Sr Stanislaus was born in Lispole, Co Kerry, and entered the Irish Sisters of Charity order in 1958. She has been instrumental in pioneering a range of social service initiatives, including Focus Ireland and the Sanctuary, and is also a renowned author. (www. srstan. ie) Rachel is from Walshestown, Co Louth, and is married to Justin O'Brien, CEO of Circle Voluntary Housing Association.

They have four children, Elisha (18), twins Kevin and Emma (12), and Joshua (9).

Sr Stan and Rachel co-founded the Young Social Innovators in 2001, There are currently 5,000 transition year students involved in projects on a wide range of social issues, 200 of which will be presented at The Young Social Innovators '07 Annual Showcase at the RDS, Ballsbridge, from 1.30-5.30pm on 9 May, and 9.30am-1pm on 10 May. (www. youngsocialinnovators. ie) Sr Stan on Rachel When I first met Rachel, she was a lively young person who had just left college. I had come to Dublin, and was doing research work on the nature and scale of homelessness among women. I needed an assistant, and Lelia Doolan recommended Rachel, as she had taught her on the Communications degree in Rathmines.

Rachel came to see me, and she was funny and full of life and very bubbly. She was brimming with ideas, and wanted to start immediately! She became the administrator of the research project, and stayed on when the project was up. Rachel can multi-task in a way that I can't, and does the work of five people, which has always been a tremendous help to me, particularly when I was struggling along at the beginning. We set up what is now Focus Ireland in 1984, and decided to set up Young Social Innovators in 2001, because we saw the need for bringing young people's ideas into society, and involving them in spreading the message about building communities and caring for others.

Rachel has always had extraordinary integrity, and is gifted in so many ways. I feel I've been very lucky in getting to know her. I spent almost 20 years in Kilkenny, and it wasn't easy coming up to Dublin and starting over from scratch, but she has always been so supportive and loyal and generous to me.

Rachel would question me if I did things that she didn't understand or maybe didn't approve of . . . she wouldn't just let me off the hook. She enjoys life, and can always step back and see the fun in things. We're really good friends, and I actually knew her husband Justin before I met Rachel, and was very pleased when they got together as a couple. It happened half before my eyes, and half behind them!

The fact that Rachel is a woman of the world has undoubtedly affected the formation of our work, because she probably has a greater understanding than I have of the whole area of family and children, and it's a very important dimension.

Rachel has to balance her time between her family and work, which is not easy. She has a tremendous commitment to both, and I don't know how I would have managed in the same position. I think every woman would like to have had children, because it's part and parcel of life, but I decided to follow this path, as I felt it was my calling and it was right for me. I'm very happy, and have always found great contentment and support in my spiritual and prayer life. And I also find it lovely to be so closely associated with Rachel's family.

Rachel on Sr Stan When Lelia contacted me and said that Sister Stan was looking for someone to work with her for a while. I thought I'd go and meet her, as I had about three months to spare.

I had seen Stan on TV prior to that, talking about the book, One Million Poor.

I went to meet her in Stanhope Street, and I was a little intimidated at first, because she had all the garb on her, with the veil and the habit. I had tried to create as much distance between myself and nuns since leaving school, so I really didn't think for a minute that I would end up working so closely with one! The thing about Stan is that the minute you get to know her, you see the open, sparkling face, and you just know straight away that she's different.

And that's why the three months turned into 24 years.

When I met Stan, I really had very little experience of the world, but she always listened to my ideas, as she does with all young people. She has great humanity, and has a fantastic way of communicating with people. Stan is very honest and trustworthy, and doesn't push her views on anybody. She's also great fun, and has a wonderful sense of humour. We have very different lives really outside work, because I'm married with four children, all of whom are mad about Stan. And I met my husband Justin through her, as he was a social work student of hers from Kilkenny, and he came to work in Focus.

I never remember having any great disagreements about how the work should be done, because Stan and I really think alike, and she is very inclusive. She is able to draw on a lot of resources, and I don't just mean financial resources, because she is Sr Stan, and she means so much to a whole lot of people. She works really hard at setting things up though . . . it's not like she thinks that the resources are going to drop into her lap from heaven. She's a really good businesswoman and organiser, and if she was working in property, for example, I'd say she'd be a billionaire by now!

Stan's commitment is outstanding, and she has an innate passion and drive to do things that she just will not let lie. She isn't afraid to speak out on social issues. I worry about her at times, because there's a personal cost involved in working so hard and being so committed. She knows how to balance herself though, and she has the religious dimension to her life, and that gives her strength and support.