Just saying

Emma Blain

Emma Blain, 43, has been a Fine Gael councillor since 2016, and is the editor of The Church of Ireland Gazette and a mother of two. She’s a candidate for the upcoming elections in the Pembroke Local Electoral Area in the constituency of Dublin Bay South.

I remember first going canvassing when I was about five years old. It was with my mum and Garret FitzGerald. He lived just around the corner from us, and he was Taoiseach at the time. He was this legendary figure; everybody loved Garret. The 1980s were different times, there was Garret v Charlie. Even if you weren’t politically engaged I think you knew about it. I have a gorgeous picture of me as a six-year-old, with him and my sister, leaning against my dad’s car on Palmerston Road. He was a real gentleman. He had a real sense of social justice.

My mum would say she was one of the first women up the ladder to put up a poster. I don’t know if that’s true, but she has always been really involved in politics. And my granny down in Laois would hold Fine Gael meetings in her house. My mum would be quite feisty. I think that I’m somewhere in the middle. In general I’m a bit of a swan – I’ll glide along, sometimes kicking madly under the surface. My dad is the calmest person I know. He was the principal of the Church of Ireland College of Education [teacher training college], and is a psychologist as well.

My mum would say I was wild when I was a teenager. I’m the youngest of three girls and I think you have more of a sense of freedom. Both of my sisters are teachers, both deputy principals. I wouldn’t have the patience to do what they do. We were raised Church of Ireland. I really value the sense of community that we have, and I think we have a strong sense of social consciousness.

I was first asked to run when I was in my early 20s. I said no. I thought I don’t know enough about the world, I don’t know how to fix things. I only first really wanted to put myself forward when my youngest child was born and I was on maternity leave. My kids are quite close together in age, so for the first time in my life I wasn’t sitting behind a desk or stuck in an office all day. I was out and about, really making use of all the parks, recreation facilities, and being involved in the community, and I realised I actually can make a difference here.

Tilly was eight months’ old when I first became a councillor. I was still breastfeeding. She wasn’t sleeping. I would be stroking her back trying to get her to sleep, with the phone in the other hand, answering emails to constituents. It never stops.

The marriage ban is long gone but I think the problem still exists. I see these hugely qualified women on the school run, picking up their kids. If it’s more than two kids, they can’t afford to go back to work. They often find it’s not worth it, for an extra 50 quid in your pocket, not to see your kids. I do find in politics, and in every aspect of life, no matter how progressive we might think we are, it falls on women’s shoulders. When I’m campaigning, I have to put five things in place in order to go out canvassing at night. Whereas I know that my male colleagues, they just put it in the diary, “half six I’m going here”, and they’ll do it.

I would say don’t let being a single or co-parent put women off running for office. I’ve a really good co-parenting relationship with my children’s dad. He’s hugely supportive. He’s putting up posters for me next week.

I’ve occasionally had a few doors slammed in my face.

But I’ve been personally quite lucky not to have been subjected to anything particularly bad. I know it’s not the same for a lot of my colleagues, especially women living in rural areas. You can be much less anonymous there. People know who you are, they know your routine, they know where you go to have a drink or where you might go for a bite to eat, they know where you live.

As a woman, everything about you is commented on. It’s not only the fact that you’re a politician, or whether it’s positive or negative. People will comment on your hair, your make-up, what you’re wearing, how you speak, how much you smile, how much you don’t smile. Everything.

I have a friendship now with my children’s father that I didn’t have before. Going through the end of a marriage... the start of that is the worst. It’s not always possible, but try and make a new type of friendship with your old partner. It’s a totally new relationship and it works for us. It doesn’t work for everybody.

As a woman, everything about you is commented on... your hair, make-up, how you speak, how much you smile