Ira is definitely making her role as a working mum look effortless as she juggles photoshoots and early morning recording sessions with bringing up baby Harry, but she stresses that she’s simply doing what thousands of other parents do every single day.

“The beginning was quite hard, as I realised I now had another role to fit in,” she says. “As anyone with a busy schedule will tell you, there’s a lot to juggle to begin with, never mind with a tiny baby to look after too! But I have enjoyed the challenge of working everything out and creating that new role.”

Nevertheless she admits to having had feelings of self-doubt along the way. “Often when you start a new role, it’s normal to think ‘am I doing enough?’, and that was especially true of me when I’d just had Harry. I often asked myself if I was cut out for it – something that I’ve never found myself thinking when I am creating a role to play on stage. That said, I don’t like to beat myself up. On the contrary I am really enjoying it – even the tough parts – and trying to make the most of every moment.”

Looking back, Ira admits that she struggled with the unplanned element of her pregnancy, especially in the beginning. “I am a big planner,” she says with a smile. “So when anything happens that isn’t quite on schedule, it knocks me for six… and Harry did exactly that!” While Ira and Sean weren’t planning on having a baby just yet, Ira explains that it was very much on the cards for the future… and she was hoping to represent Malta at the Eurovision when she found out she was expecting.

“I knew the national final was going to be hard enough as there was certainly no guarantee that I was going to win, so I was working very hard. The pressure was also on because I was returning to the competition after 14 years and knew I had something to prove. So, of course, when I found out I was pregnant everything became hazy as I dealt with the emotions that came with the news, and my hormones were all over the place. Pulling out of the competition was not an option with just three weeks to go to till the national finals, as the only justifiable explanation had to be the truth – that I was pregnant – and I had no intention of revealing that yet. I also wasn’t prepared to lie to my audience.”

Ira thus decided to go ahead with the national final and see what happened, without unveiling her news. A few months down the line, after being crowned the winner, rumours started flying about the possibility of Ira being pregnant. “Some people were nice, while others were quite angry that I wasn’t confirming it; they felt they had a right to know! I, meanwhile, wanted to keep the news private for as long as I could and only shared it with those closest to me, not because I was naïve to the fact that I am in the public eye but because anything could have gone wrong at that stage of my pregnancy. I also didn’t want to instil doubt that, just because I was pregnant, I couldn’t do the job. On the contrary, I was even more determined to carry on – just like so many other others who work during their pregnancies.”

Fast forward a few months, Ira says that the birth itself was quite traumatic, as doctors ended up opting for an emergency caesarean. “My waters broke and everything was progressing normally for a few hours until Harry’s heartbeat dropped and he was in distress, so I was rushed into the operating theatre. I was terrified of going under the knife and was in a total panic, and Sean was mirroring my emotions and also panicking. It was all very confusing right after the birth, as I didn’t get to hold Harry for 45 minutes and I was convinced something was wrong. Thankfully nothing was wrong.”

Finally Ira and Sean got to meet their baby boy – and of course fell in love. “I’ll never forget that first night at the hospital as it was a very special opportunity for us to bond and I lay awake with Harry for most of it. Looking back I do think I suffered a little with post-natal depression in the very early days. It felt like an internal conflict – I would wake up happy and look forward to the littlest things, like a cup of tea or a shower. But, by evening, I would get weepy when people started leaving or angry that no one had told me I might feel this way… it felt like a very long five days! Thankfully the staff were amazing.”

Sean has also embraced his new role and is very hands-on. “He’s a great dad,” Ira smiles. “He’s the expert on food-related stuff, of course, but we don’t tend to have written rules as to who does what. It’s also lovely to see how Harry resembles Sean and to watch them together.”

Long term, Ira says her hopes for Harry are pretty simple – for him to be happy doing what he does. “Obviously if he’s interested in music, I will encourage that; I know what it’s like to be a musician and to experience the magic of creating music with a fantastic team, and performing. I hope he gets to experience the creative world in some way but, at the same time, he may get the same enjoyment from running a race or climbing a mountain (something that certainly never interested me!). Whatever his path, I hope he will be happy.”

As for the future of her own career, Ira is very much back in business after her eight-month hiatus and recently released the music video for her single We Are The Soldiers. “I function best when I am working,” she says. “I have to be producing. It was lovely to take a couple of months off after Harry was born, but I was back performing as soon as possible. Now it’s all about routine and, of course, it took some adjustment but, if anything, I am enjoying my work more than ever. Being a parent has enriched what I do not detracted from it.”

In fact, more releases are already in the pipeline for Ira, as well as a number of other projects. “There’s a whole lot of work to look forward to, as well as Harry!” she grins. “I am so excited about the future, whether I am thinking about Harry’s first steps or the next song we’re going to shoot. He’s become an inspiration and I love how determined he already is – when he wants something, he wants it and will stop at nothing to get it! I guess we have that in common.”

Missed out on a copy of Style on Sunday with yesterday's paper? Check out the online version.