The shape I'm in: Deirdre Whelan, interior designer

Listening to interior designer Deirdre Whelan’s soft Dublin lilt, it’s difficult to believe she spent the first 15 years of her life in Holland.

Her Irish father first met her Dutch mum when she was an au pair in Ireland. After they married, he spent 18 years in Holland until he was offered a post in Trinity College Dublin as head of the microelectronics department.

It didn’t take long before she was speaking like a native.