Patricia Casey facts for kids

Patricia Rosarie Casey is an Irish psychiatrist, professor, and writer. A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who helps people with their mental health. She is a Professor of Psychiatry at University College Dublin and a consultant psychiatrist at the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital in Dublin.

She is also known for writing a regular column in the Irish Independent newspaper. In her writing, she often shares her conservative views on social topics.

Early Life and Education

Patricia Casey grew up in Ballynoe, County Cork. Her father was a council worker and farmer, and her mother was a public health nurse. She has one younger sister.

Casey did very well in school and decided to study medicine. She went to University College Cork and graduated in 1976. She is married to John McGuiggan, who is a barrister (a type of lawyer). Casey has said that she and her husband have different political views. She is a practising Roman Catholic.

Medical Career

After finishing medical school, Casey went to Britain for special training in psychiatry. From 1977 to 1985, she worked at hospitals in Nottingham and Edinburgh.

In 1985, she returned to Ireland and worked as a senior lecturer and consultant psychiatrist at Cork University Hospital. Since 1991, she has been a Professor of Psychiatry at University College Dublin and works at the Mater Hospital.

..... She has written or co-written several books and edits a magazine for the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Professional Groups

Casey is a member of several important medical organizations:

• Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists
• Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland
• Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine
• Fellow of the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland
• Member of the Medico-Legal Society of Ireland

Views on Social Topics

Casey is a co-founder of the Iona Institute, which is a think tank. A think tank is a group that researches and promotes ideas on certain topics, and the Iona Institute promotes a Catholic point of view.

She is known for her conservative views on many social issues. For example:

• In 1995, she advised the Irish government not to hold a vote on making divorce legal.
• She supports adoption by heterosexual (a man and a woman) couples but is against adoption by gay parents.

Casey has spoken about these topics to the Irish Government and the British House of Commons. She also writes about her views in newspapers and appears on TV and radio.

Interview on Newstalk Radio

In a 2009 radio interview, Casey criticised how the Catholic Church in Ireland handled serious problems. She said that some bishops mentioned in a special report, called the Murphy Report, should resign.

Later, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland said the interview was not fair to Casey. They stated the interviewer's questions were "inappropriate" and "unjustified." The radio station, Newstalk, later broadcast an apology.

Disagreement with Archbishop Martin

In 2012, Casey had a public disagreement with Diarmuid Martin, the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin. She accused him of discouraging young priests by calling them "traditional" and "fragile." She also said he focused too much on problems in the Church without offering solutions.

A spokesperson for the Archbishop replied, saying Casey had "misrepresented" his comments. The spokesperson said she had ignored his positive comments and that his words about young priests meant the opposite of what she claimed.

Disputes Over Research

On several occasions, other experts have said that Casey used their research in ways they did not agree with.

Uppsala University Study

Casey referred to a study from Uppsala University in Sweden to support her view against same-sex marriage. She claimed the study showed that children do best when raised by their married biological parents.

However, the scientists who wrote the study disagreed with her. They said their research did not compare families with same-sex parents to other families. Therefore, they said their work could not be used to say that same-sex parents cannot raise healthy children.

UNICEF Report

Casey also claimed that a report from UNICEF (the United Nations Children's Fund) supported her views on same-sex parenting.

The head of UNICEF Ireland at the time, Melanie Verwoerd, said this was incorrect. She stated that UNICEF does not judge the well-being of children with same-sex parents and that Casey's claim was "unacceptable."

Views on Counselling

In 1999, a newspaper quoted Casey saying that counselling is a "waste of time" for treating depression. She was talking about a study that she said showed counselling had no benefits.

However, Ivor Browne, who was the Professor of Psychiatry at University College Dublin before Casey, disagreed. He wrote that the study Casey mentioned was not really about counselling. He said the study was comparing two different medicines. Browne also said there is a lot of research showing that counselling is effective and was surprised Casey did not seem to know about it.

See also

• Anthony Clare
• Breda O'Brien
• David Quinn (columnist)