Rachel Allen has opened up about her son Joshua’s arrest.
Back in 2018, Joshua was convicted of possession of drugs with the intent to supply at the highly-acclaimed Ballymaloe Cookery School – ran by his mum Rachel.
The 21-year-old was handed a 15-month sentence last year, having plead guilty to three drug offences – including possession cannabis with a street value of over €22,000 for sale or supply at the famous cookery school.
Rachel, 49, told the Irish Mirror: “Yeah, it’s been really tough. You know, when I was growing up, no one knew of me.”
“And I didn’t do anything like that to break the law, but I was able to grow up privately. And so you know what, it is hard. And it has been really tough actually.”
“And I felt so bad, and I feel so bad. That an element of their lives is public, that you know, that makes it much more commented on than anyone else’s life,” the mum-of-three added.
Speaking to The Sunday Independent, she added: “It was horrible really. There is no other way to put it. You just feel so exposed.”
“I feel so bad for my children that it [her career in the public eye] is a factor in their lives and growing up. I do. I feel really bad about that.”
“It felt like my heart was breaking, because I was trying to protect my first-born [Joshua], who was my baby – and I’d not just the public to face, but the law as well. So anyone who has been through anything like that could understand 100 per cent.”
“It’s a constant worry being a parent anyway. You are constantly worrying about your child’s happiness and safety and health – so when something rocks one or two or three of those areas in a child’s life, it just rocks you. It can really unsteady you.”
“None of us are ever through parenting 100 per cent, you know? At what point do you say, ‘Oh, that’s great now’? There is no point you can say that. Even my mum still worries about her children, and her grandchildren.”
“There is loads I would love to say. He is trying to learn the right way. He is the kindest guy you will ever meet. He is the gentlest soul you will ever meet.”
“He loves animals and he is such a sweetheart but then I fear that if I say that I will get another barrage of comments thrown at me. Isn’t that awful?”
“I am not condoning what was done. I don’t want people to think I am saying what happened is OK,” Rachel added.
In a statement after Joshua’s arrest, Rachel and her husband Isaac said: “We are absolutely devastated at this turn of events.”
“Our son is eighteen years old, has never been in trouble with the Gardaí, and has made a huge mistake, which will have profound consequences for him.
“We do not in any way condone his actions, in fact, we utterly condemn them, but it is not for us to condemn him.”
