South Africa: For a Minister accustomed to meeting angry patients in crowded hospital wards, Tánaiste Mary Harney had a new experience yesterday.
Walking through Leratong ("place of love"), a hospice with 2.5 staff to each patient, she heard nothing but praise for the quality of care being provided.
But this was not Ireland: it was a dusty South African township where development efforts have been undermined by violent crime and a HIV infection rate of some 40 per cent.
"It puts life in perspective," Ms Harney said after a tour of the facility - something of a rarity in South Africa in catering for the terminally-ill poor. "It's just shattering really to see young lives wasted."
The centre, at Atteridgeville on the outskirts of Pretoria, was opened less than two years ago by Belfast priest Kieran Creagh to cater for the increasing number of locals dying of Aids.
"We do believe this is a miracle, because it started with nothing," Father Creagh, a former bank clerk, remarked. "Now we have a five-million rand (€666,000) building and 40 staff." Private donations from Ireland have helped, along with €120,000 in funding from Irish Aid. Boasting "first-world services" in a third-world setting, Leratong had become a model of what could be done, he added.
Speaking at the start of a five-day St Patrick's week visit to South Africa, Ms Harney refused to be drawn on whether the ANC government was taking the Aids crisis seriously enough. But, she said, it should be a "high priority for all of us".
"The problems here are so enormous. I think the epidemic is just increasing. It's not being halted and I do think the international community has a role to play."
The Tánaiste was somewhat more willing to question the local government's policy on foreign investment, warning that Irish business people would be "concerned" about a proposed moratorium on the sale of land to foreigners. "I think there are two concerns. Moratoriums can often drive up prices, and as well they might drive down investment, and that can have an adverse effect."
Her comments come ahead of her departure today for Cape Town, where she will meet South Africa's deputy president, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, as well as Irish developers with business interests in the area.