Irish Echo May 2019

LYRA MCKEE RIP

DOLORES O’RIORDAN

PAGES 8-9

NOEL HOGAN INTERVIEW :: PAGE 7

NI Journalist’s Violent Death Inspires Fresh Push For Talks

New Cranberries Album Honours Much-Loved Lead Singer

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May, 2019 | Volume 32 – Number 5

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Australian dream in tatters

Irish family forced to leave because of child’s illness. PAGE 6 PELOSI VISIT TO IRELAND BOOSTS VISA HOPES DESPITE AUSTRALIAN OBJECTIONS

E3 VISA A STEP CLOSER Australia’s Ambassador of the United States, Joe Hockey, has reportedly lobbied strongly against the move, despite the fact that Australians take up only about half of the countr y’s annual allocation of 10,500 E3 visas.

The Irish Echo understands that the Australian government is determined to preserve exclusive access to the E3 visa scheme, which was originally negotiated in 2005 and was seen as a thank you for Australia’s support of the US-led war in Iraq.

Democratic congressman Richie Neal plans to resubmit his Bill, co-sponsored by Wisconsin Republican congressman Jim Sensenbrenner.

“My Bill is going to be refiled. It has already passed the House of Representatives unanimously. It makes good sense,” Mr Neal, who was part of Ms Pelosi’s delegation, told the Irish Times in Dublin. “My understanding is that not only does the House favour it, [US President Donald] Tr ump favours it and the Senate overwhelm-

ingly favours it; there are but one or two recalcitrants in the Senate who object.”

It will be the second attempt to extend the visa scheme to Irish applicants after the House approved the Bill but it fell short of votes in the Senate after intense lobbying by the Australian Ambassador. The Irish Government lobbied to be included in the visa scheme, arguing that Irish citizens should be able to apply for any visas not taken by Australian citizens.

Nancy Pelosi in Dublin.

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EFFORTS to have the covetted US E3 visa scheme extended to Irish nationals have been boosted after a visit to Ireland by US Democrat Nancy Pelosi.

The work visa, currently only available to Australians, will become available to Irish nationals if a Bill before the US Senate is passed.

Ms Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives, told Irish politicians she would renew efforts to pass the Bill and raise the issue with the Republican leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell.

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Anniversary Souvenir Edition

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Kennelly tastes sporting immortality in his adopted Kingdom

by Billy Cantwell at the MCG

How Sweet It Is: Sydney Swans star Tadhg Kennelly celebrates on the dais after becoming the first Irishman to secure an AFL Premiership medal last weekend at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Pic: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

IRA abandons all arms

by Ian Graham

Decommissioning body chairman, General John de Chastelain.

THE IRA has put all of its weapons beyond use, according to the head of the international decommissioning commission.

In an historic announcement, General John de Chastelain said “very large quantities of arms, which we believe include all the arms in the IRA’s possession”, have been decommissioned.

Speaking at a news conference outside Belfast, the general said he and his fellow members on the commission had been provided with estimates in 2004 by the British

and Irish security forces on what the IRA arsenal was believed to be.

An inventory of weapons decommissioned was “consistent with these estimates”, he said.

“We are satisfied the arms decommissioned represent the totality of the IRA’s arsenal,” he went on.

He said it included ammunition, rifles, machine guns, mortars, missiles, handguns, explosive substances and other arms, including all the categories described in the estimates by the security forces.

He continued: “The Com-

mission has determined the IRA has met its commitment to put all its arms beyond use in a manner called for by legislation.”

He said it remained for the Commission to address the issue of Loyalist arms and he asked everyone with influence to use it to that end.

The Rev Harold Good, a former president of the Methodist Church in Ireland and one of two churchmen who witnessed the process said he was utterly certain about the accuracy of General de Chastelain’s report.

He said: “We have spent many long days watching the

meticulous and painstaking way in which General de Chastelain went about his task of decommissioning huge amounts of explosives, arms and ammunition.”

He said witnessing the process on a minute-byminute basis gave them clear and incontrovertible evidence “that beyond any shadow of doubt the arms of the IRA have now been decommissioned”.

The general described IRA decommissioning as “an important milestone towards the completion of its task to achieve decommissioning by all paramilitary groups”.

Quarter Page Colour

THE name of Tadhg Kennelly can now be added to the list of Irish sporting heroes who have tasted unprecedented success in Australia.

After becoming the first Irishman ever to win an AFL Premiership medal last weekend with the Sydney Swans, the young Kerryman ranks alongside Brownlow Medal winner Jim Stynes and dual Melbourne Cup winning trainer Dermot Weld. All three have written themselves into Australian sporting history and provided Irish expats with moments of extraordinary pride and joy.

The running half-back played an enormous role in the Swan’s heartstopping four-point victory over the West Coast Eagles. In the final seconds, he rushed behind and relieved the pressure as the Eagles tried to sneak a last minute goal. He accumulated 17 possessions and scored a rare goal in the Swans’ historic win, the first for the club in 72 years.

After receiving his Premiership medal, Kennelly broke into a spontaneous Irish jig before thumping the air in unbridled delight.

The numerous tricolours spotted around the Melbourne Cricket Ground waved enthusiastically and Irish pubs from Kerry to Kings Cross erupted in hugs and cheers.

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irish australia DARKNESS INTO LIGHT EVENTS TO TAKE PLACE IN SEVEN AUSTRALIAN CENTRES ON MAY 11

Walks shine light on scourge of suicide

UP to 3000 people are expected to walk together into the dawn for the annual Darkness Into Light event in aid of suicide prevention and mental health awareness in Bondi on Saturday, May 11, 2019.

Walkers will gather at Bondi Life Saving Club at 4.30am, setting off towards Tamarama where they will head towards the cliffs as the sun begins to rise, before making their way back to the end point at Bondi Pavilion for coffee, a sausage sizzle, chat and entertainment.

The annual 5km walk was started in Ireland in 2009 by the suicide prevention charity Pieta House. It has gone global, with about 200,000 participants expected to walk together from Darkness Into Light in 180 cities in 11 countries on May 11.

Proceeds from the Australian events, which will also take place in Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide, Gold Coast and Darwin, will go to Pieta House as well as Australian organisation Batyr, that focuses on education in the area of youth mental health.

Batyr is involved with Darkness Into Light for a fourth consecutive year and the money it has received so far has enabled it to run 24 batyr@school programmes in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

With national support by Darkness Into Light, Batyr can continue to offer a range of programs for young people across Australia that “give a voice to the elephant in the room”, the organisation says.

To find out more, visit www.darknessintolight.ie

Darkness Into Light walkers at Bondi Beach after last year’s event. More than 3000 people are expected to take part this year.

AUSTRALIA TO DEPORT IRISH-BORN EX-BIKIE WHO HAS NOT LIVED IN IRELAND SINCE HE WAS SIX

Deportation policy under scrutiny Billy Cantwell

AN Irish-born former bikie, who has lived here since he was six years old, faces deportation under a controversial Australian government policy.

Paul John Pennie’s visa was cancelled in 2016 and his appeal against deportation was rejected in the Federal Court last month.

Pennie, who moved to Australia with his parents in 1980, was sentenced in July 2015 to four-and-a-half years in a WA prison for charges including possessing methyl amphetamine with intent to sell or supply, and wilful destruction of evidence.

