Mick McCarthy is from Cork and is the first person in the Republic of Ireland to qualify a dog as an upgraded international mountain rescue search dog. He is the founder of the Cork Area Search and Rescue Dog Association and is a founding member of both the Search and Rescue Dog Association Ireland and the British Overseas Disaster Unit. Patricia Ahern changed to a career in journalism, which she began with the Cork Independent. She is the author of Picture Poetry Mallow and has an MA in Womens Studies, a H Dip in Journalism and Media Communications and a BA in English and Sociology.