ALL FIRED UP

Whoever wins the final of The Apprentice tonight, I was thrilled to see three of the semi-finalists were working mums this year. What a fantastic positive message that is for our society. But instead of being praised for their achievement, Jessica Cunningham, Frances Bishop and Grainne McCoy were criticised for leaving their children for over eight weeks to take part in the show. It is unbelievable that in 2016, there are those with the attitude “working mum” equals “bad mum”. And the most infuriating aspect of this archaic misogyny is that for fathers the issue doesn’t even arise . Back in 2005, when I was runner-up on the first series of The Apprentice, two out of the four finalists were fathers, and no one ever questioned their parenting skills or asked why they had been away from their children for three months.

My kids have been raised by parents who work long hours but we always ensure one of us is around to take them to school or read them a bedtime story. And they don’t mind which of us it is.

They are not not tied to my apron strings in a way that would prevent me from providing for them.

As a result they have opportunities my parents could not afford for me. So to those who’d like to banish working mothers from the boardroom, I say: You’re fired!

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