In January 2016, a delegate of the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Peter Dutton, cancelled Pennie’s visa, ruling he did not pass the character test due to his criminal record, which included being a former vice president of the Bandidos bikies gang. After the minister refused to revoke the cancellation, Pennie, now 44, took his case to the Federal Court but on Thursday, April 11 his application was rejected.

According to the Federal Court’s transcript, Pennie has strong family ties in Australia and essentially none in Ireland. His parents, who live in Perth, are elderly and he is very close to his

sister and her family. His sister supported his appeal, telling the court that depor tation to Ireland “would destroy him”.

In her judgement, Justice Katrina Banks-Smith referred directly to the level of healthcare, social welfare and housing support in Ireland which, she said, was similar to Australia.

A submission by Minister Dutton to the case asserted: “I accept that Mr Pennie departed Ireland as a young child and would experience significant difficulties in establishing and adjusting to life as an adult in Ireland. I also accept Mr Pennie’s immediate family and social supports are in Australia and he may experience significant emotional and practical hardships upon return to Ireland. I find that Mr Pennie’s psychological conditions may be exacerbated given his history of depression and suicidal ideation.

“However, I find that, as an Irish citizen, Mr Pennie will have a level of access to healthcare, social welfare and housing support that is similar to other citizens of Ireland.”

Ireland’s Ambassador to Australia Breandán Ó Caollaí said he could not discuss individual cases but added: “Any Irish citizen who is deported to Ireland would have the same rights and entitlements as any other Irish citizen

Jack Watson, who had an extensive criminal history, was deported to Ireland in 2015 even though he had lived all but eight years of his life in Australia. He became homeless and died on a Dublin street in 2017.

in terms of healthcare, access to housing and social services.”

“The guidelines regarding the determination of habitual residence address the issue of returning emigrants very specifically,” Mr Ó Caollaí said. “The guidelines state: ‘A person who had previously been habitually resident in the State and who moved to live and

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work in another countr y and then resumes his/her long-term residence in the State may be regarded as being habitually resident immediately on his/her return to the State.’”

The Ambassador also said NGOs like Crosscare and Safe Home Ireland “provide advice and assistance to returning emigrants”.

A spokesperson for Crosscare said that depor ted Irish emigrants are generally found to satisfy the habitual residence condition for the purposes of applying for a social welfare payment, “once the Depar tment of Employment Af fairs and Social Protection are satisfied that the person’s centre of interest is in Ireland”.

However, Irish Abroad’s networking officer, Sarah Owen, said: “We have noted that deported Irish emigrants can face difficulties accessing local authority housing and homeless accommodation supports. This is especially the case for individuals who have lived outside of Ireland for most of their lives, as it can be harder for them to establish a ‘local connection’ as per housing guidelines.”

In 2015, Jack Watson was deported from Australia at the age of 49 after his visa was cancelled. He lived all but eight years of his life in Australia and had an extensive criminal histor y

including the indecent assault of a teenage girl. He became homeless in Ireland and made the news when he died on a Dublin street in 2017.

Pennie, who suf fers from hear t disease (he suffered cardiac failure in 2014), Crohn’s disease, depression and chronic pain, had claimed he feared a lack of medical care in Ireland and that he would be homeless.

Since 2014, more than 4,000 people have been stripped of their Australian visas and returned to their country of birth, regardless of how long ago they left. The policy has been strongly criticised by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

In Februar y, following a meeting with her Australian counterpart Scott Morrison, she said: “I’ve made it clear that New Zealand has no issue with Australia taking a dim view of newly arrived non-citizens committing crimes … but equally, the New Zealand people have a dim view of the deportation of people who move to Australia as children and have grown up there.”

The Irish Ambassador was more sanguine on the policy as it pertains to Irish people saying that most of the deportations involving Irish nationals involve “comparatively recently arrived Irish citizens who have overstayed their visa”.

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irish australia SYDNEY IRISHMAN FACES COURT

No jail term after air-rage meltdown

TIPPERARY BORN HERO PAID A HUGE PRICE FOR HIS SERVICE

Staff reporters

A 26-YEAR-OLD Irishman has avoided a jail sentence after pleading guilty to a range of charges associated with an air-rage incident in October.

Leroy Hyland took four times the recommended dose of sleeping pills before he covered his head in a blanket, pushed a flight attendant and tried to storm the cockpit on a Delta Airlines flight between Los Angeles and Sydney. He had been in the US to attend the UFC fight between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov in Las Vegas.

Hyland, who lives in Randwick in Sydney’s eastern suburbs and is on a temporary working visa, was carrying an unidentifiable black object when he told the flight attendants he had been robbed of his wallet, passport and phone. The flight attendants offered to accompany Hyland back to his seat to find his supposedly missing possessions, Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court heard last month.

“At this time, using both of his hands, the defendant gave [one flight attendant] a hard shove to his shoulder causing the flight attendant to fall backwards onto [the second cabin crew],” a statement of facts said.

“The defendant ran towards the cockpit door and began beating on the door with his fists.”

The banging was loud enough for the captain to hear and internal security procedures were activated.

US air marshals had to restrain Hyland for the remainder of the flight.

“In an attempt to get away from the air marshal, the defendant turned and jumped over seat 6B into the adjacent aisle, stepping on the passenger seated in seat 6C,” the statement of facts said.

Leroy Hyland

Eventually the air marshals were able to restrain Hyland and he spent the rest of the trip handcuffed next to them until the aircraft landed in Sydney.

Hyland was deeply ashamed of his conduct, his defence lawyer David Newham told the court. “There’s definitely been a lot of soul-searching for My Hyland after this very, very regrettable event,” Mr Newham said.

The court heard Hyland had taken two tablets of the over-the-counter sleeping pill Unisom.When when he felt no effect he swallowed two more.

Magistrate Julie Huber said if hehad not taken the tablets it was unlikely the incident would have occurred.

“Of course, you took four times the recommended dosage,” Ms Huber said, the Daily Mail reported.

“It would appear that this is an unusual event and that as far as personal deterrence is concerned the requirement is relatively low,” she said. Hyland was facing a potential fine of $10,000 fine and two years in prison. Ms Huber fined Hyland $4,000 for behaving in an offensive and disorderly manner and imposed two community corrections orders of two years and three years with a total of 550 hours of community service.

VISA-BILITY Your visa questions answered

Co Antrim native and registered migration agent John McQuaid provides a uniquely Irish perspective on immigration issues.

Hi John, I’m sponsored on a temporary 482 visa working for my employer in Dubbo western NSW. I’m eligible to be nominated for permanent residency in December this year but now I’ve heard the permanent 187 visa is being closed in November.

Is this true?

What can I do?

Jarleth T

Dear Jarleth, Yes, in early April, Immigration announced a number of changes to the Regional Skilled visa program.

‘Regional’ for the most part means any area in Australia outside Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. As part of the changes the Regional Sponsored Migration Stream (RSMS) 187 visa path will close on November 16, 2019.

However, there are transitional arrangements or exemptions for anyone who holds or applied for a 482 visa on or before March 20, 2019.

If the above dates apply to you, you will still be able to apply for the 187 visas after

Martin O’Meara was described by one officer as ‘the most fearless and gallant soldier I have ever seen’.

O’Meara’s VC to be displayed in Ireland Billy Cantwell A MEDAL of bravery, awarded to an Irish-born Australian soldier, is to be put on display in Dublin.

