Working Life: I encourage Roma people to take up screening

Deborah Whelan is a community Roma health worker

Deborah Whelan: I work with the Roma community, and they are a lovely group. It has opened my eyes to another culture

“My degree is in healthcare, with a slant towards health and wellbeing. When the job I’m in now came up about a year-and-a-half ago, I was attracted to it because of the opportunity to work in the community. I work with the Roma community, and they are a lovely group. It has opened my eyes to another culture.

“There are 500–600 Roma in Waterford City, out of a national population of 16,059. The largest populations are in Dublin and Cork cities. There’s a common misconception that Roma come from Romania, but they originated in the Indian subcontinent. They’ve moved across Europe for centuries with many settling in Romania, but there are also Czech, Slovak, and Hungarian Roma, and Irish Roma now, born to women living here.