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Tánaiste and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris has shared first photos of his newborn daughter and used the announcement to praise maternity staff and urge other fathers to take on a greater parenting role. The birth came on October 3, just days before he was due to deliver his first budget as Minister for Finance.
Gratitude to maternity staff
Harris announced the arrival of baby Aoileann and thanked staff at the National Maternity Hospital for their care. In his message he singled out the teams working in the NICU and HDU for their support during the baby’s first days.
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Posting the images and a note of thanks on social media, he said his wife was doing well and that their older children, Saoirse and Cillian, are “delighted” to have a new sister.
Paternity leave and a call to fathers
The Tánaiste confirmed he will continue on paternity leave, describing the time at home as “important and needed” and saying his “most important job” remains being a father. He added that while mothers “do so much,” fathers should be given the opportunity and the responsibility to “step up too.”
Harris also thanked colleagues and his team for covering duties while he is away and said he looks forward to returning to work soon.
Parenting beyond the headlines
Harris, who shares his children with his wife Caoimhe Wade, has previously spoken publicly about fatherhood. On Doireann Garrihy’s programme The Laughs Of Your Life he described the moment children start showing personality as a turning point: one evening they simply seem like “a little person.”
On the 2Johnnie’s podcast he stressed that senior public office does not remove domestic responsibilities. “With young kids, they don’t really care what your job is. You are still dad, and you still have to do your chores at home,” he said, listing everyday tasks such as taking out the bin and emptying the washing machine.
The timing of the birth — four days before Harris presented his first budget as finance minister — underlined the balance he must strike between high-profile public duties and family life.
