The Vet Space Ireland Podcast

In this episode of the Vet Space Ireland podcast, Niamh Casey and Evelyn Coleman are joined by Aoife Ferris, a mixed animal practitioner with certificates in dairy herd health and small animal ultrasonography. Aoife grew up on a suckler farm in West Limerick and graduated from UCD in 2017. Almost a decade later she's still in her first job, at a cross-border practice in West Fermanagh with clinics in Belleek and Derrygonnelly.

She talks about the realities of working across two jurisdictions and why high retention and a sustainable one-in-six rota drew her to the practice. She also shares what postgraduate study in herd health and online ultrasonography added to her work. The conversation covers being a female vet in large animal practice, why technique matters more than strength, the green flags new graduates should look for in a first job, and how she protects her wellbeing through the busy spring season. And then there's the story of her first solo caesarean, which involved no electricity, a bucket of ice and a post that snapped halfway through.

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Níamh Ní Bhroin, founder and chairperson of the Veterinary Sustainability Network Ireland, joins Michelle and Evelyn in the Lemon 7 studio to talk about why sustainability and veterinary medicine are more connected than they first appear. From burnout in a "dream job" to founding VSNI out of sheer necessity, Níamh shares the survey data behind Ireland's veterinary sustainability gap, the easy-win checklists VSNI has built to close it, and why she believes vets are natural leaders in One Health.

https://www.vsnireland.org/team

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Episode guest: Seán Smith, co-founder of Micron, an Irish veterinary diagnostics company

Hosts: Michelle Maguire and Evelyn Coleman, recorded at Lemon 7 studio, Cork

Seán Smith discusses Micron, a company he co-founded while studying product design in Dublin, which grew from a college project into an automated faecal egg count (FEC) diagnostics business now operating across Ireland and the UK. The Micron kit uses an imaging device (the "AnaLab") paired with AI software to identify and count parasite eggs from prepared faecal samples, cutting a process that traditionally requires a trained technician at a microscope down to a three minute scan with results returned in around 15 minutes. Originally developed for ruminants and equines, the system has expanded into companion animal testing.

The conversation covers how the technology compares to traditional McMaster testing, why routine faecal screening lags behind other markets such as the US and Scandinavia, the role of quick testing in improving treatment compliance (particularly in higher risk pets), the practicalities of sample handling and portability for mobile and farm vets, and how Micron's data dashboard is beginning to support disease surveillance and forecasting, such as predicting nematodirus hatching in spring. The episode closes with a preview of a future episode featuring a farmer discussing dung beetles and testing in more depth.

For more information on FEC diagnostics from Micron visit https://micronagritech.com/micron-kit/

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Michelle & Niamh chat with Ex-RVN and Psychotherapist for Veterinary professionals Aoife Smith. Aoife talks about her career journey and shares useful tips for managing your mental health in Vet practice.

Editing: Grace Cotter

Sponsored by Zoetis

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Niamh & Michelle are joined by Peter and James Roberts from Roberts Advisory on this episode. Roberts Advisory are our new Horizons Partners at Vet Space Ireland and we are thrilled they had the time to come and tell us all about their service.

This episode covers:

• What a deal advisory is
• Indepedent v's corporate ownership in Ireland
• What you need to know if you want to sell your clinic
• How Roberts Advisory can help you

To find out more go to https://www.robertsadvisory.ie/ or email [email protected]

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Michelle is joined by Dr. Rosie Ellis and Siobhan Killeen from Premier Skills Institute. Rosie talks about her veterinary journey and tells us about her Ultrasound Plus course starting 13th July 2026. All details for the course can be found here - https://training.premierskillsinstitute.com/course-detail/ultrasound-plus-2026/?id=293&schedule_id=&xhcc=

Use code Ultrasound10 for 10% discount when registering your place.

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Evelyn and Niamh chat with Lisa McAuliffe V.N, BSc (Hons), BVSc, CertVOphthal, MSc VAA, MRCVS, owner at Mill Road Vets and Pet Eye Vet.

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