After a summer in Brussels with her family, Sinead Kennedy is back to the day job on Today. The TV presenter talks to Janice Butler about the challenges of an unconventional family set-up, having the confidence to take a step back from work and finding her style.
While families around the country have been back to the school routine for a few weeks, for Sinead Kennedy and her family, they are only just now adjusting to the post-summer schedule, having returned from life in Brussels and straight into studio to co-host the new season of Today.
"I’m only back in the country since Sunday week, so I’ve missed most of the Traitors," she laughs, "the thing everyone is talking about.
"You’re caught between a rock and a hard place because you’re asking, do I come back early and let the kids settle back into their routine in Ireland, or do you maximise as much family time as you can, so obviously that’s the option I go for. The minute me and the kids are back in Ireland, it becomes so busy, the juggle starts again."
It’s a life of two halves for Cork native Sinead, her husband Conor and their two children, Indie (4) and Theo (almost 2). In the summer months, once Today goes off air in May, they’re a family of four living in Brussels, where Conor is based with the European Defence Agency, savouring every moment together and enjoying the simple things in life.
Once the autumn hits, the "juggle begins" as Sinead says, with her and the children returning to Ireland for her work and the unit being reunited only on weekends when Conor gets home. Does she ever think life would be easier if she moved to Brussels full-time?
"It’s a hard call. This is a unicorn job, as I call it. I have the job that I dreamed of having and I adore it," she answers. "And Conor has a job that he loves as well, so we’re kind of stuck. But it’s not forever, and it will all work out. My father-in-law always says, 'It will all work out in the end, and if it doesn't, it’s not the end’, and I really believe in that," she adds in her trademark upbeat manner.
Doing the bulk of the childminding with the help of her family in Cork on her days in studio, you’d forgive Sinead for being a bit resentful of the situation, but in fact, she’s the opposite, admitting that she thinks she’d find it harder the other way around.
"I don’t get resentful. I feel he has the harder side of it in some ways. I can’t imagine only seeing the kids at the weekends," she says. "People always say to me, ‘it must be so hard’, but I put myself in Conor’s shoes and I couldn’t do that side of it. I think we both have a very different experience of it, but neither is easy," she laughs.
"The last few years have been busy. If it was quiet, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself. If and when it settles down, I would be wondering how to fill my time," she adds.
The couple, who have been essentially operating a long-distance relationship since the start, got married in 2014, and Conor, a naval officer, was often away for long stretches while Sinead was working in RTÉ in Dublin. She admits that while it’s a situation that they’ve learned to live with, there are now two small children in the mix, so the current set-up can’t last forever.
"We’re not going to do this forever, put it that way," she says. "It’s a finite amount of time; how long that is, I don’t know yet. Conor is the good one for forward planning, whereas I’m very much living day to day and taking it from now until Christmas. I don’t tend to think too far ahead; that’s just me, and I think that has a lot to do with my job. I started in this line of work when I was 19, and I never knew how long a job was going to last, if at all. So, I probably find it overwhelming to think too far ahead," Sinead adds.
She’s relishing being back on Today with Dáithí Ó Sé on Mondays and Tuesdays; Maura Derrane picks up the co-hosting duties on Wednesday to Friday.
As she says, Sinead has been on our screens since she was 19. "I’ve grown up here. It’s mad, I’ve spent more than half my life on TV with RTÉ. I’ve had a great ride of it and thankfully it’s still going strong," she laughs.
Not one to be put in a box, she has challenged herself over the years in the business. She cut her teeth in children’s TV (Sattitude), did the shiny floor entertainment gig with Marty Whelan on Winning Streak, has completed a Master’s degree in psychology and has made a number of thought-provoking documentaries, including Skin Deep, The Crossing and the incredible Laura Brennan: This is Me.
When she’s back home after the summer, she says it’s nice to get back into TV presenter mode.
"It’s nice to be back and feel glam and have a bit of me time. The days I’m on air, I come in, I do what I love to do, and I go home and be mammy. It’s a really fortunate position to be in, to love my job, and it doesn’t feel like work," she says.
"The atmosphere is always good in studio, and then there’s Dáithí and I – we genuinely have such a laugh that he makes coming to work so easy. We’d be in touch with each other during the summer, it’s not ‘Bang, I’ll see you in September.’ We get on really well."
She’s in studio two days a week and then spends the other days with the kids, sticking a balance that works for her. "It’s the perfect mix for me, everyone does it differently and nobody feels they’re doing it right. If you’re at home full-time, you’re flat out; if you’re in work full-time, you’re flat out and if you’re mixing the two, you’re flat out, so you have to just find what works for you. I don’t think anyone has the right answer to that," she remarks.
Sinead says that a combination of age and experience has given her the confidence to take a step back in her career at this stage in her life.
"My work used to be my whole world. I was so caught up in it. So in the past, I would have been worried about not being on screen all the time, but now, with age, comes the confidence to say ‘I’m doing this 20+ years, I’m good at what I do and there will be opportunities for me in the future’, but for now, I’m also loving being a mom.
"As they get older and start school, I’ll have more time to concentrate on other work projects, but it’s not the time at the moment. I’m loving that I can take that bit of a pause, but of course, at some stage, I’d love to be back at it full-time. It’s a gorgeous place to be."
With her platinum hair and distinctive style, Sinead has had to contend with comments, both positive and negative, on her looks throughout her career. Since joining Today, she admits that the interest in her style has only amplified, but thankfully, largely in a positive way. Styling herself for the show, she’s found her look, and often the public wants to copy it.
"I’ve been going solo at styling for the last few years and people have been very kind with their comments. It’s lovely, but it comes with a degree of pressure," she laughs. "It’s all people talk to me about. It used to be Winning Streak or my hair but now the fashion seems to be a huge part of what I do," she adds.
"I love fashion, I love mixing and matching and trying new things. But saying that, I’ve spent the morning trying on a load of stuff and it’s all awful and has to go back, so I’m under pressure to find things that work for me. We’ll get there. I have something to wear today, and then I’ll worry about the rest and find my groove.
"See? I told you, it’s so chaotic, no forward planning!" she laughs as she’s called back to set after spending her lunch break chatting to me.
I ask if she got a chance to eat. "Don’t worry," she shouts down the phone as she enters a noisy studio. "I’ll grab a burger and fries and eat in the breaks. I normally go for garlic cheese fries, but I wouldn’t do that to Dáithí," she laughs.
And that’s why we love her.
