RTE’s Sharon Tobin has lifted the lid on her decision to move her family out of Dublin after her marriage ended and opened up about co-parenting from separate counties.
The newsreader, who revealed she separated from her ex-Paul Dunne five years ago, said she moved to Westmeath with their kids after the split to be closer to her own family and ‘support system’ at the time.
“After we separated, we were trying to figure out a way that we could both do this,” she said.
Read more: RTE confirm Claire Byrne Live replacement as new eight-part series to air
“My mother lives in Westmeath as does my sister, so at the time I just said, ‘I will go see this house’. I thought, ‘Dublin is mental prices, nobody can afford to buy a house in Dublin… work with what you have’.
“And the support system of course was the main reason.”
The Dubliner is currently co-presenter on the Six One News whilst Caitriona Perry is on maternity leave, and a host of RTÉ One's new eight-part current affairs panel series, Monday Night Live, and commutes back to the capital for work daily.
“Of course, I miss Dublin,” she added, but said Westmeath now feels like home too, whilst her kids, Hannah, 11, and Tobin, 9 get the best of both worlds.
She told RTE Guide: “And my kids now have two worlds because their dad lives in Dublin so it’s great for them, a house in the country and a house in Dublin.”
“I think being a parent is challenging, no matter what, with childcare and all that craic, so you have got your wall planner and your stickers to tell you who needs to be where and on what day.
“That’s every parent and every family. Every parent must do it; we just do it in two different places.”
Offering advice to others who may be going through a rough patch, she added: “I suppose five years ago there was this big upheaval in my life, but you know if people aren’t happy you have to just move to a place where you are happy.
“You have to just find what makes everybody happy. Things are not always the way you planned or the way you thought they would work, but that is life. You take what is thrown at you and figure it out.
“If you can do it and take care of everyone around you, look after your friendships and look after your family, I think that’s what matters. Just do your best.”
READ NEXT:
- David Byrne's face was reconstructed so family could have open coffin at funeral after Regency shooting horror
Man stabbed to death in drunken row in Dublin as garda investigation intensifies
The Covid symptom that people no longer seem to suffer with as new list confirmed
Firefighters pelted with stones and bottles in Clare town overrun with anti-social behaviour
