MADAM,

I have just read in the The Irish Field that Flor Madden’s term as chair of Equestrian Committee at the RDS has come to an end.

I had the pleasure of meeting Mr Madden at the 2023 show in the RDS when my wife and I, together with my adult son who has an acquired brain injury, met with him by chance.

We were watching a side saddle class on the Thursday when our son became very upset. Mr Madden sat beside us, removed his bowler and started chatting to our son.

Normally when our son gets upset, we are either ignored entirely or people just speak to my wife or myself. It is very unusual for anybody to speak to our son as a person.

The kindness didn’t stop there, Mr Madden bought each of us an ice cream and then got us tickets (which he paid for himself at the kiosk) for the Anglesea Stand. Kindness like we have never experienced.

This year we visited the show again and deja vu! We met Mr Madden and he remembered our son’s name and introduced us to some of the international show jumpers. If there was an award for kindness, he would get our votes.

Well done RDS, well done Dublin Horse Show, well done Chair...what a man.

Yours etc,

Jimmy Doyle

Wexford