Health

Death of Irish doctor and chief medical officer who highlighted fracking dangers in Canada

Eilish Cleary (60) was sacked as chief medical officer of New Brunswick, allegedly over her concerns about shale gas exploration

Dr. Eilish Cleary, who was New Brunswick's chief medical officer of health for eight years, died on Friday
Dr. Eilish Cleary, who was New Brunswick's chief medical officer of health for eight years, died on Friday
Paul Cullen
Sun Mar 24 2024 - 16:25

The death has occurred of Eilish Cleary, an Irish doctor who served as chief medical officer of the Canadian province of New Brunswick.

Ms Cleary was dismissed from her post in 2015 without explanation after highlighting the environmental dangers of fracking and while she was investigating potentially carcinogenic glysophates.

Aged 60, Ms Cleary died on Friday of ovarian cancer in the hospice in Fredericton, New Brunswick.

From Malahide in north Dublin, she became the youngest doctor in Ireland when she qualified at age 22 from Trinity College Dublin in the 1980s. Moving to Canada, she worked in a hospital in a Cree First Nations community in Manitoba before settling in New Brunswick.

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There, she served as chief medical officer for eight years. In 2012, she issued a report raising concerns about the health impacts of fracking. Local government initially refused to publish her report but relented after an outcry.

Ireland needed to guard against the “boomtown effect” of a go-ahead for large-scale fracking, including the risk of increased crime, drug and alcohol abuse, sexually transmitted diseases and domestic violence, she told The Irish Times in an interview at the time.

She was conducting research into the use of glyphosate – a herbicide widely used on state lands in the province – when she was put on leave.

Opposition politicians claimed she was fired by the Liberal provincial government in New Brunswick to clear the way for the lifting of a moratorium on shale gas exploration.

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Native American groups were opposed to shale gas exploration in their territory over fears it would lead to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and poison their water.

In 2014, she spent 10 weeks in West Africa, with a team from the World Health Organisation, fighting the spread of the Ebola virus.

“Eilish believed deeply in access to healthcare for all and worked throughout her entire life to ensure that this was available,” her obituary states.

Ms Cleary is survived by her partner Paul, four children and their father Gerry. Her cremation takes place in Canada on Monday, after which her ashes will be returned to Ireland.

Paul Cullen

Paul Cullen

Paul Cullen is a former heath editor of The Irish Times.