MINISTER FOR JUSTICE Helen McEntee has confirmed that she is pregnant, becoming only the second serving minister to announce her pregnancy in the history of the State and the first while holding Cabinet rank. 

McEntee announced her pregnancy on social media this morning with a photo on Instagram of stockings for herself and her husband alongside a miniature boot.

“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…. Last Christmas as a duo though,” she said.

McEntee hashtagged “baby on board” and “excited” in the caption of the post and tagged her husband Paul Hickey.

Helen McEntee Helen McEntee

McEntee, who is currently serving as Minister for Justice in the 33rd Dáil, follows former Fianna Fáil TD Máire Geoghegan-Quinn in announcing her pregnancy while serving as a minister.

Geoghegan-Quinn, the second female minister after Constance Markievicz, gave birth while serving in government as a junior minister in the late 1970s.

McEntee previously served as Minister of State for European Affairs and Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People.

In November, following a leak of personal images of Irish women and girls on online forums, McEntee said that she was “determined to act and introduce tough new laws”.

She said that the sharing of the images had caused “much upset and anger” and that she “share[d] that anger”.

McEntee has proposed new laws to handle image based abuse, which she said she hopes to see passed in a number of months.