Martin O’Meara, from Lorrha in Co Tipperary, is understood to be the only Irish-born Australian soldier to be awarded a Victorian Cross for his service in the First World War. To mark Anzac Day on April 25, Ireland’s Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan announced that O’Meara’s Victoria Cross was to be loaned to the National Museum of Ireland. It will go on display at the Collins Barracks later this year.

O’Meara arrived in Western Australia in 1912 and signed up to the Australian Imperial Force on August 19, 1915.

After training in Egypt in early 1916, O’Meara and his battalion moved to the Western Front in France where it fought on the Somme. Between August 9 and 12, according to the Australian Dictionary of Biography, the battallion mounted an attack on German positions at Mouquet Farm near Pozières. German artillery fire caused heavy casualties.

During this period O’Meara, then acting as a stretcherbearer, behaved in a manner that led one officer to describe him as “the most fearless and gallant soldier I have ever seen”. O’Meara braved intense artillery and machine-gun fire to retrieve wounded soldiers from No Man’s Land for four November. The exemptions will also apply to anyone who holds or applied for the old 457 visas on or before April 17, 2017.

You could also consider whether you can meet the requirements to apply for the 187 earlier via the Direct Entry Stream. This option does not require you to have worked for the employer on the 482/457 visa but may require you to first obtain a migration skills assessment that can be expensive and time consuming to get. See https://immi.homeaffairs. gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/ regional-sponsor-migration-scheme-187 The 186 Employer Nomination Scheme permanent visa may also be an option. This has different requirements for the employer and a small nomination application fee.

The new regional visa options announced this month, will begin on November 16, 2019. Two new temporary visas are the 494 Skilled Employer Sponsored and the 491 Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa.

Both will offer a pathway to the new permanent 191 visa but only after three years on the temporary visa.

The employer sponsorship process for the 494 visas will operate a bit like the current 482 visas but the 494 will be a five-year visa and all occupations will have a pathway to the permanent 191 visas. More occupations will be added but these are yet to be announced.

The points tested temporary 491

days. It is estimated that he saved at least 20 Australian lives.

For his gallantry he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

The London Gazette of September 8, 1916 reported that he carried bombs and ammunition to the trenches as his battalion came under heavy fire.

“He showed throughout an utter contempt of danger, and undoubtedly saved many lives,” it reported.

He was wounded three times during the war and promoted to the rank of sergeant. In November 1918 he returned to Australia and was discharged from the AIF in Perth in November 1919 Traumatised by the horrors of what he had witnessed, O’Meara spent the rest of his life in military hospitals, suffering from what official records call chronic mania.

He had returned to Ireland once before his death. The residents of his hometown Lorrha had raised money to honour him. He donated the lot towards the restoration of the town’s abbey.

In 1929, an Armistice Day dinner was held by the Governor of Western Australia to honour those from the state who had received a VC. O’Meara’s declining condition meant that he could not attend. He died in Claremont Mental Hospital, Perth, on December 20, 1935 at 50 years of age.

skilled visa will require nomination by a state government or a family relative living in a designated regional area.

Additional points will be available that might make the option more attractive in this competitive arena. Additional points include: 15 points for state or family sponsorship; 10 points for a skilled partner; 5 points for a partner with competent English, and 10 points for applicants without a partner.

Both these temporary visas will cost $3,755 for the primary applicant, the same fees as a current PR application, but then the 191 PR application three years later will be a mere $385.

Additional fees will apply for each family member: $1,875 for partners and $940 for children.

So, while the initial fees are high, the overall cost of the 494 to 191 visas compared to the current 482 to 187/186 visa will be much lower.

When the new visas start it is intended that any area excluding Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Perth will be designated as a regional area. Regional visa holders may live in any designated regional area and can move between designated regional areas. The myriad changes to visa rules this year are complex.

Consider asking a registered migration agent for help with assessment of your eligibility.

Find a registered migration agent at mia.org.au

Editor/Publisher Billy Cantwell Telephone: +61 2 9555 9199 Postal Address: PO Box 256, Balmain, NSW 2041, Australia E-mail (Admin): mail@irishecho.com.au E-mail (Editorial): editor@irishecho.com.au Web: www.irishecho.com.au The Irish Echo is a national publication published monthly by The Irish Exile P/L Printed by Spot Press Distributed by Network Distribution Services

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irish australia IRISH FAMILY FACE DEPORTATION AFTER SON IS DIAGNOSED WITH CYSTIC FIBROSIS

No fair go for Victorian Irish family David Hennessy

A DUBLIN couple who lived in Australia for a decade face deportation after their three-year-old son Darragh was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis.

Christine and Anthony Hyde moved to Australia in 2009 and were applying for permanent residency but had their hopes of staying in Australia dashed when Darragh’s condition was judged to be a potential burden to the Australian taxpayer.

Christine and Anthony were taking their case to the Administrative Review Tribunal on April 30, after this paper goes to press, in the hopes that it will be referred to a minister who can use their powers to save the family’s Australian dream.

The couple live in Seymour, Victoria. Anthony is a part-time bus driver; Christine is an assistant principal at the local primar y school.

Darragh was born in Australia and his condition is a mild form of the often serious genetic disorder that affects the lungs.

Christine said her “world fell apart” when Darragh was found to have cystic fibrosis and then on top of that, her “life just crumbled” when the permanent residency the family were sure of being granted was refused.

“I just never thought in my wildest dreams that Darragh would be any type of reason for why our application would be refused,” she said.

“To even consider him, it’s mind boggling. It really is. This is our life, this is our home. While we don’t have any blood related family around us, we

certainly have family.

“Darragh has his godfather here.

We moved to this area because this is where we want to settle. It’s crazy to think that it could be taken away from us and have to go back to Ireland. We would have nothing.

“I think we would struggle as a family unit. I just worry.

“All we’re asking is to look beyond Darragh’s condition. Darragh doesn’t have a a debilitating condition where he will never be able to work and give back to the community. He might need access to medical treatment [but] he will also give back, in his own way. The same with us, we work our butts off.

Look beyond his condition.

“Darragh’s never set foot in Ireland; he’s never left Australia.”

The Hydes were applying for permanent residency in 2015 and were undergoing the necessar y medical tests when the condition was uncovered in Darragh.

“We did a test and we were thinking, ‘This could not be right, this is not happening to us’. We didn’t even think anything of it in terms of our residency.

It was the GP who said, ‘This might affect your residency’. I was like, ‘Ah no, surely not’. Didn’t think anything more of it.”

The next news Christine got about the family’s residency was that it had been refused due to the burden Darragh’s condition would place on the Australian health system.

“My life just crumbled. I’ll never forget it.”

The Hydes have appealed the

Anthony and Christine Hyde with their son Darragh, who suffers from cystic fibrosis. Without ministerial intervention, they will have to leave Australia before the end of May.

court’s decision. Although the condition was first judged to be severe, two specialists have since judged it to be mild. Darragh now takes the drug Kalydeco which is covered under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). However, he was still seen a burden due to his reliance on the PBS funded medication.

“Because we have had to wait through the process, through no fault of our own, they’ve caught us out on a different thing. Now he has access to a drug. It’s just ridiculous, we’re

caught every way and we can’t get out of it. It’s really frustrating.”

More than 30,000 people have signed a petition supporting Christine and Anthony and asking that the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Af fairs, David Coleman, and the Home Af fairs Minister, Peter Dutton, to intervene to save the family’s Australian dream.

