RTÉ One documentary ‘Emerald Nightingales’ reveals that by the 1970s, 30pc of NHS nurses were Irish
The late Mary Hazard (centre), pictured with nursing colleagues in London, was one of many women who went to work for the NHS. Photo: RTÉ
Oral history is the most valuable history of all because it comes straight from the horse’s mouth. Or in the case of the documentary Emerald Nightingales: Irish Nurses in the NHS (RTÉ One, Wednesday, August 27 at 10.35pm), straight from the nurse’s mouth.
This fascinating hour-long film, narrated by Helen Behan – who was a nurse before she became an actress and temporarily returned to her former profession during the Covid-19 crisis – is part of a wider oral history project by Buckinghamshire New University.