Laura eviscerates the Rose stereotypes

You’d be hard pressed to find a household that hasn’t memories of watching The Rose of Tralee on telly. For many of us, watching it as a child, it seemed so exotic, featuring people from all across the world with ties to Ireland - and viewers would have marvelled at the Sydney Rose coming such a long way to take part in little old Ireland. This was a time when even Tralee seemed like a momentous journey away. It really would be a momentous journey for this year’s Cavan Rose,
LAURA GALLIGAN who heads south in mid-August. Speaking on the eve of her appearance at the regional finals in Portlaoise, the 27-year-old told JENNY MCGOVERN that the Galligan clan were also a family gathered around the TV to immerse themselves in the world-famous pageant...

“The Rose of Tralee was always on in the house,” Laura Galligan begins; a sentiment which is shared across the nation. “My grandmother lived with us for 24 years and she watched it every year, as a child I would look at the girls on the telly in awe, but I certainly never thought I’d be a part of it one day.

“I view the Rose of Tralee not as a beauty contest but rather as an opportunity to showcase your personality, I think it’s important to be yourself in these things, I like to think I have a good personality, I love a laugh. I would hope that people who I meet around the country think of me as the one who’ll always crack a joke.”
Now that she is part of it - thanks to her coronation as Cavan Rose in the Hotel Kilmore in late April - she is taking it in her stride. Maybe too much so!
“I’m as cool as a cucumber - that’s my problem,” laughs the Drung lass. “I’m thinking of a million things at once, trying to get things done at work as well as running around trying to get things organised. It’s been a little bit crazy. My mother has been fantastic, a huge help, she’s been sorting out dresses and sponsors, I couldn’t have done it without her. I’m excited and a little nervous but I think nerves are good.”
A month has passed since the prestigious Cavan Rose sash was draped over Laura’s shoulder as the packed audience went wild; she confesses that she is still struggling to come to terms with the achievement.
“I’m still in shock really, I never imagined that I would get this far. I suppose I never thought that I’d be good enough for it. People never believe me when I say it but I’m a bit shy, I needed someone to give me a push, a relative of mine put my name forward and I’m so glad that they did because I never would have done it otherwise. It’s been such a great experience so far.

History
If Laura makes it as one of 23 Roses plucked from the 60 competing in this weekend’s regional final, she will be making a little bit of history, as she will be the first ever senior scientist from the Office of the State Pathologist to grace the stage in Kerry. This is mainly because Laura is the first and only female to hold the post, and just the second person in the history of the State to have the job - her predecessor held the role for 36 years.
Laura’s job sees her managing the laboratory and processing samples from all suspicious deaths nationwide, as well as working with state pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy on a daily basis.
“I absolutely love my job and there are days when I can’t quite believe that I’m working in the Office of the State Pathologist. Since my late teens I’ve had an interest in forensics. When I was starting out in college a lot of people told me that it was a very difficult field to get into but I told myself that I wouldn’t give up.
“I used to watch Dr Marie Cassidy on the news and was fascinated by her. I always wanted to meet her and I got to do this in 2010. I was on work experience and was able to work on a case with her. I’ll never forget that day, we were up in Dundalk Hospital and she invited me to do some more work experience with her, I jumped at the chance and two and a half years later a job became available and I took it,” she recalls.

Girl power
Having achieved so much in her work, does Laura reflect on the gender imbalance in top professions or in the public sphere? For instance, Celt points out the fact that there were more candidates for the Cavan Rose competition than there were female candidates seeking to represent their communities in Cavan’s local authority.
“There’s a lot of women in jobs today that were traditionally viewed as ‘men’s jobs’. Women are in the top jobs in the country: the roles of the Minister for Justice, the Garda Commissioner and the Director of Public Prosecutions are all held by women. I think it’s fantastic, girl power all the way.
“I speak to students, giving presentations on how to get into a career in forensics and my advice to them is to never give up on their dreams - that was the ethos my parents instilled in me. I always wanted to work with Dr Cassidy and fortunately I get to do just that every day.”

Switching off
Winding down at the end of a long day is hard at the best of times but Laura’s job has unique demands. The Celt wonders how Laura manages to switch off, and her answer surprises:
“The topic of conversation of the last few weeks has been nothing but the Cavan Rose, she laughs. “I see my job as a job - I’m there to serve a purpose, I’m there to do something that will potentially help a grieving family. The majority of the time it’s very tragic, very sad circumstances. You can’t help but think of the families involved but then I think - I’m doing something to help this family, to find out what happened to their loved ones and to perhaps bring the perpetrators to justice.
“You don’t let it get to you; you put on a front and get on with your job. Sometimes I do find it very difficult - cases involving children are particularly hard. I have no children myself but I have a little niece and lots of cousins. It’s difficult but you need to debrief with yourself and your colleagues. I’ve a great bunch of friends, too, so if I’ve had a particularly hard day at work I just go home and have a cup of tea and a chat with them.”

Crime scene
“I love the unpredictability of my job, one day I could be in Dublin the next Cork, there’s case reviews and meetings, no two days are the same. I travel with Dr Cassidy, or Dr Curtis, to the crime scene, take samples and sometimes I get to assist and observe the pathologist.
“Twelve months ago I began training as an anatomical pathology technician. I can now eviscerate and dissect a body, which essentially means I can perform a post mortem and assist the pathologist on a one-to-one basis.?
Given the emotive nature of the work involved, it’s not surprising that many people wonder aloud how they couldn’t do Laura’s job, but she turns the point on its head.
“My mother is a counsellor she’s great, both her and a lot of my friends often say that they couldn’t do my job. Well, my mother listens to people crying all day and helps them, I wouldn’t be fit for that. I’ve friends who are teachers and hairdressers, I couldn’t do their job - I think at the end of the day there’s a purpose for everybody. It would be impossible to do this job or any job without a passion and a liking for it and thankfully I enjoy it and that’s the main thing.”

Generosity
Since becoming Cavan’s Rose the thing that’s stood out most for Laura is the generosity of the people of Breffni.
“I’ve been totally and utterly blown away by the generosity of the businesses of Cavan, small businesses are struggling enough as it is and I don’t expect anybody to lend out their generous hand, and so I’m totally overwhelmed, completely humbled and so grateful for their support. We had a fundraising night in The Stray Sod last weekend and we raised over €700 for the Oncology Unit of Cavan General Hospital, it’s just brilliant!”

Laura is representing Cavan at the Regional Finals of the Rose of Tralee in Portlaoise this weekend, tickets to attend the festivities can be bought online at www.roseoftralee.ie.
The Anglo-Celt staff wish Laura the very best of luck!