“To know you have that support behind you really makes you feel a bit more hopeful and a bit positive that something good might come out of

this which is what we want, a good result at the end of the day.

“The tribunal does not have the powers to change or overturn any decision that was made but what they can do is refer us on to a minister if they think that we meet particular grounds for public interest.

“They may not refer us onto the minister, which means we’ll get 28 days to leave Australia, so we’ll have 28 days to try and get the attention of the minister to use his powers to intervene without a referral.

“We need the minister at some point to pick up our case. Even if we do get referred, there’s no guarantee that he will pick up our case because they don’t have to comment in regards to any individual cases so that’s why we want as much support as possible for this minister to be highlighted to our situation.

“It’s really sad to think that if I had have had a child that was healthy, I would be a resident right now. It’s really sad to think that. In Australia, people give you a fair go. We do the right things. We work hard both of us, we’re not here to bludge off the system or anything at all. We just want to live here, This is our home.”

The petition to support the family can be found at: https://www. change.org/p/hon-david-colemanmp-please-let-our-3-year-old-sonstay-in-australia

VETERAN ENTERTAINERS FOSTER AND ALLEN RETURN FOR 20TH AUSSIE TOUR

SYDNEY

Duo continue to find an audience after 42 years

Irish Echo founder for PatChats

David Hennessy AFTER more than four decades playing music together as a duo, Foster and Allen are coming back to Australia for their 20th tour Down Under.

Established in 1975, the duo started playing cabaret venues in Ireland and the UK before their big break came in 1978 with A Bunch of Thyme.

The song had a long stay in the Irish charts and although it was not until years later, it was also their breakthrough song in the UK. They produced another hit in Old Flames before they released Maggie, the song that brought them international recognition and to Australia for the first time.

“We are looking forward to coming back to Australia,” Mick Foster told the Irish Echo from Ireland. “This is trip number 20 so you must have something down there that we enjoy or the Aussies must enjoy us because they keep bringing us back so hopefully this will be as good as the last 19.

“We’ve met people over there on our first trip in 1984 and they’ve been coming every tour since so you would get to know a certain amount of them very well and we would be looking forward to meeting them when we go over.”

Maggie went to number one in Australia in 1983 and it was in 1984, 35 years ago now, that the duo came to Australia for the first time.

They were also selling out concerts in the US, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. Foster and Allen have sold more than 20 million albums and videos.

“We’re 44 years as Foster and Allen

and we’ve been playing together for 52 years so we’re getting used to each other at this stage.

“The time just flew along. I can remember our very first gig with just the two of us the same as if it was last week and, as I say, it’s 44 years ago.

They say time flies when you’re enjoying yourself.”

There is a new generation of young Irish people that have made their temporary or permanent home in Australia.

Although these may be too young to consider themselves Foster and Allen fans, Foster says he finds them making their way to their concerts to connect with home.

“We often said that if we’re in Australia or New Zealand or Canada or wherever and there’s young people from our area over there, they’ll always come to see us. They mightn’t know us but their parents would know us. We talk like their parents and we’re from their home area. If they were living at home they might run a mile from us but we’re a major link with home when they’re far away.”

While the music industry has changed since they started out, Foster believes that for their audience, it’s the same as it ever was.

“We haven’t changed that much.

I suppose we’ve modernised a bit from 44 years ago but at that time we were just doing all Irish dance music and Irish songs.

“Now, and over the past I dont’ know how many years, we’ve recorded everything from Strauss waltzes to Dire Straits and Status Quo but we still do it our way and it’s a kind of Foster and

Tony Allen and Mick Foster first toured Australia 35 years ago.

Allen version rather than anything else,” he says.

“You’re as good as your last concert or your last record. If we played somewhere in Australia 19 times and this 20th one is a disaster, that’s the one people will remember so you have to just keep it in your head that you can’t sit back and relax because the pressure is there all the time if you want to keep going and we want to keep going “We don’t kill ourselves. We tour about four months a year and we try and give it all we can. We do a twohour show and we put as much as we can into it but we’re not a pop act; we

don’t be jumping all over the stage. We all sit, except Tony, so it’s like playing in your own sitting room.”

Foster remembers one time the duo played a concert in London that fell below their usual standards and it was reflected in their transport afterwards.

“The promoters were not happy.

They picked us up from the airport in a Rolls Royce and brought us back in a Datsun. There was barely room for us in it,” he laughs.

Foster and Allen tour Australia in May and June.

THE founding editor of the Irish Echo, Billy Cantwell, will be a guest of the Lansdowne Club’s PatChats on Thursday, May 9.

Cantwell (right) was only 23 when he founded the Irish Echo. The masthead celebrates 30 years in print this year.

Over three decades, the Meath-born father-of-three has borne witness to massive changes in the Australian Irish dynamic, the Diaspora and the media.

Cantwell has built a solid reputation as a dynamic editor, publisher and entrepreneur.

Cantwell is also a vocal advocate for the Irish abroad and believes Ireland needs to rethink its relationship with the Diaspora. He wants to explore new ways to connect emigrants around Australia and the world through compelling content.

PatChats is described as “TED talks with an accent” – peer-to-peer conversations for sharing stories, insights and wisdoms on the entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial journey among Irish expats and friendly interlopers.

PatChats is presented by the Lansdowne Club and hosted by Eilish Bouchier.

For bookings and more information, visit lansdowneclub.com.au

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May, 2019 I www.irishecho.com.au

news REMAINING CRANBERRIES COMPLETE ALBUM AS A TRIBUTE TO LATE DOLORES O’RIORDAN

In the end, it’s for beloved singer The Cranberries honour Dolores with a final album that finishes what she started. David Hennessy talks to guitarist Noel Hogan about In The End, the new and final Cranberries album that features Dolores’ vocals on songs she had started working on before her sudden death in January last year.

THERE was a national and international outpouring of grief when lead singer of the Cranberries, Dolores O’Riordan, died suddenly in January 2018 aged 46. The loss was felt not only in her native Limerick where the streets were full of mourners for one of Limerick’s most famous daughters but also all around the world for hits like Zombie and Linger.

More than a year since O’Riordan’s death from drowning due to alcohol intoxication, the Cranberries are releasing an album of songs O’Riordan had worked on before her sudden death. With the blessing of O’Riordan’s family, the band finished the album.

It was a help in their grief to have something to work on for her but it was also a constant reminder of the tragedy when it hit them that the singer would not be coming in to work on her parts for the recording.

“We kind of said going in, if we felt that this wasn’t going to work then we would just scrap the idea and just forget about it,” Noel Hogan told The Irish Echo from Ireland.

“The first couple of days, your emotions were all over the place because you were focusing on doing what you do and getting it right and at the same time there is a constant reminder that Dolores isn’t here anymore. You just have to put the head down and get on with it really and be professional, or as professional as you can be, about it.

“Then when you’re at the point that we are now, a year and a bit later you’re looking back and it’s kind of hard to imagine the grieving process without actually having done that. I definitely feel that it [the album] helped the three of us in some bizarre way to have something to focus on.”

Hogan r emembers how excited O’Riordan had been about the recorded material.

“The last six months, from June to December, she and I were in constant contact. We were on opposite sides of Atlantic but she had this new burst of energy, I couldn’t give her enough music to write to.

“She wanted to work; she had a lot to say, given everything that had happened to her in the previous three years. It was tr ying to keep up with her, really,” Hogan said.

