For the people who can’t recover from that, it is no surprise that patterns repeat themselves. Even for O’Sullivan, who by any measure is a huge success – happily married with three children, an impressive research career, an expert on access to education, and one of the most remarkable people you will ever meet – that voice is still there, but quieter now. “There will always be a small part of me that just wants to be loved by my parents,” she says, and she apologises for the tears that spring to her eyes. “I think we carry our childhood with us. That’s the long-lasting residue from mine.” At it’s core this is a cautionary tale about the effects of austerity, the class system in the UK and the horrifying generational impact of addiction. Being able to hear Katriona tell her story in her audiobook, in her own voice brought me to tears several times. Those first few months in Trinity proper were hard. I felt lost, the psychology class was small which meant I couldn't hide In a lecture room at Ireland’s most elite university, a woman in a hoodie and jeans, her hair in a messy bun, was sorting out some chairs. A student came in and told her that she couldn’t clean in there because a class was about to start. “I know,” the woman told her. “I’m teaching it.” It is one of my favourite moments in Dr Katriona O’Sullivan’s new memoir, not just for the delicious awkwardness, but because, despite O’Sullivan’s path from virtually unimaginable poverty and trauma to a top-level education, it exposes the truth about whom we believe those institutions are really for.

‘I sat drinking in the knowledge, and for the first time in

However, let’s not forget hard work. Katrina was a single mother, studying, working and still trying to hold her family together. This lady deserves our utmost respect. It brings to the forefront the struggles faced by those suffering from poverty and the services that are just not available to those in need anymore. As she says after the financial crash these services were the first to go and the lower classes were the worst affected. Before she returned to education and became an award-winning lecturer, Katriona O’Sullivan was a cleaner at Connolly Station in Dublin. Courts Brothers to stay in jail after appeal of 'cynical and calculated' rape of girl (14) they got ‘comatose drunk’ fails 11:58

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Most of the time being poor felt like a sodden blanket which was lying heavy across my shoulders dragging me down into dark waters" At the end of the book she makes a challenging assertion. That the likes of the Trinity Access Programme is only aimed at the super-brainy of the poorer classes, like that author herself. (She didn't make those claims about herself. They're mine). The people who are only middle of the road good, AND poor, there's a shoulder shrug. Middle of the road good from middle class families will thrive and survive, but in the TAP they only push the boat out for the super-dupers. Those first few months in Trinity proper were hard. I felt lost, the psychology class was small which meant I couldn’t hide. I was sitting with middle-class kids who had got around 580 points in their Leaving Cert and I felt like a failure. Two years before I started my degree I had been working as the dinner lady in the Institute of Education. The book helped. She likes herself now. “I think I’ve always liked myself, though. What’s really sad about growing up is that I can clearly remember being a young girl, alive to the world, inquisitive and bright, like all kids are but, unfortunately, I was born in this community where I wasn’t given an opportunity to flourish.” She feels now, nearly four decades on, closer to that girl, before the weight of neglect, predatory men, fear and low expectations crushed her. “Like, I’m alive again.”

Poor: Grit, courage, and the life-changing value of self-belief

One thing that is overlooked when we consider TAP students is our resilience. I know how to survive and that is a skill. I used it to survive maths and have used it many times since. I used my capacity to challenge, to fight and to ask for help to get me through. TAP became a home for me. Irena was my guide, I could tell her anything. The ladies in the office, Sheila and Elaine, provided more care. One of the best [books] I have read about the complexities of poverty . . . one of the most remarkable people you will ever meet' Guardian The results will be posted online in June, if you guys are thinking about using this degree for anything decent in the future a 2.1 or above is your only hope.” I put my head down and work harder than I have worked before. If I fail at this I am f**ked, all of this will have been for nothing. Katriona was born in Coventry to Irish parents. She grew up in dire poverty, became a mother at fifteen and ended up homeless. Moving to her father's native Dublin, Katriona was hopeful that a change of place would bring positive changes to her life. As she says herself, it turned out that "nothing would change in Dublin......I had come to Dublin and to change my life and simply replicated it".Addiction, too, is seen as a personal failing rather than a complex issue. “There’s nobody I know who is addicted to drugs who planned that,” says O’Sullivan. “Especially for women with addiction, we do not provide enough support and services. My mother was judged so harshly, more than my dad, for being an addict. We need to look at how we moralise around addiction, and poverty.” By the end of third year I had found my feet. While I would never fully belong in TCD I knew by then I was good enough. I got to know all the catering staff, all the cleaners and all the builders during my nine years as a student and three years as staff. These were and still are my people. As a research student, I began to flourish and by the end of third year I was achieving high 2.1s for all my work and felt confident I would pass my degree.

Books UK Poor - Penguin Books UK

It was 2011 when I first met the now-published author Katriona O’Sullivan. She stood at the top of the lecture hall in Trinity College Dublin in a beige cardigan down to her knees, blue denim jeans and a pair of runners. She spoke about addiction, and I couldn’t quite tell if she had an accent like mine because of her English twang. Why do you want to do this course?” the interviewer asks me. He seems nice but I’m sure he can see through me. “I want to change my life,” I reply. “I feel like I’m missing something.” He smiles and I’m sure I’ve said something wrong. “Do you read books,” he asks. “Yes,” I say. “I have always loved to read”. He smiles again and makes a note. There's a very striking, moving scene early on in the book and it was a real take-home point from the book for me. A kindly teacher, Mrs Arkinson, took an interest in Katriona from a very young age and recognised the fact that Katriona came from a home where she was utterly neglected. Mrs Arkinson gave Katriona clean underwear and clothes, and a towel, and showed the young girl how to wash herself. I was elected class rep and became the go-to person for the students. I started to make friends. I met some really lovely people. I learned that life was hard for all of us. Amy, who was so kind to me, was the star of our year. I learned a lot from her. I discovered people who have had privileged lives are lovely too. They were not all judging me, or if they were, they did it politely and hid it well.

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I felt ashamed but they didn’t seem to judge me. They reminded me of the teachers who reached out to me when I was younger, or the kind lady in our local shop who would give me food because she knew I was hungry. They told me to relax, that they would help. They paid for my childcare. The young couple split up when John was two and Katriona moved to Summerhill in Dublin to be close to her parents, with whom she had started to build bridges. Now an award-winning lecturer whose work challenges barriers to education, Poor stands as a stirring argument for the importance of looking out for our kids' futures. Of giving them hope, practical support and meaningful opportunities. Having somebody like me in there was just pivotal”, she explains. “If you don’t see people like you, you’re never going to aspire to it”.