Sir, – Hearing of the death of Mary Banotti reminded me of a morning walking the streets of Dublin with her a lifetime ago (“‘Trailblazer’ former Fine Gael MEP Mary Banotti has died”, News, May 11th). We met very early in the morning, wearing sensible shoes, knowing what lay ahead. We were both nurses and she wanted to see how we were working with homeless people and how she could help us. We visited the many hospital casualty departments, the hostels, night-shelters, day centres and met people from all sections of the community en route. We met homeless people going to work in the gardens of better-off people, and some going to court where the judge was on first-name terms with them.

Source: The Irish Times May 14, 2024 15:13 UTC