‘I work all night if I need to be at a protest next day’

ON a Sunday morning last May, Rosanna Flynn was soaking in the bath when her ever-present mobile phone rang and she heard an Afghan asylum seeker of her acquaintance on the other end.

“He said: ‘Hello Rosanna, we’re in St Patrick’s Cathedral and we’re on hunger strike’. I nearly drowned. I asked had he told St Patrick’s and he said: ‘No, but we paid our money to get in’. It all sounded a bit surreal.”

For the next week Rosanna was at the Cathedral from early to late, organising support for the 33 men and youths inside, acting as their spokesperson when needed and speaking to the growing gathering of media as the story gained momentum.