Four dads tell us about their father-daughter relationship

Sean has one son (Sencha, 23) and three daughters: Keelin, 17, Ellie, 14, and Saoirse, 13. He says girls make more noise but make up for it by being very loving.
“Girls are much noisier than boys and naturally more verbal. So they talk a lot. They also like to sing — pretty much constantly.
"Conversations are often half-words and half-sung lyrics. But they are also extremely affectionate, so I’m never stuck for hugs.
"The best aspect of having daughters is watching them grow into young women and talking with them about what they might want to do with their lives.
"Sexism hasn’t disappeared, of course, but it is great to see them consider the future without any limitations on what they might do.
“However, they regularly frighten my wallet. Even from the age of two or three you come to realise that dealing with a girl is a far more complex affair.
"They always seem a few moves ahead. The social dynamics among teenagers are also a bit worrying.
"There seems to be constant anxiety about who is popular and who is not and social media just seems to amplify everything. And I think there is such a thing as too much communication.
“Luckily, I have three confident, beautiful daughters who also have each other and always will. I think they are only starting to realise how valuable that is.
“I would like them to have happiness and fulfilment in their lives and realise they can be the authors of their fate, no matter what that is. Also, I wouldn’t mind if one of them was president as I’ve never been to the Aras.”

Rob is father to three girls: Meghan, 12; Regan, 15 months; and Tara, born on May 9. He wants them to know he will always be there for them, no matter what.
“It’s lovely having daughters – they are so sweet-natured and great fun at the same time.
“There is nothing like coming home and getting a big hug and a great welcome from my girls.
"They are all so different as well — Tara is our new arrival so isn’t up to much yet, Regan is at the stage where she adores me and that is a really nice feeling — the way she looks at me with such adoration makes me go weak at the knees and I almost feeling like crying.
"I’m sure she will grow out of it, but it’s nice while it lasts.
“Meghan is older and I have a great relationship with her — we get on great and talk a lot. I encourage her to strive to do what she wants in life and to make sure she retains her individuality.
“But I also see some of my own traits in her as well. She is really good at sport, which I am delighted with, but she is also good at other things as well and I want to make sure she gets the most out of her life.
“That is what I want for them all really — to get a good education, enjoy all the opportunities they can and, above all, be happy.
“All little girls love their dads but I worry that I won’t always be able to protect them from everything.
"Life is so different these days with the pressure of social media and then when they get interested in going out and meeting boys, I’m sure it will be hard to adjust to.
“But I think it’s important that they know they can talk to me about anything and I will do all I can to make sure they are safe, happy and loved for as long as I am around.”

John has four grown-up daughters: Kate, Martha, Nanci, and Meg, who are all in their 20s.
"The males in his family have always been outnumbered but he feels completely at home with females and says there is always a lot of commotion in the house when the whole family get together.
“I have been truly blessed amongst women as I have eight sisters — as well as three brothers — four daughters, and two granddaughters. So being in a household or office full of women is second nature to me and — hand on my heart — I can honestly say I’ve never, ever missed not having a son.
“They are all quite different in some aspects, but they share a common sense of humour, sense of fair play, and compassion. Not unlike myself, they would all talk for Ireland.
“I was trying to think of a collective term for a gathering of Creedons and came up with ‘a cacophony of Creedons’ where everyone is talking and laughing at the same time.
"We can make sense of it all, but I’m sure some people find it overwhelming.
“Apart from the basics, my daughters were always free to be themselves. We never put them under too much pressure to achieve, yet they turned out to be positive, with loads of plans and a sense of ‘Why not’.
“I’d subscribe to Kahil Gibran’s view that your children are not your children. They don’t even come from you.
"They merely come through you. And just as you are the bow and they are the arrow, your aim must be honest and true. But where they land is their destiny, not yours.
“From my experience, all stages of child-rearing bring their own challenges and rewards, although not always in equal measure. I always knocked great sport out of them as toddlers, but I have to say that as adults they are a huge joy in my life.
"They still go to Cork City FC matches with me and wind me up and by saying things like ‘Oooh you’re just so cute’ — like I was five years of age.
“I love all four of them with all my heart; they’re free to be themselves but I know they will be kind. I just wish them long and happy lives.”

Ian has one daughter, Aislinn, who will be 19 this month. He also has two sons (Evan, 21, and Shane, 25) and says being a dad to boys is totally different to girls.
“I think most dads will admit that having a daughter around is a totally different experience to sons — boys tend to be more competitive with their dads whereas a daughter is more demonstratively loving and smiley and generally just more pink and fluffy.
“Aislinn has just finished her first year in event management at DIT and she is so conscientious about her course it sometimes scares me — based on my own educational record. But she knows how to party too and is great at dividing her time so that she can do both at full steam.
“I love simply chatting with her about the world and she has very strong and well-thought-out ideas about what’s going on.
“We have a code for ‘I love you’ based on the numbers of letters in the words 143.
“One of her favourite things to do since she was little is to go through a car wash, for some odd reason. Analyse that.
“However, there are some scary aspects to bringing up girls — namely their bedrooms. I thought I had invented the term ‘floordrobe’ based on Aislinn’s room but according to the internet there were quite a few dads there before me.
“Above anything, I just want Aislinn to be happy in everything she does and I hope she gets to make her own decisions about the important things in life. She was born happy and so far she’s been able to hang on to it.
"Also I think it’s important that everybody acknowledges that there are many ways to achieve your goals and it’s not always by going from A to B.”