Larne couple recognised by prime minister for 45 years of fostering

Patrick and Diane McCourt have been caring for foster children continually since 1978

A married couple who have fostered more than 250 children over a 45-year period have been recognised for their efforts with an award from the prime minister.

Diane and Patrick McCourt who live in Larne, County Antrim, were named as joint winners of the UK-wide Point of Light award on Wednesday.

The Points of Light awards are given to "outstanding" volunteers who make a difference to their community.

UK prime ministers have named winners every weekday since April 2014.

Diane McCourt said she is not sure who nominated them for the award, but they were very pleased to accept it.

"We're very proud of ourselves and excited too that, after all the work, somebody has actually noticed that we've been doing it for so long," she told BBC News NI.

Mr and Mrs McCourt have spent most of their married life welcoming children from all backgrounds in their home and continue to do so, despite both having reached their early 70s.

They become foster parents back in 1978, when they already had two young children to care for.

Patrick and Diane got engaged to be married when they were teenagers

Their eldest son, Adrian, was five years old and their daughter, Karen, was only three.

"I just like working with babies and I had two of my own at the time," Mrs McCourt recalled.

"I was talking to a girl one day who had a baby and she was saying she was fostering and I thought: 'Oh I might like to do that'.

"So I spoke to my husband and he agreed, so that's originally how it started."

Why did they choose to foster?

"I like babies, but I wasn't so keen on going into the hospital to have any more," Mrs McCourt says, explaining that childbirth had been a difficult experience.

The couple began taking children into their home on short-term foster care placements - some lasting just weeks or months, some lasting many years.

Mr McCourt worked as a clothing factory manager and his wife had a full time job cooking, cleaning and caring for dozens of children.

During this period, the McCourts also expanded their own family by adopting a daughter - Gina - and giving birth to a "late" baby - their youngest son, Lee.

"My son was 20, my daughter was 17, the other wee girl was five and then we had a new arrival of our own," she explains.

Clockwise from left: Patrick, Adrian, Karen, baby Lee, Diane and Gina McCourt as a young family

You might think they already had a full house by that stage, but as well as looking after their own children and many foster children, the couple also welcomed two sisters - Sarah and Martha - into their family.

The sisters were not formally adopted but are very much part of the McCourt clan staying in the family home until their early 20s.

"Sarah's a very good girl, very close to us. She still calls us Mum and Dad and visits nearly every week," Mrs McCourt says.

"Her sister is local and I see her all the time down the town and we have a coffee or a chat."

So what was it like growing up in such a household?

"It was normal for us, there were kids coming and going all the time, " said the couple's eldest son, Adrian McCourt.

Adrian McCourt as a child with his dad Patrick

He recalled children arriving in their home at all hours of the day and night, because social workers often relied on the family to take in emergency placements.

Some of the arrivals had a difficult start in life and it was not always easy for his parents.

Adrian said they became very skilled at caring for troubled children.

Having reached an age when most people are retired or at least considering retirement, the McCourts are still fostering - their latest placement ended just last week.

They have just said an emotional goodbye to a young boy who had been placed with them shortly before his third birthday.

Social workers told them it was a short-term placement for "a couple of weeks" but the toddler ended up staying in their home for two and a half years, cared for by the pensioners throughout the Covid lockdowns.

So, is now the right time for the couple to call it quit and put their feet up?

"I think about it all the time, and then the social worker keeps saying they're short of places," Mrs McCourt says.

The couple with their son Adrian, daughter Karen and their grandson Bradley (far left)

"I keep saying to myself: 'There's no way, I'm too old now for teenagers and they all grow into teenagers'," she adds.

"Teenagers are hard work. I like whenever I know where they are - they're in the house, they're in bed, they're eating and sleeping. Sometimes teenagers can be a wee bit more difficult."

But according to Adrian, the family home is still full of toys and children's clothes of all ages, so no matter who arrives they will still have clothes to fit them and something to keep them entertained.

He said his parents have not always got the credit they deserved for their fostering services so "it's great to see they have been recognised".

The award was announced by the Prime Minister's Office and as a result, the couple will receive "a personal letter of thanks" from Boris Johnson as well a Points of Light certificate.