bereavement with our little girl Liadain, and I know from working with Senator Ryan and my great colleagues across all the parties, that the postnatal period, whatever the situation is, can be very complex and challenging and demanding. In the absence of an teaghlach, it is really important that we have these supports. I conclude by saying my mother, Bláithín McIntyre, experienced some difficulties after her last pregnancy and she took to the bed, which we now know probably meant that she had post-natal depression. This was in Finglas in 1969 and the Holy Faith nuns, after talking to my older sisters, knew that my mum was in difficulty so they took me into St. Canice's Girls' National School. At the age of three, the nuns took me into the national school, and I spent the best part of a year in junior infants with the girls there. It had a very important formative effect on me. Again, on how the community steps in, that is when my grandmother came to live with us. Máiréad Begley was from Kerry and was a member of Cumann na mBan during the War of Independence. She was part of the south Dublin brigade of the IRA. She came to live with us and she looked after me, and she was probably what we would call today a dissident republican. Because of my mother's difficulties, I got quite the education as part of my republican formation.
Senator Rabbitte mentioned strong women. In the time that I have been here, there are not enough of them, but there are great women in this Parliament, in both Houses.
I commend the great women of the Cross-Party Group, and Senator Noonan, on this initiative. I commend my colleagues across all the parties who have shown great solidarity in this regard. I congratulate Senator Cosgrove on the Bill. I am delighted to hear that the Government has committed to support her and work with her. It is something that will benefit all of us - men, women and society as a whole.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-02-11/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:37+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-11