Colum Eastwood: 'People were ringing in to congratulate me on the news that we were having twins, just as my wife was hearing that one of them had died. I should have been there with her'

The most probing interviews: Colum Eastwood, SDLP leader and Foyle MLA, talks for the first time about the heartache of losing his unborn twin.

Q. You're 34 and married to 33-year-old Rachael (formerly Parkes), who runs two pubs. How did you meet?

A. I was in my early twenties. She was a barmaid in a pub that I used to drink in.

I'd been around the music scene as well - Rachael sang in bands - so we were mates first.

We got married on December 20, 2013, at Ballybrack Chapel in Greencastle, Co Donegal, and we had the reception in The Red Door, Fahan, also in Co Donegal.

Our honeymoon was spent in New York, Miami and then on a Caribbean cruise.

I didn't get to see Miami at all, though, because I had food poisoning and spent two days being very ill.

Q. You have two girls, Rosa (2) and Maya Olive, who's seven months. What's it like being a busy politician and a father to two small children?

A. It's great, I enjoy it. Rachael bears most of the burden because I have to travel so much, but when I'm home I try to be there.

I change nappies - I was on the night feed last night.

It's a completely different way of life than what we had before. The spontaneity has gone, but it's a different type of fun.

Q. Your dad, Paul (63), is a retired PE teacher and mum Deirdre (60) a former primary school vice principal. Tell us about your siblings.

A. Belfast-based Peter (30) is a product designer, Liam (29) has a dog-grooming business in London, and Nora (25) works in PR in Vancouver, Canada.

Q. You're born, bred and still living in Derry/Londonderry. Did you have a happy childhood?

A. Very happy. We had great summers at our caravan in Greencastle and then we spent most weekends on my grandfather Eddie's farm in Cookstown.

Q. You went to St John's Primary School in Creggan, St Columb's College and then the University of Liverpool for Latin-American studies, although you didn't graduate. Why?

A. I knew early on that I was passionate about politics.

I joined the SDLP whenever I was 14, just after the Good Friday Agreement.

I was very involved in the anti-war movement and maybe not too involved in my studies, so I decided to come home in 2003.

Q. Briefly tell us about your career to date.

A. I worked for Children in Crossfire, the international development charity, for a year, then for a property company. After that I worked for (former MLA) Pat Ramsey in his constituency office.

Q. You were elected to Derry City Council in 2005 (until 2011) and served as mayor in 2010 - the youngest Derry mayor (aged 27). You were first elected to the Assembly in May 2011. No qualms about going into politics?

A. If you're from Derry, you have a keen sense of politics and what's going on around you. There's a real sense of injustice at unemployment, at the lack of opportunity.

Q. Did you really believe you'd beat Alasdair McDonnell in the leadership battle of November 2015?

A. Yes, I wouldn't have done it otherwise. It's not easy to challenge a sitting leader, but I felt it was necessary to have a change.

It wasn't about Alasdair; it was about the need for a new generation to step forward. I was in no rush to become leader, but sometimes moments arrive and you have to respond.

Q. You were widely criticised in 2012 for carrying the coffin of former INLA man Seamus Coyle. SDLP members and others said it was inappropriate. You've never apologised. In hindsight, do you believe it was a mistake?

A. I went to the wake, the funeral and had been at the death bed of somebody who was a good friend.

Do I regret that people were hurt, or that the family was dragged through the muck, or that there was a paramilitary funeral? Of course I do. But I don't think anybody could question my commitment to peace or my very strong opposition to violence.

I don't think I would apologise for carrying someone's coffin. There was no endorsement for anything other than the friendship that we had.

Just like Sinn Fein members, he was also well beyond violence. I was trying to show respect to someone I cared about. I don't agree with paramilitary funerals, or guys running about with masks on. I wasn't endorsing that.

Q. Have you lost anyone else close to you?

A. It's a very different experience than actually losing somebody close to me, but, during the run-up to last year's Assembly election, Rachael was pregnant with twins and we found out that we'd lost one of them.

It was a strange sort of an experience because you're grieving for somebody you've never met. And doubly strange because, the day that I found out, I'd been on Radio Ulster talking about having twins and people had been ringing in to congratulate me.

I was missing the appointment - the scan - and, after the radio programme, I went straight to UTV for the party leaders' debate, so I wasn't there with Rachael and she couldn't contact me.

I phoned her afterwards and that's when I found out. It was a really difficult time, and not being there for Rachael at that time was what annoyed me most.

Rachael absolutely understood and she was very good about that, but I deeply regret it.

