“I’ve worked as a nurse in the A&E Department for 18 years. I love the town of Tullamore and the county of Offaly, and I love working with the people in Tullamore Hospital. Unfortunately, we don’t have enough nurses to look after the people of Offaly and beyond, so we are out in dispute. The only way you’ll get more staff is to pay them better. We have tried everything, but nothing else works. Who will come back to Ireland from Australia with less money and worse conditions?

I was in the army in the UK as a paramedic when I met my wife, who had come over from Ireland on holiday. After we got engaged, we decided to do something together and started nursing training in the same set at Harlow in Essex. We lived there for ten years until our daughter Ellie arrived. In 1999 we moved to Ireland. I spent the first two years in Dublin and have been working in Tullamore ever since.
Tullamore Hospital has changed so much in 18 years. Back in 2001, we had a tiny A&E department. Now we have a massive hospital with lots of beds. People are getting older and sicker. We moved here from England to escape the pace, but it seems to have caught up on us. Ireland is quieter than England, and Offaly is quieter than Dublin, but the pace always seems to follow me around. It never stays quiet forever; it still gets busier.

When you’re doing this job as long as I have, it gets to a point where there are no surprises anymore. I’ve seen so much over the years. Nothing happens in Dublin that doesn’t happen here. We have the same level of drugs, the same level of violence, and the same level of trauma. We may not get the same quantity, but we see everything.

But I love my job. For me, it’s all about the people I work with. I love the nurses, doctors and radiographers that work here. I could never do a job where I was on my own. I love that we are one team striving towards the same goal – doing our best to look after that sick person. I get to work with the brightest, cleverest, finest people who are all doing it for the right reasons. It is a privilege to do the job I do. I know it sounds a bit twee, but it’s true. It keeps me young, and I wouldn’t do anything else”.

Mick set up the Slieve Bloom Cricket Club in Kilcormac 8 years ago. They are Leinster Division 10 Champions 2016 and have been Inter cup and Junior Cup champions over the years also.