“She had shared that enthusiasm with her family a lot about how much she was looking for ward to getting back into work, I think her family were aware of that. It was definitely something that she wanted to do and she had worked hard on these songs.

“To not finish it would do her an injustice.”

O’Riordan’s lyrics take on added poignancy on the album.

Lines like ‘Ain’t it strange when ever ything you wanted was nothing that you wanted in the end?’ strike an emotional chord for her band mates and fans.

“Because of everything that happened, there’s almost a double meaning to them now.

“There’s a lot of discussion in this album and the topic is about things ending and coming to an end. Up until that summer, Dolores had been through a lot and it was well publicised and she was very open about it.

“She felt that she had turned a corner for better things and knew that that was behind her.

The subject matter of a lot of these songs is, ‘that’s behind me now, this is the next chapter’.

Then obviously what happened in Januar y 2018 changed everything.

“When I went back to listen to them in February 2018, your mind can not help but wander off into another place and kind of realise what she’s saying here and how poignant it is now.

“This was written as another Cranberries album, that’s all it was ever meant to be in the origins of it. I know that forever more people will read more into these lyrics than she ever meant, but she would like that kind of thing anyway.”

Is this the end for the band? “ We n e v e r sat down and had a conversation about it but I think the g e n e r a l consensus was that we would do this album because we had star ted it, Dolores and I had started writing it, and it was so far into that process that it would be wrong to not finish it. We haven’t ever discussed doing any more than that.

“It’s just Dolores was such a unique voice and such a massive personality that really trying to replace her would be almost an impossible job.

“I think we would find it weird as well. It’s a double-edged thing. If we kept going, we would love to but you’re always going to be compared to this version of the Cranberries and that can have a ver y mixed response.

“We didn’t want to destroy the legacy at the end, do some kind of patchwork album and just try and make a few pound out of it.

The agreement was that if any of us thought this is really not one of our best just to put it away on the shelf and forget about it.”

Asked for his favourite memories of the singer, Hogan goes back to the early days of the Cranberries in the 1990s.

“It’s funny because you start

The Cranberries at the height of their popularity in 2003 (from left) Noel Hogan, Mike Hogan, Dolores O’Riordan and Fergal Lawler. (Left) The late Dolores O’Riordan pictured in 2015. She died on January 15, 2018.

to remember these things after somebody passes away. You know someone is there at the end of a phone or a visit away all the time so you kind of take things for granted. I think we all do that with friends and family and suddenly someone is not there anymore and all this stuff comes flowing back to you.

“A lot of the stuff I started to remember was from the very early days … when no one knew who we were.

“We were in many ways this little gang and we were going around writing these songs and playing to two or three people at night. The thing about Dolores was she always just laughed things off, she was great for joking and messing and things like that. I guess in this business you have a public face and you have the person behind that only closer people would know.

“She hated the way that particularly in the music industry people take themselves ver y seriously. They come in and they’re like, ‘you gotta do this’ or ‘you gotta do that’. She just couldn’t get her head around that, she used to just laugh at that stuff and make us laugh about it as well.

“They’re nice memories … because it was that journey that we were all on at that time in particular.”

In The End by The Cranberries is now available through BMG Records.

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ireland :: lyra mckee PRIEST AT LYRA MCKEE FUNERAL URGES NEW IRA TO WALK AWAY FROM VIOLENCE

‘I plead with you ... take the road of non-violence’ Rebecca Black THE Catholic priest who officiated at the funeral of murdered Belfast journalist Lyra McKee has urged the dissident republican group that killed her to walk away from violence.

“I plead with you to take the road of non-violence to achieve your political ends,” Fr Martin Magill told the congregation at St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast.

Those who heard the priest’s words included Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, President Michael D Higgins and British Prime Minister Theresa May. “To those still intent on violence, I ask you to listen to the majority of the people on your beloved island of Ireland who are calling on you to stop,” Fr Magill said.

He said he dared to hope that the tragedy can be a doorway to a new beginning.

The priest paid tribute to those who had left red handprints on the offices of the dissident republican political group Saoradh at the weekend (see report below), describing it as a “powerful gesture of non-violence”, and he commended those who had given information about the murder to police.

“There is a rule in many of our communities that we do not, we should not, give information to police, and that to do so is to become a tout,” he said.

“But that was one of a number of rules - rules that also said that it was OK to brutalise children for petty crimes, or rules that say you can live in the locality until you are told you

can’t, or rules that said the only way we could gain freedom was by other fellow human beings losing their lives. But this week I have seen these rules turned on their head. I have seen many people stand up and condemn this culture of violence and coercive control.

“We need to send a very different message and so I appeal to those who have information about Lyra’s murder but who haven’t yet come forward to do so now. If you want to see an end to these brutal rules, and see a new society built on justice and fairness, on hope and not fear, then you can help build that society by letting the police know what you know.”

The Belfast priest said he had met Ms McKee several times and told the funeral of her upbringing in the north of Belfast, attending Holy Family Primary School and St Gemma’s High School, where her love of Roald Dahl novels helped her overcome early struggles with reading, and her later love of the Harry Potter books by JK Rowling.

Many wept when the priest spoke about Lyra’s plans to propose to her beloved girlfriend Sara in New York, and her Donegal wedding in 2022, a dream they were both tragically denied.

Female folk duo Saint Sister played the Cranberries song Dreams, now labelled a ‘Derry Girls anthem’ after its recent use in the hit Channel 4 series.

Lyra’s sister Nichola Corner ended her tribute by calling on all there to live Lyra’s vision. “We must change our own world, one piece at a time,” she said.

“Now let’s get to work.”

Sara Canning (above top, left) leaves the funeral service for her partner Lyra McKee at St Anne’s Cathedral last week. (Below left) Taoiseach Leo Varadkar with British Prime Minister Theresa May and President Michael D Higgins. (Below left) A mourner wearing a Gryffindor scarf. Pictures: Brian Lawless.

PROTESTS AGAINST DISSIDENT REPUBLICAN GROUP

‘New’ IRA admits killing journalist

Cate McCurry

THE so-called New IRA has admitted responsibility for the murder of journalist Lyra McKee in Derry.

Ms McKee, 29, died after she was shot on the Creggan estate on April 18.

In a statement given to The Irish News using a recognised code word, the group offered its “full and sincere apologies” to her family and friends.

The New IRA is an amalgam of dissident paramilitary groups opposed to the peace process. It recently claimed responsibility for parcel bombs sent to London and Glasgow in March.

The statement said: “On Thursday night following an incursion on the Creggan by heavily armed British crown forces which provoked rioting, the IRA deployed our volunteers to engage. We have instructed our volunteers to take the utmost care in future when engaging the enemy, and put in place measures to help ensure this.

“In the course of attacking the enemy Lyra McKee was tragically killed while standing beside enemy forces.

“The IRA offer our full and sincere apologies to the partner, family and friends of Lyra McKee for her death.”

Earlier, friends of L yra McKee defaced an office belonging to a dissident republican group by daubing red handprints on the walls of Saoradh’s headquarters in Derry.

A number of Ms McKee’s friends walked to Junior McDaid House in Derry, where they used a pot of red paint to daub handprints on the side of

A friend of murdered journalist Lyra McKee defaces the walls of a dissident republican office in Derry with red paint. Picture: Cate McCurry

the office walls. A group of six men, understood to be members of Saoradh, who are associated with the New IRA, stood outside the building during the tense protest.

