Sign up to The Irish Times Archive (1859 - 2008)My Account »

Susie Long and Greg Robertson were good people, writes Fintan O'Toole. They believed in decent values, in giving to those who needed it.

Greg did voluntary work for the Chernobyl Children's Project. Susie worked for low pay for a charity that helps women and children in crisis. She and her husband couldn't afford to pay for private health insurance, but even if they could, they didn't believe in it. They "thought jumping queues was wrong". Then Greg was involved in a horrific car crash in Belarus, where he was volunteering to help those affected by the Chernobyl disaster. And Susie went to her GP in Kilkenny complaining that she was passing blood.