Sir, – Matt Moran has reminded us all of the high standards expected from Irish missionaries overseas ("Missionaries created the template on which Ireland's aid programme is built", Opinion & Analysis, January 20th). There are now fewer than 1,500 Irish-born missionaries. It is some support to read that: "As various presidents and government ministers have acknowledged many times, our missionaries created the example and the environment upon which the country's international aid programme was built." We are the "unpaid ambassadors of our country".
As one of these 1,500 Irish missionaries, 43 years working in the northeast of Brazil, and now four years here in Mozambique, at 70 years of age, wouldn’t you think we deserve at least the old age pension? It would help us to put food on the table, diesel in the car, and keep the “embassy” open. But no, not unless we abandon the mission and go back to life full time in Ireland. Some support! – Yours, etc,
BRIAN HOLMES,
Redemptorist Missionary,
Tete, Mozambique.