Dr Donal McSorley, who has died aged 58, was born to Dr Joe and Eithne McSorley. He attended secondary school at St Mary's College in Rathmines, Dublin before studying medicine in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. He would later serve as president of the association of graduates of the college.
He qualified in 1975 and after a few years training in Dublin hospitals, joined his father in general practice off the South Circular Road. Donal's patients keenly missed him when he eventually retired from general practice.
Donal developed an interest in occupational medicine and joined The Irish Times as their medical officer in the late 1980s. He formally trained in the specialty of occupational medicine in 1991. He remained as occupational physician to The Irish Times for over a decade. In 2000 he retired from general practice and devoted the rest of his working life to the full-time practice of occupational medicine in his new position as the chief medical officer to An Post. He became a member and later a fellow of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland.
He served as an officer on the boards of both the Irish Society of Occupational Medicine and the Faculty of Occupational Medicine for many years and helped turn around the financial position of both organisations. In 2005, Donal was honoured by being made a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland Donal was courteous, principled and never afraid to speak his mind but was measured and always diplomatic. He had a mischievous sense of humour and entertained colleagues despite and throughout his illness with his regular cryptic text messages and jokes. He had several passions in life. First and foremost were his wife and best friend Gráinne and his children, Kevin and Maeve. Donal was very much a traditional family man and his family meant everything to him.
He loved sailing, cars, biking and gadgets - men's toys. He served for many years as an officer of Dublin Bay Sailing Club, including three years as commodore from 1993-1996. In recent years he sailed a Laser competitively, and indeed regularly raced the frostbite series with his son, Kevin. He was a member of and later an examiner for the Institute of Advanced Motoring.
Donal will be deeply missed by his immediate family, his sisters Aileen and Deirdre, and his many friends and colleagues.
Donal McSorley: died June 20th, 2007