Justin McAleese, son of former president Mary McAleese, is carving out his own political career as he hopes to be one of the Fianna Fáil candidates in the next general election.
Ahead of the Pope's visit next month, he and his mother have both been vocal about the Catholic Church's treatment of women and of the LGBT community.
He has been particularly disappointed that the World Meeting of Families, which is supposed to be an inclusive event, appears not to be as welcoming of LGBT people as initially promised: "It's an issue that the church is going to have to answer."
"Over the years the church has promoted an architecture of homophobia and misogyny. In Ireland its influence has diminished, but around the world it has the potential to be a hugely powerful agent of change, if they were able to change their doctrine."
In spite of all this, Justin is still a practicing Catholic. He says the hierarchy is the problem, and that the real church is about "love and enthusiasm for life."
He was 21 when he came out to family and friends, having known for years that he felt "different." His own parents were immediately accepting, but he is well aware that not everybody has had the same kind of experience.
"We should be doing everything in our power to make sure that young gay people come to terms with their sexuality with the important help and guidance of their parents, schools and teachers."
He also says that, since the passing of the marriage equality referendum, there has been a risk that people "take their eye off the ball and think nothing else needs to be done here, but there's still a huge amount of work that has to be done."
In terms of his own political aspirations, he explains: "I grew up in a very political household, and if you think you can do a better job than some of them you need to put your name forward and see if you can get elected, and that's my plan for the next election."
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