By Dan Walsh
Sadie Harpur, the Wexford-based author of the highly-praised book The Hidden World of a Foster-Girl, has been elected to the board of the Irish Foster Care Association.
Sadie herself has expressed her pleasure at receiving such an honour as it gives her the opportunity to use her experience as both a foster-child and a foster-parent for the benefit of others.
Harpur’s book, written with Jackie Hayden, the Hot Press music writer, traced her life as a Foster-Girl through turbulent periods of high anxiety. Suffering from learning difficulties from undiagnosed dyslexia, she was described as mentally below average, and suffered bouts of depression, suicidal thoughts and was repeatedly bullied. She endured self-harming, violent outbursts, zero self-esteem, and the suicide of her much-loved foster-brother Gary.
The publication of The Hidden World of a Foster-Girl generated coverage in the local and national media. Harpur featured on a Fostering panel as part of the Write By The Sea book festival and was a guest of honour at the Irish premier of Sound of Hope, a film dealing with the issue of Fostering in the USA. She was also invited by the Lord Mayor of Dublin as his guest speaker to a group of care-workers at the Mansion House and recorded several podcasts, including one for the Irish Foster Care Association.
The Irish Foster Care Association is the national organisation that supports foster families and the wider fostering community. Established in 1981, the organisation’s primary objective as an organisation is to promote excellence in foster care by promoting partnership between everyone involved in foster care to work for, and in the best interests of the child in care and advocating for excellence for all involved in foster care.
Sadie Harpur lives with her family in Gorey where she now works locally as an SNA. Her book was written with the assistance of best-selling author Jackie Hayden, also a resident of Co Wexford.
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