With the rise in the incidents of violent crimes, murders and killings in this country in recent years has come a rather morbid fascination with all things murderous. This has never been more apparent than the huge public interest in the murder of Rachel O'Reilly and the killing of Robert Houlihan.

We seem to be never more interested or 'shocked' than when somebody dies violently or in suspicious circumstances.

However, while we worry about children not being able to differentiate between real life and fiction with the proliferation of violent 'video' games, you have to wonder if we are suffering from a dose of 'unreality' ourselves.

RTÉ has often been accused of not producing relevant programmes. Seemingly to answer its critics it recently provided us with a harrowing docu-drama on the gatekeeper of most of the State's murderous secrets: the state pathologist. If newspaper coverage provides us with the DVD of murders, the state pathologist is ably in a position to provide us with the behind the scenes extras.

But what does this thirst for blood say about us and what does it say about our state pathologist that she would take part in such a series?

I'm a huge fan of Dr Marie Cassidy. I think she does an incredible job under exceptional circumstances. I was delighted to hear her speak at a women's lunch in Galway last year. At the time I was quite amused at the reaction of some of the members of the audience who seemed appalled at her frankness on the violent scenes she is often presented with.

But half way through Death Duties, I wondered if they were right to a degree. While we are all glad that most taboos are by and large a thing of the past, maybe there are some areas, if only for the sake of sparing the family and friends, that don't warrant further probing, especially when they are so fresh in our minds.

Unfortunately, from my perspective, Death Duties, merely served to hold a mirror up to a society seemingly obsessed with murder, while reminding us that woman still feel the need to justify their career choices.

Legend has it that when asked what one trait a good pathologist should have, one said: 'A good slab side manner'. The doctor/patient relationship is characterised by confidentiality and from my perspective, Dr Cassidy would have better served her profession by keeping stum.

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