Caitriona Perry has lifted the lid on her new life working in America.
The much-respected Irish broadcaster and journalist left RTÉ last year for a role with the BBC in Washington and it is a big month for her ahead of he US elections.
She admitted that she has more time now with her two kids and that she had when she co-anchored the Six One news in Ireland.
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Caitriona explained: “Actually, I get to be more with my children doing this job than when I was working on Six One.
“I wasn’t home until eight o’clock every single night, so when you have small kids, you’re missing every single dinner and bedtime. Now, I have different working hours, and a lot of the time I’m home for that.”
Caitriona has struck a good balance between her work on BBC with her life at home with her husband and their smallies, and the kids love when she travels for work for one specific reason.
She told the Irish Independent's Weekend: “My colleagues laugh at me.
“I turned up to one of the conventions on a really early morning flight and they were like, ‘Oh, I’m so tired. I was out for dinner last night.’
"I was saying, ‘Well, I was up at midnight making lasagne,’ because you’re batch-cooking, just to help when you’re not there and you’re on the road. I’m a feeder.
"Even if I’m not there, they know that Mommy made that for them. And of course, now they’re conditioned to ask every time I come in the door with the suitcase if I’ve bought them a present.”
Caitriona's life on screen is very different to what she is like at home, and once she is happy and her kids are happy. that is all that matters.
She said: “Most of the moms have very big important jobs and travel a lot, so it’s like, ‘My mom’s in Bolivia today.’ I mean, they can watch me on the TV, and they find that exciting.
“I’m wearing all the pretty dresses and the pretty shoes and all that, which is not what I look like when I’m at home.
"But you just have to find a way to make it work, and that’s different for everyone. For some, it’s stepping out of their career for a few years; for others, it’s trying to manage.
"I think your children and your family are served best when you are happy in yourself. Work is very important for me… being a journalist is part of my soul and my core."
Caitriona is gearing up to front BBC's coverage of the upcoming US elections later this month.
She said: “By and large, voters in America are like voters in Ireland or the UK, in that they want to make their lives better. They want to get the best they can for themselves, their families, for their job prospects.
"There are plenty of instances where families don’t talk to each other about politics at all, particularly in the last couple of years. Some of them are very ardent Donald Trump supporters, some aren’t."
English (US) ·