Knowing Noreen

The New York Times ^ | January 7, 2007 | By LISA BELKIN

[aculeus]

The public seating in Room 25 of the Circuit Criminal Court complex in Dublin is not designed for comfort. The half-dozen rows of benches are wooden and narrow, with barely enough room for your knees. I spent the better part of October trying not to fidget in those pews, sitting, as I was, just a few paces away from the defendant, who was under strict orders from her lawyer not to fidget at all.

The case against Noreen Mulholland, that she had given injections to two men with such force that it was tantamount to assault, was in heard in the Circuit Criminal Court in Dublin.

In this court the defendant sat apart and alone, on a separate bench, directly opposite the jury, while the lawyers for both sides shared a large wooden table. For nearly a month this defendant followed her orders well; while I squirmed, she stared purposefully ahead, rarely looking directly at anyone, though once in a while I accidentally caught her eye.

Her name was Noreen Mulholland. She was a nurse. She was in this courtroom charged with assaulting two patients in her care. In the Irish tabloid headlines she was “the Naas Nurse,” after the town where the supposed crimes were to have occurred.

She had also been my children’s baby sitter.

I met Noreen in 1994 when she answered an ad I placed in our suburban New York newspaper seeking help on Saturday nights. My son Alex was a newborn then, and Evan had just turned 3.

[aculeus]

A very long article.

[Admin Moderator]

Do you have a link?

[aculeus]

Oops, sorry.


http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/07/magazine/07Nanny.t.html?pagewanted=all

[Admin Moderator]

Thanks.

[Krankor]

The girl shoulda just kept her inner secrtets to herself instead of opening up to the reporter.

[martin_fierro]

Noreen

References in this story to "Noreen": 74

References in this story to "I": 231

Who was this story about again?

[dominic flandry]

A stupid lib who hired an employee even though her references did not check out. Her "feelings" about the potential employee overrode her knowledge of the facts. She was lucky that wasn't her children who were assaulted.

[rockrr]

"A very long article."

And one written so poorly that it isn't worth bothering with. If the author had a point, she should have simply expressed it...

[Irish_Thatcherite]

With forced euthanasia around... they're just hiring thugs in increasing numbers!

Ireland Ping!