The Misses Walsh, who ran the first school I attended in Seafield Road, Clontarf, Dublin, are still there. I revisited them two years ago and was delighted to see again the little schoolroom in which I spent my early school years, behind their bungalow in Clontarf.
It was a lovely, intimate place to go school, and every day we played around the apple trees in the big mysterious garden. I stayed in the school until I made my first Communion and then went to the Holy Faith Convent, Clontarf. My daily journey to school remains etched on my mind. In those days Clontarf was much less developed than it is today. I always think of myself of having a rural childhood. We lived on Styles Road. At that time the newer end of the road was still pasture land, where cows grazed. Clontarf Castle was set in a vast and - to we children - mystical demesne. I used to bicycle to and fro at a time when cycling, because of the lack of traffic, was a very relaxed occupation. Our journeys were punctuated by long pauses, when we leaned on our handle bars and chatted. Looking back on that period of my life, my main memories are of the time I spent on my bicycle. We used to cycle over to Howth or to St Anne's, where the burned-out house lay in extensive parklands. My father died when I was 10 and my mother returned to work - as a domestic science teacher at Cathal Brugha Street. She found it difficult to get anyone to mind us and as a result I was sent as a boarder to my mother's old school - the Dominican Convent in Wicklow. The only the way she could continue to work was by sending us to boarding school; at one stage there were five of the family there. I quite enjoyed that time: it was lively being out in the country and we enjoyed a varied education, with a great emphasis on drama nd music.
Our school mates were from affluent middleclass families, and sometimes that made life difficult for us. We didn't have a lot of money and we knew it was a struggle for our mother to send us there. She used to say that our only inheritance would be the tools to earn our own livings. She was a passionate believer in the value of education and a great teacher.
She was highly ambitious for us. She used to say that she wanted her children to come out of the top drawer - that we would make something of ourselves, and we did. She was an educational snob in the best sense of the word and she was determined to give us the best education she could. The Dominicans were great and they included educators of the highest calibre. They had a great love of learning which they passed on to us. I particularly remember Sister Mary Eucharia who is now in Dublin, and Sister Marcoline, who appeared very daring and sophisticated and opened up the world of theatre to us. As a 65year-old she took off to work in Lisbon with Goan refugees who were coming from Angola and Mozambique. As the eldest of six children, I felt it important that I get out and get a job at the earliest opportunity. I left school after Leaving Cert, did a commercial course and went into the bank. I quickly discovered that I wasn't temperamentally suited to this work and went off to London to study nursing. There, in the hospital, I discovered racial prejudice for the first time. Nursing gave me the opportunity to support myself and gain qualifications at the same time. While I was in training, I supplemented my income by running an antiques stall in the Portobello Road. I developed great self-discipline and resilience.
Nursing also gave me the chance to travel, and I have worked as a nurse in Canada, the United States and Africa. My nursing experience has also helped me in some of my EU work - when I was working on health policy for example.
Mary Banotti is an MEP and presidential candidate for the Fine Gael party.
