KOLKATA: An Irish-born nun inspired by Mother Teresa expressed her joy on Monday after being awarded one of India's highest honours for her decades of work with street children in Kolkata.

Sister Mary Cyril, 70, received India's fourth highest civilian honour, the Padmashree (Lotus flower) at the weekend for a programme at the century-old Loreto Day School where she helps nearly 300 children. “I am thankful to God as the honour has been conferred on me,” Cyril said. “This honour also belongs to my staff and the children.” Born in 1936, Sister Cyril joined the Loreto order at 17 and moved to India in 1956 to do a doctorate in zoology at Lucknow University in northern India, and is now one of a handful of Irish nuns still teaching in the country. — AFP