Last hurrah for Aisling ...then it's back to work

THE new mum revealed to the Diary that she'll be heading over to Paris mid-June with partner Nicholas McInnes before her comeback at the Ballymount station.

"I'd all these plans after giving birth to go off hither and tither. I thought I'd spend the winter months somewhere fabulous and do self-improvement courses, all that kind of thing -- but I've done absolutely nothing and I haven't been anywhere," Aisling said.

"Once you have a baby, you realise you actually can't do anything; you're trapped. It's a complete job. So I can't wait to head off now."

And the proud parents are taking five-month-old baby Patrick along on the seven-day trip.

"We'll be giving baby a proper introduction to all of Nick's family. I'm not really nervous about it because I've met a lot of them already," she added.

The 32-year-old said the only thing she'll be concerned about is the flight and she's praying her little tot will be an easy-going passenger.

"He's a fairly placid child, so I'm just hoping he'll be all right on the plane -- for the other passengers' sake."

Telly host Aisling has confirmed that she'll be back to work in front of the cameras on June 25.

"I'll be a mixture of nerves and excitement. There's always a bit of apprehension; I don't know what I'll be like without the baby. But we'll be better off if I go back to work; I need routine just like he does. I do miss work, so I'll be thrilled to get stuck in again."

But Xpose fans shouldn't get too excited, because Aisling has been lined up to fill in for good pal Sybil Mulcahy on the Morning Show until the autumn.

"I won't be going straight back to Xpose. Sybil will probably be back some time around Halloween, so it'll be a long enough stint.

"I'll just focus on the Morning Show I'd say, but never say never, depending on some of the Xpose girls' holidays and that, I might do a report here or there.

"I'm quite happy to have a job; TV is very interesting, so whichever I'm doing I'm happy, as long as I'm working," she added.

And the bubbly broadcaster divulged that photographer Nick will be taking on babysitting duties.

"He's going to be looking after him for the summer: that makes things a little easier, because he'll be with someone he knows."

Although she hasn't had the chance to catch up with her pals much since taking on motherhood, Aisling will be entertaining her TV3 colleagues Karen Koster and Lorraine Keane this weekend at her new country home in Wicklow. "We're finally having our house-warming on Saturday. I'm very jittery about it. Nick has invited everybody to it and I've no idea where we're going to put everyone. I'm now calling it the Nick-back festival."

-- LB