Dr Pat Harrold
The problematic nature of ‘the national herd’
The way in which our countryside is farmed is in urgent need of re-evaluation Picture, if you can, a sight I see every day during the spring and summer as I drive about in rural Ireland. A vast field of the greenest grass sweeps into the distance: A hundred or more black and white cows…
Read MoreHigh time for a change
Instead of pretending that the present drug policy works, we should take a cool look at a system that has failed generations “Is there any evidence that he was using drugs or had been drinking?,” the psychiatry SHO on the other end of the line asked me. I looked at the scruffy young man in…
Read MoreWhy the Hippocratic oath is a load of nonsense
I’ll be sticking steadfast to the Medical Council ethical guidance in favour of bygone oaths ‘Do you seriously mean to tell me you haven’t taken the Hippocratic oath?’ Politicians say it is the little thing that trips you up and they should know, especially when it comes to the tricky arena of broadcast journalism. So…
Read MoreWhy this doctor dreamed of an electric car
Buying an electric car was my pledge to a brighter, greener, future So I gave in and bought an electric car. I had given the matter an uncharacteristic amount of thought, and I had needed to buy a car anyway, so why the blazes not. And as I have not spent a night away from…
Read MoreWhen chickens come home to roost
The pandemic has led to thoughts on how we treat our poultry When I saw the local paper open on the kitchen table at a page looking for volunteers to rescue hens, I knew it had already been decided. I had heard Pauline McLynn on the radio and I knew that many thousands of farmed…
Read More‘Them and us’ and the parish-pump politicians
The so-called urban/rural divide is nothing but fodder for populist politicians I am not sure if the term ‘Rural Ireland’ is doing anybody any favours. There are rural matters, of course, and rural medicine and even rustic gates but I think the term ‘Rural Ireland’ has outlived any usefulness it ever had. It is now…
Read MoreA Christmas visitation
A doctor never forgets their ‘long case’ “You had better go before the roads get too bad. It’s a dirty night for Christmas Eve”. “I will so. I have a few last things to get in town. Don’t stay too late.” “Just a bit of paperwork.” “Ah, leave it for once. I’ll see you in…
Read MoreOptimism, pessimism and realism for 2019
Dr Pat Harrold notes down his hopes and fears for the year ahead
Read MoreLife pours its ordinary plenty during Advent
Dr Pat Harrold reflects on the modest and quiet pleasures of an unheralded time of the year
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