‘I will never forget the loneliness of being a carer’

RENOWNED for his fine intellect, mastery of the political put-down and often unyielding personality, Michael Noonan has always been seen as a tough-as-old-boots, old style politician, a man who fights on his terms; somebody who won’t be re-cast by shadowy backroom strategists.

The Michael Noonan that sat down with Pat Kenny on Monday night was not Michael Noonan the politician. He was Michael, the husband, father and carer of an Alzheimer’s patient – albeit a carer who admitted he could afford the private home help that can make the difference between preserving your own sanity and not.

He was a panicked, often helpless husband who quickly learnt that he had to rely on the goodwill of his children, neighbours and wife’s friends when he was away from home. He was a man who found his home life and imagined future unravelling when at the age of 54, his wife had begun to develop the signs of early onset Alzheimer’s.