Watch Niamh's story above
“I believe in love, I believe in love stories”. 45 year old foster mother Niamh Callery, has a dream job, sharing with couples in the happiest day of their lives.
However, her own path to love wasn’t as simple. The Wexford woman, is now happily married to wife Aly. But she admits for years, the couple thought marriage was something that would never be open to them. It was only when civil partnerships were introduced in Northern Ireland that the pair were finally able to make things official, but still they had to head across the border to Belfast in order to do so.
“Looking back it was fine, but it wasn’t what I would have wanted” she admits. “Thankfully, all love is now equal in Ireland in the eyes of the law and if I had the options that are available today, I would definitely do it very, very differently.”
This ended up being the drive Niamh needed to retrain as a celebrant, which has been a dream come true for her, “it’s one of the reasons why I am so passionate, as a celebrant” she explains. “To give people the option to have their wedding day exactly as they want it. For me, the ceremony is hugely important. I believe in love, and love stories and so it’s the best job ever. “
However, taking a leap of faith to retrain was a huge step, and Niamh admits like many other women, she initially shied away from giving herself a chance to fulfil her own passions.
“Women especially, unless everything is perfect you have this tendency to say ‘oh I’ll wait. You stop yourself before you even open the door” she reveals.
“The first day of my celebrancy course, I was thinking, ‘What am I doing, oh my god’. But as soon as it started it felt like I’d known these people forever and it’s been one of the best things I’ve ever done.”
“Feel the fear and do it anyway,” she adds, urging more women not to shut the door on their secret hopes and dreams. “Say yes to more things”.
Something else that has brought Niamh and Aly great joy is becoming Foster parents. Currently Niamh is a foster carer for two children, a three year old and a six year old. “After we were civil partnered, we explored the options available for us to start a family,” she recalls. “Then one night we watched a TV program about fostering. At the end, they had sound bites of the foster children all saying what a massive difference fostering made to their lives. And that made our decision for us.”
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And her foster family is a source of great pride to Niamh. “I’m grateful to give those children, the things I had growing up,” she says. “We had loads of love, we had freedom and safety and that’s really what kids need, it allows them to be kids, I’m proud I can give that to children who need it.”
“It’s a bit of an emotional rollercoaster, and It’s not easy sometimes but the kids need us to be there for them and show them another way. And that’s a huge motivator when you think you can’t cope. Because that helps you to cope with anything.”
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