Five high-profile women tell us about times they most relied on their mums for help

Ahead of Mother’s Day on Sunday, Liz Nugent, Caoimhe Kenny, Georgie Durcan, Dr Doireann O'Leary and Sarah Maria Griffin share their memories

Liz Nugent: 'She felt my book was far superior to other books she was reading. I’d say the publishing industry was quaking in its boots.' Picture: Darragh Kane

Author Liz Nugent

“Nobody was more surprised than my mother, Siobhan, when I wrote a book. When I finished my first novel, Unravelling Oliver, and before I got a publisher, my mother stopped reading until I got a book deal. She has always been a voracious reader, averaging one or two books a week. It was a one-woman protest against the publishing industry.