Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns, who is in the third trimester of her second pregnancy, will miss her party’s think-in and the start of the Dáil term this week following medical advice.
Cairns, who is due to give birth to her second child in early November, has been advised to rest at home for a number of weeks. It is expected that she will return to work before formally starting her maternity leave in October.
Cairns had announced in June that she and her partner Barry Looney were expecting their second child in early November. Cairns gave birth to her first child, a girl, on polling day in the November 2024 general election.
Her party is due to hold its one-day think-in at the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland in Dublin on Tuesday.
In a statement, the party said: “Social Democrats party leader Holly Cairns, who is expecting her second child in early November, will not be in attendance having received medical advice to rest at home and not to travel for a number of weeks.”
Social Democrats deputy leader Cian O’Callaghan will again assume the role of acting party leader in October, for the duration of Cairns’s maternity leave.
Following the birth of her first baby, Cairns finished maternity leave and returned to her role as leader of the Social Democrats last September. Cairns told The Irish Times that returning to work had been “very logistically difficult” and felt like an “insurmountable thing”.
“I haven’t spoken much about this for that reason,” she says. “But I think it’s important not to sugar-coat it. It is difficult. It has been hard, and we’re always figuring it out as we go.”
During her maternity leave, Cairns spent no more than an hour away from her baby girl.
“I found [it] really hard coming back to work. Sometimes I still do, but I was also eager to get back,” she said.