'Nursing is a calling': Meet the nurses who moved to Ireland to work

To mark International Nurses Day on May 12, Jonathan deBurca Butler talks to four members of that noble profession who, like the bulk of Irish nurses, have come from abroad to work and live here

Maridez Abalos (left), who was born and raised in The Philippines, and Salimma John, from Kerala, India, who are based at the Coombe Hospital in Dublin. Picture: Gareth Chaney

WHEN she arrived in Cork 20 years ago, Susan Jacob immediately felt at home.

“I’m from Kerala in India,” says the 43-year-old nurse. “The landscape is very similar to Cork. Mountains, valleys, rivers, and lots of greenery. We also speak very musically in my part of Kerala and quite fast, and I feel Cork people speak very fast. I love the language and slang that Cork people have.”