'I visited a number of Sisters of Mercy convents when I was in Ireland a couple of years ago. The scary nuns are all good, and all you see in Irish convents now are nice old ladies who are obsessed with making tea - and it's darn good tea, too.'

How much is it perception and what we want to see Joe? My son, many of his friends, with classic teenage hyperbole, as well as others who visited the local secondary, Mercy convent, school maintain the nuns are evil creatures.

And whatever old ladies they may appear now, if the story of Christine Buckley's childhood is anything to go by, they used to carry a big stick. And they probably managed a nice cup of tea as well.