Sinn Féin TD Louise O’Reilly: ‘Bruce picks up on things; when my mam died last year he parked himself on top of me whenever I sat down’

My granny used to say that a house wasn’t a home without a cat. When her cat Pharaoh died – at 19 and a half! – all of us grandchildren went down to say our goodbyes to him. He was such a part of the family for so long.