Justice Minister Helen McEntee has given birth to her first child

It seems many congratulations are in order for Justice Minister and local TD Helen McEntee who has welcomed the birth of her first child with husband Paul Hickey.

It’s been reported that Helen gave birth to her first baby last night at 9:20pm in the Rotunda Hospital, and that she’s now a proud mum to a bouncing baby boy. Her little one reportedly weighed 7lbs 8oz, with his name yet to be revealed.

This new arrival couldn’t have been timed any better, as he was born one day after Helen took maternity leave from her government duties. This is quite a milestone, as Helen is the first sitting female minister to welcome a baby and go on maternity leave while in office.

Instead, Minister Heather Humphreys will take Helen’s place and take over her workload during her six month maternity leave period.

Speaking about the decision to take her full maternity leave yesterday, Helen said, “I’ve had nothing but positive responses from colleagues, from my community and constituents and from members of the public and I just want to thank everyone for that support.”

“It’s really important that women see other women in roles and positions being able to take maternity leave, being able to return to their jobs and return to the positions that they were working in before.”

“Most importantly, what I hope to see in the future is that this won’t just apply to me but that other Ministers, TDs, senators, councillors, will be able to avail of maternity leave,” she added.