He lost two of his children.

Taoiseach Michéal Martin has opened up about how his life was completely turned around after the tragic deaths of his two children Ruairí and Léana. Revealing how the loss shaped him as a person, the Taoiseach said it had a huge impact on his decision making, particularly when it comes to the pandemic. Michéal and his wife Mary lost Ruairí in 1999 when he died of cot death at only five weeks old, with tragedy striking again in 2010 when their seven year old daughter Léana died of heart problems. Explaining how grief takes over when you lose a loved one, the Taoiseach shared how his loss has a huge impact on how he made decisions with the pandemic, as his "number one priority [is] to prevent people from dying." Speaking with Brendan O’Connor Show on RTÉ radio, the Taoiseach said: "We all have personal experiences in life. It does give me a sense, I think, of the finality of when death occurs in a family, the devastation that occurs to a family." Saying the passing of his son caused him to suffer with a "lot of anxiety" as the "certainties of life" were suddenly gone, adding they has "changed" him as a person. When he then lost his second child, Michéal said that the support he received from his "fantastic" network of family and friends really helped, saying: "They got us through what was a terrible trauma in the loss of Léana and Ruairí." Adding that he "resonated" with others across the country and has had others reach out to him after going through something similar. "There are a lot of people out there who have had terrible trauma in their lives. The important thing is family and community and the need to get out there, engage again. You have to get up again and you do have to just get out again," he added.