Farm manager's steps to recovery following accident

Aengus Mannion could hear the cars on the N2 rush by just a few metres from where he remained impaled by a tree, surrounded by the cattle he had been trying to prevent from escaping. It took almost two hours for his neighbour to hear the screams before raising the alarm. The former farm manager feels lucky to be alive, but still struggles through the mental agony of such a traumatic accident.

Three years and 29 operations later, on Ear to the Ground this week, Darragh McCullough meets Aengus at his family home in Sligo where he relives that day and shares the aftermath of his experience.

Is there a future for rural GPs?

Rural areas have lost Garda Stations, Post Offices and Banks, and now concerned groups around the country are holding meetings as the latest threat is to the rural GP. In the absence of primary care in their own community, patients are being forced to attend already over-crowded A&E departments further afield. Ear to the Ground travels to Co. Mayo where as many as 15 villages are in danger of losing their GP in the coming years. Dr. Ken Egan who has served Ballindine since 1974 tells Helen Carroll about his fears for the future.

Farming and Wildlife

The Climate Change Conference in Paris has made us all more aware of the importance of protecting the environment, but for part-time livestock farmer, Padraig Corcoran it is a passion as well as a way of life. Padraig loves farming and the environment, and he believes in connecting the two together for a more positive and productive outcome, claiming, “You have to get a balance between making your enterprise work and making sure you are not destroying nature.” Ella McSweeney is in Lecarrow, Co Roscommon to further explore Padraig’s methods of marrying farming and wildlife.

 

Ear To The Ground (Series 23, Programme 12)

Tuesday 26th January 2016

RTÉ One, 8.30pm