Sir, – Please allow me to share something about the kind of man Fergus Slattery was away from the limelight of the world’s rugby fields.
For a few years back in the 1980s he was my landlord. He and his beloved wife Margot lived in the basement apartment of a splendid terraced house in Dún Laoghaire and I lived in a bedsit at the top of the house. It was without doubt the unhappiest and loneliest time in my life.
One day, when I mentioned to Fergus that I loved playing the piano he asked me if I’d like to use the piano in their apartment. He and Margot gave me access to their private space during the day when they were out (I wasn’t working at the time).
I have never forgotten their kindness and the trust they placed in me. That access to their piano helped me through this difficult period.
RM Block
To Fergus, I send my thanks. May he rest in peace. And to Margot I also send my thanks and my deepest sympathy. – Yours, etc,
STEPHEN DOWNEY,
Tinahely,
Co Wicklow.
