A New Life: Vasile Ros tells Ali Bracken he doesn't miss his old job as a nurse and is pleased that a choice he was forced to make has turned out so well
For Vasile Ros, communication and understanding go hand in hand and without it his life in Ireland would be a different story.
Before arriving here as an asylum-seeker in 1999, Ros undertook to perfect his English and it's been one of the best decisions he's ever made. A Romanian national, his livelihood now consists of interpreting Romanian and German and working as a legal assistant in a Dublin solicitors firm. In addition, Ros is chairman of the Romanian Community of Ireland.
A lover of languages, Irish is next on the list of those he's eager to master, hopefully with help from his seven-year-old son.
"Communication is so important. I think not having a grasp of English is the biggest barrier when Romanians come to live here," he says.
Although now fully integrated and happy to be here, Ros says adjusting to life in Ireland was a bumpy transition. He arrived with his heavily pregnant wife, Augustana, and as an asylum-seeker he was not permitted to work which left money tight. But things improved when their son David Kevin was born and the couple were granted leave to remain on the basis of being parents of an Irish-born child. A qualified nurse in Romania, Ros had hoped to continue in this field but soon realised his qualification was not recognised by the Irish Nursing Board.
"So I decided on a complete change of career. I set up as a freelance interpreter in 2001 and jobs brought me to work with the gardaí, into hospitals and into the courts. That's where I met my current employer, Ceemex and Co solicitors, and I still go to court to translate for them occasionally as well as running my own private interpreting business."
Ros and his wife left Romania seeking asylum because of political unrest as well as a lifelong desire to live in an English-speaking country.
Ireland is regarded as a land of opportunity for many Romanians, says Ros, and he imagines this popularity will increase as Romania looks poised to join the EU. "Ireland is one of the few countries giving a chance to Romanians to settle and begin a new life. Up to 25,000 Romanians are here at the moment.
"Within the next year, Romania is expected to join the EU which means all Romanians will have the automatic right to work in Europe so I imagine more will choose to come here."
Romania and Bulgaria have signed treaties to join the European Union in 2007, provided they complete economic, political and other reforms.
Ros became active within the Romanian community through his involvement with the Carrig Eden Christian church and bible school in Greystones, Co Wicklow. He was appointed chairman of the Romanian Community of Ireland last year and finds the voluntary position challenging and diverse.
"Our main aim is to provide support, information and training to Romanians in Ireland. We help people to get jobs, accommodation, education and run computer classes as well as many other services.
"Most things are free and we are kept extremely busy."
Ros believes that improved access to English classes for all immigrants arriving in Ireland is hugely important and needs investment as people with little grasp of the language can easily fall into the poverty trap and become homeless. Exploitation too, is a big problem.
"The construction industry is particularly bad at exploiting non-nationals because many of them don't have status to be here in the first place." But all in all, Ros says that Ireland has established a good immigration policy and is regarded by many as a haven.
As well as a son, Ros and his wife have had a daughter, two-year-old Ruth Elizabeth, since arriving in Ireland. Their son David Kevin is in first class at a local school near the family home in Blanchardstown.
"His English is better than his Romanian and I think his accent is more Irish than some of his Irish friends. He likes learning Irish too. Because I live here I'd love to learn Irish as well and I'm hoping he can start to teach me soon."
Since both his children have been born and raised here, Ros says he will always regard both Ireland and Romania as home. "It's hard to say whether we'll go back. We have to put the children first now and they will have the opportunity to choose when they grow up. We go to Romania every year because my wife and I both have family there and it's important for the children. But I think I'd like to settle here."
The current prosperity means if you work hard you can get on, Ros says, and his family have adjusted well and now feel an affinity with Ireland."Irish people have been friendly and treated us very well. We are grateful and always try to show our respect."
When Ros discovered he couldn't practise nursing in Ireland, he was initially disappointed. But because Ireland offers many opportunities, he says he's pleased to have got involved with things he may otherwise never have done. "I don't really miss nursing anymore. By working for the Romanian community I'm still caring for people now, just in a different way."