When a few journalists and politicians - from every party and every background - found out, they were very kind and sent messages. That meant a lot.

Q. That was in February - was it your scheduled 20-week scan?

A. It might have been. We think we lost the baby at 13 or 14 weeks. Rachael says she had a sense there was something wrong, but I don't know - there were no physical signs.

We were very lucky and delighted that Maya came along in good health, so we focus on that. It's a strange thing when you're expecting twins and then that happens, yet you still have this wonderful baby. I've never talked about this before.

Q. Were you more concerned about the rest of the pregnancy after your loss?

A. Yes, we were. After what happened (with the first twin), we were just trying to make sure the other baby would be okay.

The consultants in Altnagelvin Hospital were fantastic. They kept seeing us just as regularly, as if we were still having twins.

Rachael was actually brought in three weeks early because there were some issues with the baby's heartbeat. It all ended up grand. She was able to have a natural birth.

What happened obviously plays on your mind, but we were just delighted when Maya was born - and we could then focus on her.

Q. Do you know if the other twin was a girl?

A. We don't know. We never actually found out.

Q. Losing a baby must've taken its toll emotionally?

A. It was very tough. It's hard to know what to think when something like that happens. It probably happens a lot, particularly with twins, but the difficulty with us was that everything was very public.

People still say to me, 'You had twins, how are they?' It's difficult.

Having said that, I had a moving experience recently. We were at Rachael's granny's (Ruby Parkes) funeral in Whiteabbey and a Protestant man who had lived in the same fold as her came up to me. He said Ruby had informed him that we lost the baby and that he'd gone into a Catholic chapel and asked the priest to say a prayer for us.

There was just something about that which really touched me. He reminded me of the sense of decency and goodness in people.

Q. Did the harrowing experience make you and Rachael stronger as a couple?

A. Yes. It did. It binds you together. But the most important thing is that we have Rosa and Maya. We're blessed with what we have.

Q. Tell us about the best day of your life.

A. The days that Rosa (June 23 - difficult enough birth, but it was amazing) and Maya were born. Maya was born on June 29, as another talks deadline loomed.

We had very accommodating midwives who allowed me to make calls from a nearby bathroom.

Q. Have you been trolled on social media?

A. After Maya was born I posted a photo of her on Twitter and someone linked it to the ongoing abortion debate. I found that astonishing. A lot of people who don't even know me launched into the guy who did that.

Q. Do you believe in God? Do you have a strong faith?

A. Yes. It's a faith that has been shaken, but it's still there. I'm a struggling Christian. I don't go to Mass every Sunday, but I try to get as often as I can.

Q. Tell us something that readers might be surprised to learn about you?

A. I've got a black belt in jiu-jitsu - and I'm a qualified instructor.

Q. You were the youngest SDLP MLA until your colleague Daniel McCrossan usurped you. Do you ever feel a bit daunted by the oldies?

A. Not really, because I've been involved for so long. I was in and out of the offices of John Hume and Mark Durkan as a kid, met amazing people but never really felt daunted.

Q. There has been a lot of talk about your beard, specifically that white patch. When are you going to dye it?

A. Never, because people would know. It's a bit late now.

When I came home from holidays 18 months ago, my mother told me I either had to dye it or shave it off immediately, but I refused.

It definitely has been a source of angst for some people, bizarrely.

There's a generational divide in this important debate - a lot of young people think it's a great thing while older people aren't that keen.

Q. What's the most important piece of advice you've been given?

A. My former mentor John Tierney (ex-Derry mayor) said that no matter what happens in the chamber, make sure you're civil to your opponents outside it.

Q. Which politician from the so-called 'other side' do you most admire?

A. Mike Nesbitt (former Ulster Unionist leader).

Q. If you were in trouble, who is the one person you would you turn to?

A. Rachael, but usually we're in trouble together.

Q. Who was your biggest inspiration growing up?

A. John Hume. I admired his clear-headedness and his ability, in the middle of mayhem, to think very straightforwardly about the nature of a problem and the solution to it.

Q. Who is your best Protestant friend?

A. I don't categorise people in terms of their religion.

Q. You like music and you're a keen Derry City fan. Is that how do you relax outside politics?

A. I love all sorts of music and I try to get to as many matches as possible. I also love cooking. I always do the Sunday lunch.

Q. If there was one thing you could change about yourself, what would it be?

A. I wouldn't have minded being a professional footballer.

Q. And have you ever had a nickname?

A. Eastie.

Q. What is your greatest achievement to date?

A. Being married with two kids. Professionally, I'd like to think I'm only getting started.

Belfast Telegraph