Paternity Suits

In honour of Fathers? Day we hark back to 1995, when our now Editorial Director, Laura George, sat down with five fathers to discuss fatherhood, their relationships with their children and how their children think of them. Warwick White gushed about his five month old Rory saying? ?he’s absolute heaven?a perfect child? and spoke of how he looked forward to taking him to the pub with him. Musician Fiachra O’Braonain of Hot House Flowers, spoke of how he couldn’t imagine life without his twin girls and how they were ?great little friends? for him as well as each other. He described fatherhood as ?the most natural thing in the world?. 14 year old Gina Harrington who loves shopping and Pearl Jam but still has time for her dad Tom, praised him for being good fun and not too old-fashioned despite his silly jokes that nobody laughs at. Padriag Kenny spoke of how, because of his job in the Bankers Trust, his five year-old Ryan believed he was the ?boss of Ireland? and yet despite his busy job he still found time for playing football with his sons, or reading them Enid Blyton before bedtime. Finally, Paris native Jean Paul Mosnier spoke of how fathering his one year old Samuel was not a great change but rather a series of ?great new discoveries?, and that he planned on raising his son bilingual and spending time between Ireland and France. Overall while these profiles of fathers and their children are 19 years old, their depictions of fatherhood are timeless, with each father showing joy and a certain amount of awe at their new miniature companions and similarly their children looking up to their dads as the center of their little worlds.

Rachel Lavin @RachelLavin