Meet Marie Cassidy - Ireland's first female state pathologist

SOME people might think that examining dead bodies for a living would be the worst of jobs, but for Ireland’s first female state pathologist, Professor Marie Cassidy, it’s only a “small part” of how she spends her time.

For instance, her childhood dream was to be a ballet star, so she’s now taking lessons for an hour every week.

Addressing students at the University of Limerick recently, to launch FESTA, a European research project aimed at exploring women in the workplace, the Glasgow-born mother of two recounted a tale of how one of her female colleague’s male boss told her that forensic pathology was all “sex, drugs and violence”.