Because I was still a child, I was placed in a hostel for young mothers when I was about five months pregnant. For decades their family is a cycle of destruction, her father going to prison repeatedly and her mother funding her habit and chips with prostitution. Corrections in Ink by Keri Blackinger is another triumphant story of a woman’s will to live and to flourish. In her book Poor, Katriona speaks about her hardship growing up as a child of parents who were drug addicts, and how ofttimes it was school and kind teachers that first taught her that she deserved more than what she had, and instilled a love of learning and education within her. I knew that wasn’t true, but somewhere, deep down, there was a part of me that blamed myself for failing.

From homeless and expecting at 15 to a lecturer at Trinity

I always remember how honest she was with us all about her experience of the Trinity Access Program etc. What was funny, but also difficult, says O’Sullivan now, “was that I was struggling at that time with: ‘Who am I? Despite her professional success, and happiness in her marriage and as a loving mother, Katriona lives with the indelible legacy of her early years. One of the conclusions is that the early years are essential in the development of all children - from birth to pre-school and horrible things happened to these children which could have been prevented even if she acknowledged her parents were somewhat a lost cause when they were needed except for a brief time with John when she wasn’t even present. I spent the whole year fighting with our maths teacher but if I wanted to choose psychology for my degree I had to do higher level maths in TAP and this scuppered me.While this memoir is hugely inspirational, it makes me want to weep that other Katrionas are entrenched in a non equitable system that makes fulfilling ones potential nigh on impossible. I was sitting with middle-class kids who had got around 580 points in their Leaving Cert and I felt like a failure.

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

There’s loss that goes with not fitting any more with your family and friends, and not being able to go back and be at ease in whatever shit you were living in. The next couple of years were difficult, dealing not only with the trauma of her own childhood, but also with a baby. My only critique is that the way the epilogue attempted to tie the author’s story to broader social narratives felt a little slapped on, as though the editor said “make sure this connects to ALL poor people.In viewing their painful lives as a whole – both had traumatic beginnings, and both are now dead – she found compassion for them. O’Sullivan’s story demonstrates why we must never give up on anyone, and why young people and vulnerable adults must be offered a way back daily. The title of the book "Poor" is intended to cut through all the common euphemisms - underprivileged, disadvantaged, working-class etc - and the sub-header on the book - "grit, courage, and the life-changing value of self-belief" - captures the essence of Katriona. But choice is a myth that’s perpetuated by the middle classes – only a few people really can choose. When she told me she was in Trinity I thought, if she’s going there, I’m going there”, the author says.

Books UK Poor - Penguin Books UK

That the likes of the Trinity Access Programme is only aimed at the super-brainy of the poorer classes, like that author herself. There were school leavers too – young people from deprived or DEIS schools who were challenged by the education system but showed potential. Once such teacher Mrs Atkinson had a fresh towel, facecloth and clean underwear ready for her every morning before school to wash and change.

Everyone should read this book… it explains the deep life-long effects poverty and social injustice have on a person, in a way that only someone who has been subjected to it can. The young mother struggled with substance abuse, repeating the debilitating patterns of her own childhood. Bissett’s book is a mix of theory and storytelling, taking us deep into the lives within a public housing estate in Dublin.

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

Katriona details some horrific incidents she witnessed as a very young child like being raped by one of her dad’s friends. She then passed on her vision that anything is possible on to her son, John O'Sullivan (23), who was up until recently a winger for English second-division side Blackburn Rovers. And yet, in the midst of the chaos and devastation lives a spirited, kind, brave and incredibly intelligent little girl.

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. I asked where did she get into Trinity and that minute I marched straight over to the access programme and said 'what do I have to do to get in here? Her parents – although her father was sober, her mother was still drinking heavily – relied on her, and she was a lone parent to her son. As the middle of five kids growing up in dire poverty, the odds were low on Katriona O’Sullivan making anything of her life.