PSNI officers were also present and later asked for the names of those involved in the incident.

A friend of Ms McKee’s, Sinead Quinn, who took part in the protest, said: “We have used red paint because they have blood on their hands for what has happened. They have encouraged it, they have moulded these young people into what they are and they are standing behind them handing them guns. They need to take responsibility today for what has happened.

“They have shirked it by saying it was an accidental shooting. You don’t shoot accidentally.”

“When you put a gun into someone’s

hand and they shoot it, that’s murder.

Lyra deserves more and I am so glad there are so many people here today to see and watch these men looking at us.

“They are not a representation of republican people in this town.

“Those people don’t represent [republicanism]. Nobody can advocate shooting into a crowd of people and shooting a 29-year-old woman dead.

“People have been afraid to stand up to people like this. We are not afraid,” Ms Quinn said.

Another friend said: “We have had enough. There is a younger generation coming up in the town and they don’t need guns put in their hands.

“They need jobs, they need a better health service and education.

“They need a life, not a gun put in their hands.”

FRIENDS AND FAMILY PAY TRIBUTE

Belfast native was seen as a rising star of journalism JOURNALIST L yra McKee tweeted about the “absolute madness” in Derry in the hours before she was shot dead.

Ms McKee, 29, rose to prominence in 2014 after a blog post called “Letter to my 14-year-old self” in which she spoke about the struggle of growing up gay in Belfast.

In the five years since, her letter was turned into a short film; she became a published author with Angels With Blue Faces, and she had recently signed a two-book deal with Faber and Faber, as well as appearing in domestic and international publications.

Named as one of the “30 under 30 in media” by Forbes Magazine in 2016, Ms McKee was cited for her passion of “dig[ging] into topics that others don’t care about”.

Angels With Blue Faces, a non-fiction book about the Troubles-era cold case murder of South Belfast MP Rev Robert Bradford, was released in 2018.

Her last book, The Lost Boys, is due for publication by Faber and Faber next year. The book, which described the author as a “rising star of investigative journalism”, focuses on the story of two boys, Thomas Spence, 11, and John Rodgers, 13, who vanished near the Falls Road in west Belfast in November 1974.

In an earlier piece about the book, agent Janklow and Nesbit said: “Lyra is a 27-year-old investigative journalist who grew up on Belfast’s Cliftonville Road, just off the infamous Murder Mile, the area which saw more casualties per square foot than any other part of the city during the Troubles.

“L yra is fascinated by the recent histor y of the city; her focus as a journalist is the indirect ways the vio-

Dead at 29: journalist Lyra McKee

lence of war plays out, through its secondar y waves of victims, and through the way trauma is passed on to subsequent generations.”

Among the many journalists and writers to pay tribute to Ms McKee’s talents was the latest winner of the Man Booker prize, Anna Bur ns, who attended a vigil at Belfast City Hall.

Ms Burns said Ms McKee was a “dear, dear friend”. “She was just so helpful and generous; her wee heart was always open.”

Ms McKee’s family, including her mother Joan, brothers Gary and David and sisters Joan Hunter, Nichola Corner and Mary Crossan, released a joint statement describing Lyra as “a friend to all, a gentle innocent soul who wouldn’t wish ill on anyone. Such a warm and innocent heart, she was the greatest listener, someone who had time for everyone. She was a smart, strong-minded woman who believed passionately in inclusivity, justice and truth.This openness, and her desire to bring people together, made her totally apolitical.”

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ireland POLITICIANS MUST TAKE INSPIRATION FROM LYRA MCKEE, SAYS BRADLEY AS TALKS PLANNED

Fresh bid to fill NI’s political void Cate McCurry, Aoife Moore and Michael McHugh

POLITICAL leaders must take inspiration from the life of murdered journalist L yra McKee to make Northern Ireland a brighter and more peaceful place, Nor thern Ireland Secretar y Karen Bradley has said.

The British and Irish governments have recently confirmed that a new round of political talks aimed at re-establishing devolved powersharing in Northern Ireland. Talks on the restoration of powersharing institutions will resume on May 7. All the main parties will be invited.

Ms McKee’s violent death had inspired new enthusiasm in Dublin and London to end the political deadlock in Northern Ireland, the NI Secretar y said. “Lyra was a role model to many and always fought to make Northern Ireland a better place.Lyra symbolised the new Northern Ireland and her tragic death cannot be in vain,” Ms Bradley said, at a joint press conference with Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney.

“All of us must take inspiration from what Lyra achieved in her life and work to make Northern Ireland a brighter, more peaceful and prosperous place for everyone. My absolute determination is to see the restoration of all the political institutions established by the 1998 (Belfast) Agreement.”

The institutions have been suspended for more than two years following a row between former governing partners, the DUP and Sinn Féin.

Endless rounds of negotiations have failed to break the deadlock.

“These few days belong to Lyra, her partner Sara, her family, friends and the people who loved her,” Mr Coveney said. “We mourn with them and grieve for the life and career that was cut short so brutally and needlessly.

“Her ambition to change her society for the better through her career and telling her own story and supporting others to do the same could not stand in starker contrast with the people who took weapons onto the streets of Derry with callous disregard for human life, to intimidate, injure and kill.”

In a direct message to dissident republicans, he said: “They are a small minority who try to control communities through fear and intimidation and twisted, warped thinking.

“They are not protecting communities; they are endangering them.”

Mr Coveney said there was an “urgent need for positive and determined action” because “we are leaving far too much wide open space for other kinds of voices that don’t believe in democracy but that peddle hate and fear”.

He urged young Catholics to join and support the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), saying it “takes real courage to transform your community despite often intimidating circumstances”.

“Communities have to be able to see themselves in the communities they’re working with. If you want to show your support for a better future show your support for the police. Support young people who are brave enough to consider joining that police force.”

Politicians from across the spectrum in Northern Ireland were quick to react

The Stormont Assembly has been suspended for two years. (Inset) Simon Coveney and Karen Bradley at last week’s press conference announcing new talks.

to the announcement of new talks on power-sharing. Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said she was optimistic about ending the deadlock.

“I welcome the announcement of the talks and also that the British Irish Intergovernmental Conference will meet,” she said. “This now is our opportunity to resolve the equality issues, the outstanding issues, and to establish good sustainable powersharing government in the north.”

DUP leader Arlene Foster said her par ty stood ready to set up the

Assembly without pre-conditions. “The DUP will not be found wanting in any talks’ process but our preference would be for the Assembly to be restored and have the talks process in parallel,” she said.

“There is incredible frustration in Northern Ireland at the lack of an Assembly. Key reforms for our hospitals and schools are gathering dust on the shelves. We stand ready to form the Assembly and Executive immediately.”

Sinn Féin and the DUP have been

locked in an impasse over rights issues, including the introduction of an Irish language act and mar riage equality, both of which the DUP opposes.

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said the DUP and Sinn Féin needed to rethink their approach. “We have already seen the DUP and Sinn Fein slip back into comfortable red lines that look great on placards but deliver nothing for people. Their approach is more about seeking a pound of flesh than reaching agreement.”

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Tributes paid to former senator Feargal Quinn Aoife Moore

TRIBUTES have been paid to Superquinn founder Feargal Quinn, who has died at the age of 82.

Mr Quinn, who was married with five children and 19 grandchildren, died at home in Howth, Co Dublin, on Thursday April 25.

