Michelle O’Neill has shattered the stigma of being a teenage mom — and we need to hear more stories like hers

And as I read this week’s coverage, which focuses on Sinn Fein Vice Chairwoman Michelle O’Neill and the “teenage mother” aspect of her party’s recent election victory in the North, it looks like O ‘Neill taking on the role First Minister – my reaction, like many others, was outrage. How unfair to conclude that her success had come despite the agony of bearing a child at 16. Why on earth a professional achievement in relation to a personal decision made almost 20 years ago?

But then I wondered if it wasn’t my own ingrained prejudice — my teenage self horrified at the thought of having a child — that made me read the coverage this way. If we view mentioning a teenage mother’s past as an attempt to shame her, is it because we are still, in some ways, ashamed of ourselves?

Shame runs deep, more so in Ireland than most places, and especially when it comes to women and sex. But often, the only way we can start dismantling these harmful tropes is to announce the ones that dispel the rotten stereotypes associated with shame.

If there’s a subtext of shame attached to reporting O’Neill’s journey from teenage mother to political leader, doesn’t that suggest we need to tell more of these stories?

The time to rewrite the narrative of teenage pregnancy is long overdue — and instead of being outraged, isn’t it inspiring to see it finally happening?

O’Neill himself has been vocal about how positive, motivating and energizing it was to become a mother to her daughter Saoirse at 16.

“Being a new mum, well it’s my life experience, it made me who I am, it makes you stronger I think,” she told Sky News. “You were almost pigeonholed: single mom, unmarried mom, almost written off. But I was determined not to be written off, to work hard and give her a good life.”

Labor MP Angela Rayner has also spoken out about how pregnancy at 16 “saved” her. “I had a little person to take care of and I wanted to prove to everyone that I’m not the scumbag they thought I was going to be,” she said Huffington Post a few years ago, while reflecting on a debate in Parliament about the rise in teenage pregnancies in parts of the UK. “I’m not suggesting that we should endorse it [teenage pregnancy]but to say that these young women are just losers and have nothing left in their lives – I was really quite angry about it.”

Should every woman have to defend her choice of when, where and under what circumstances to have a child? no Should it be anyone else’s business what a politician’s or public figure’s parental status is? no

But unfortunately, as long as there’s stigma there – and when it comes to pregnancy there’s obviously still a whole swamp of prejudice – then it’s certainly important to see and hear the voices of those decrying the negative slurs in order to to celebrate the stories of those who are breaking with stereotypes and showing a new generation of women that there is nothing to be ashamed of and nothing to achieve.

Nicola’s BAFTA look has everyone tickling pink

Derry girls Nicola Coughlan was in pink this week and looked stunning at the BAFTA Awards in Valentino. Forget the “diamond” of the season, the Bridgeton Star is the one who’s been flawless at her guna game of late, with this week’s offering following on the heels of a stunning, bespoke Richard Quinn gown at the Met Gala.