Maïa Dunphy: The greatest challenge I've faced is becoming a single parent and losing my mum

You can’t bang on about it too much, as people get bored, but no one really appreciates the difficulties around single parenting

Maïa Dunphy: The person I’d turn to most was always my mum. We lost her to cancer earlier this year, and I miss her so terribly.

My parents moved to a house in Dalkey, south county Dublin, the week before I was born.

I grew up for the most part there, with an older brother, younger sister, and a conveyor belt of lovely pets. We moved to Paris for a couple of years when I was 7, which was a brilliant experience at that age.