Best known for founding supermarket chain Superquinn, which was bought by SuperValu in 2005, Mr Quinn pioneered a new era of customer service in Ireland.

Mr Quinn was also elected as a senator in 1993 from the National University of Ireland constituency and was re-elected every term until 2016.

At the beginning of his political career he donated his Seanad salary to charity, and later refused to take any payment whatsoever.

Mr Quinn also served as the first chairman of An Post from 1979.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar tweeted: “Very sorry to hear of the death of Feargal Quinn, someone whose entire life was dedicated to serving others.

“Whether as an entrepreneur, a Senator, or the chair of An Post, our country benefited from his vision and energy. RIP.” Current An Post chairman Dermot Divilly paid tribute to Mr Quinn, whom he said had worked tirelessly for the organisation.

“We are very saddened by the death of Feargal Quinn, the first chairman of An Post,” he said. “He worked tirelessly over a decade from 1979 to set the postal service and post office net-

The late Feargal Quinn.

work on a sound, for ward-looking, modern footing.

“He showed exemplary dedication and vision during these formative years and he remained a loyal supporter of An Post throughout his life.”

President Michael D Higgins said Mr Quinn was “a gifted entrepreneur, whose vision of customer service and innovation transformed the landscape of the retail trade in Ireland over many decades”.

“As a lifelong supporter of small businesses and start-up companies, countless numbers of people benefited from his wise counsel, which was based on a highly successful career at the coalface of Irish business.

“He will be deeply missed, not just by his family and wide circle of friends, but also by those who served in the Seanad with him, where he will be remembered as a force for change, as a passionate advocate on business and related matters, and as an eloquent debater. He was renowned for his courteous contributions and responses to both supporters and opponents.”

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May, 2019 I www.irishecho.com.au

ireland BREXIT ‘AN ABERRATION’ IN BID TO STRENGTHEN PEACE PROCESS, SAYS PELOSI

Pelosi pride in peace process Michael McHugh

BREXIT should not pose any threat to the Good Friday Agreement, the US’s third most powerful politician has declared.

Rather, Brexit should be just an “aberration” in the bid to strengthen Northern Ireland’s peace process, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi said on an official visit to the Republic and Northern Ireland.

The US House of Representatives speaker visited the border, which has been a point of contention in the Brexit negotiations.

The senior Democrat from California said the US had a vested interest in peace in Northern Ireland, which was sealed by the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, brokered in large part by the US. “We have said that we are guarantors for the Good Friday Agreement because we believe it is fair to both sides; that is why they agreed to it. We believe that Brexit should be just an aberration in this discussion as we continue to build and strengthen our

peace that was generated by the Good Friday accord.”

Ms Pelosi repeated her assertion that the peace process was a beacon to the world and a model for reconciliation.

“Far be it for any of us to want that beacon’s lustre to be dimmed by anything that the Brexit conversation could bring down on the Good Friday accord.”

The congresswoman walked across a “peace bridge” over the River Foyle in Derry. The span was built using EU funds and links primarily nationalist and primarily unionist communities on either river bank.

Ms Pelosi said her border visit was made out of respect for the courage of those who participated in the Good Friday accord.

The US Consulate General in Belfast was established on May 27 1796, by the first American president, George Washington, and is the second oldest continuously operating US consulate in the world.

Ms Pelosi visited Belfast with her daughter more than two decades ago

She expressed pride in the peace process role of former US president Bill Clinton and the peace talks chairman, former US senator George Mitchell, and senior congressman Richard Neal.

“What it means to the world to have this example of reconciliation, really ending hundreds of years of conflict, recent thousands of deaths.”

She has repeatedly railed against the prospect of a hard Irish border and she warned that US trade talks with the UK could be endangered if the Agreement was compromised.

“If the Brexit deal undermines the accord there will be no chance of a US-UK trade agreement,” Ms Pelosi told the Dail.

During a visit to Stormont Castle, Ms Pelosi extended her condolences to family of murdered journalist Lyra McKee and urged that Nor thern Ireland continues to provide a better future for its young people. “What we see now stands in stark contrast to what we had seen when we came here years ago, and we would hope that that contrast would continue,” she said.

Nancy Pelosi on the peace bridge over the River Foyle in Derry.

and recalled: “The difference between what we went through then and what we saw in terms of tanks and barbed wire. It is about peace, it is about not just what it means to Northern Ireland and Ireland, that would be reason enough for us to be guarantors.”

TAOISEACH HAILS US-IRELAND RELATIONSHIP DURING PELOSI VISIT

AIR RAGE

Irish lawyer jailed after meltdown Helen William

AN Irish-born lawyer who spat at a flight attendant during a racist foulmouthed tirade after she was refused alcohol on a nine-hour business class flight has been jailed for six months.

Judge Nicholas Wood, sentencing at Isleworth Crown Court in England, told Simone Burns: “The experience of a drunk and irrational person in the confines of an aircraft is frightening, not least on a long-haul flight and poses a potential risk to safety.”

Burns, of First Avenue, Hove, sat quietly in the dock as she was sentenced to six months for being drunk on an aircraft and two months for assault. The sentences are to be served concurrently after she previously pleaded guilty to the charges.

Burns, 50, who is known as Simone O’Broin, was initially ser ved three bottles of red wine but declared “I’m a f****** international lawyer” when she was denied more on an Air India flight from Mumbai to London on November 11, 2018.

She also called staff “Indian moneygrabbing c****” and smoked a cigarette in the toilets. A member of the cabin staff said he had never seen anything like the tirade by Ms Burns in his 30-year aviation career.

The human rights lawyer, who has worked with refugees around the world, unleashed a barrage of abuse in a prolonged rant, during which she spat at the steward, the court heard.

PARENTAL STRESS

Half of Irish parents ‘feel a failure’

Cate McCurry

Bono and his wife Ali Hewson, and Ceann Comhairle Sean O Fearghail (right) join the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States, Nancy Pelosi, after she delivered an address in Leinster House, Dublin. (Below) Ms Pelosi with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

‘Very precious’ US-Irish connections celebrated Cate McCurry LEO Varadkar has hailed the country’s continuing relationship with our friend the US. The Taoiseach was speaking as he hosted a reception at Dublin Castle attended by the US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi Mr Varadkar said people in the US helped to bring peace to Ireland and helped the country take its place among the nations of the world.

“When courageous men and women walked the path of peace they did so knowing the US was alongside them,” he said. “The Good Friday Agreement was made possible by Americans of good faith and they helped pave the way for prosperity and gave young people their own future.”

Mr Varadkar spoke of the deep cultural, historical and social links between Ireland and America.

“Irish men and women have helped make America great. Ireland has become a home from home for so many Americans. We want Ireland to act as a political and economic bridge between the EU and the US. Given our shared language and history, it means the US and the EU can better relate to each other on a political level.”

He also said he hoped it would be possible to find a solution for the thousands of undocumented Irish living in the US. “Their welfare continues to be a real concern and priority for us,” he added.

“We know the politics of migration is particularly contentious in your country, as it is in so many parts in the world, but we also know the capacity and the power of democracy and politics to bring about great change.”

Ms Pelosi said: “We all strive to make the future better for the next generation. The connection between

the United States and Ireland is very precious to us.

“We see the Brexit conversation as an aberration and we see a brilliant future ahead working together.”

As she presented Mr Varadkar with a bespoke bowl printed with doves, she said: “It’s all about peace and that is

what we are striving for.” Ms Pelosi, the third most powerful politician in the US, also met President Michael D Higgins.

The pair discussed Irish-US bilateral relations and the implications of Brexit, the Good Friday Agreement and the peace process.

A statement from the Áras an Uachtaráin said: “They discussed migration, the experiences of migrants and the undocumented, and the possibility of new E3 visa legislation.

“The discussions also centred on the importance of close co-operation between Dublin and Washington on such issues as the global challenges related to climate change and sustainable development.

“President Higgins stressed the importance of linking economic security and sustainable development to greater social cohesion and solidarity within and between countries,” the Áras an Uachtaráin statement said.

A CULTURE of picture perfect parenting makes more than half of Irish parents feel they are failing their children, research has found.

The new global study has revealed that more than half of parents in Ireland feel they are failing within the first year of parenthood. Mothers are more likely to feel this way than fathers.

Research carried out by WaterWipes has found that the picture perfect portrayal of parenting on social media is disempowering Irish parents.

The research found that the feeling of parenting failure stems from a number of sources, from singleminded parenting how-to guides to flawlessly filtered Instagram feeds. A fifth of Irish parents say film and TV are key contributors and two fifths of parents say adver tising is a contributor.

Similarly, two fifths of Irish parents believe social media adds to the pressure to be a perfect parent.

It leaves many parents feeling as though they cannot be honest about their struggles due to a fear of being judged. More than half admitted putting on a brave face rather than being honest about the situation.

Chartered psychologist and parenting expert Niamh Hannan said: “Irish parents clearly feel under huge pressure to get it right. I’d go so far to say that there is a cult of perfectionism around parenting.”

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ireland RENTS TOO HIGH AND HOME OWNERSHIP TOO LOW

Property market at tipping point, expert Aoife Moore and Cate McCurry

THE Irish housing crisis will reach a tipping point because fr ustrated renters will begin to vote with their feet, a British housing expert has said.

“There’s going to be unrest and change in the electoral arithmetic,” said Josh R yan-Collins, head of r esear ch at University College London’s Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, and the author of Why Can’t You Afford A Home?

“Eventually, there will be enough non-home owners voting for a party that says they will provide affordable rental or public housing so that you can live in a more sensible way, where you’re not spending more than half your wages on rent every month,” Dr Ryan-Collins said. The academic was in Dublin last month, where he talked about the housing crises in Britain and Ireland, and the impact of land inflation on rents and house prices.

“Everyone has a right to a home, that should be a non-negotiable,” Mr RyanCollins said. “I don’t think Irish people should give up hope. I think we’re getting to a critical point where young people who are feeling that they are never going to be able to buy a house, they’re not going to put up with that.

“In London, for example, that tipping point has almost been reached, where there’s almost a majority of people

renting. For homeowners who have kids, they can see their kids aren’t going to be able to own a home, and that is quite psychologically difficult.

You want your kids to have the same opportunities you had, and there may be a case of those voters changing their mind and voting pattern too.”

CSO data released last week shows that average house prices in Dublin are now between nine and 14 times the average salary. Property prices nationally have increased by more than 80 per cent since their lowest point during the recession in 2013. In the capital, prices have risen by more than 92 per cent since February 2012.

Dr R yan-Collins attributes the increase in the proportion of renters to foreign investment and the lack of social housing, which pushes more people into the rental market.

“The Irish market has bounced up so quickly post crisis because you’ve had a flood of institutional investment, much of it foreign, going into the housing market and ramping up housing prices and rental sector,” Dr Ryan-Collins added.

“People who would’ve been in social housing are being pushed into the rental market, and therefore with a lack of af fordable accommodation it’s ramping rents up.

“The standard argument is that we’re not building enough houses for

demand. It’s the same in almost all countries, but if you look at house prices over time you find that they went up at a similar time in the early 2000s.

Given all the differences in countries, the common factor is the supply of finance and credit in housing. Banks are expanding their mortgage lending at a much faster rate than their business lending.

“When the bank makes a loan, it increases lending supply, and when that flows into a finite resource, like land, the result is going to be inflation, it’s a demand explanation rather than supply. The solution to that is to prevent so much credit flowing into housing and land, and providing more affordable housing, which requires the government to be a lot more proactive in shaping the land market, rather than saying the private sector knows best.

It’s a political will issue.”

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has reaffirmed Fianna Fail’s commitment to increasing the level of home ownership, which sits at 71 per cent.

Mr Varadkar said rents were high and many people paid more in rent than a mortgage. “So, 71 per cent of people is not good enough for me and we want to see that rise and we are absolutely committed to doing everything we can to increase home ownership.”

“People struggle to raise a deposit,” he added.

WORLD’S MOST INFLUENTIAL LIST

Orla O’Connor, Ailbhe Smyth and Gráinne Griffin who have been included in Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Irish pro-choice influencers among the Time honoured Aoife Moore THREE Irish pro-choice campaigners have been included in a list of the world’s most influential people.

The former co-directors of Together for Yes have said they are honoured to be included on the Time 100 list, Time magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Gráinne Griffin, a founding member of the Abortion Rights Campaign (ARC), Orla O’Connor, director of the National Women’s Council of Ireland, and Ailbhe Smyth, convener of the Coalition to Repeal the Eighth Amendment, appear on the 2019 list in recognition of their work leading the Together for Yes campaign, leading up to Ireland’s historic referendum last year.

Ms Smyth said the accolade was

evidence of the significant international ripple effect of the campaign.

“The referendum result here in Ireland was a real boost for the morale of pro-choice campaigners throughout the world and we hope it can be a beacon of light wherever and whenever abortion rights are denied, restricted or under severe threat,” Ms Smyth said.

“Ireland has moved from virtually total prohibition to a relatively pro-choice position. The referendum result marked a resounding defeat for misogyny and extreme right-wing forces.” Ireland voted by 66.4 per cent to 33.6 per cent to remove the eighth amendment of the Constitution that outlawed abortion. Other people on Time’s 2019 list include Michelle Obama, Christine Blasey Ford, Nancy Pelosi and Taylor Swift.

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May, 2019 I www.irishecho.com.au

ireland GUINNESS MAKER TO REMOVE PLASTIC FROM BEER PACKAGING

Green move for black stuff Rebecca Black

THE maker of Guinness has announced it is removing plastic from beer packaging.

Plastic ring carriers and shrink wrap will be removed from multipacks of Diageo’s beer products – Guinness, Harp, Rockshore and Smithwick’s.

They will be replaced with 100 per cent recyclable and biodegradable cardboard.

The new packaging will be on the shelves in Ireland from August, while the UK and other international markets will follow in 2020.

To achieve this, Diageo is investing €18.5 million to reduce the amount of plastics used in its beer packaging. The business says it is investing €9.25 million in its bottling and packaging facility in east Belfast, which prepares products to be exported around the world.

Diageo says that less than 5 per cent of its total packaging is plastic and this change will reduce plastic usage by more than 400 tonnes annually.

Oliver Loomes, country director of Diageo Ireland, said: “Managing our environmental impact is important for the planet and the financial sustainability of our business. We already have one of the most sustainable breweries in the world at St James’s Gate and we are now leading the way in sustainable packaging.

“This is good news for the environment and for our brand,” he said.

Country director of Diageo Ireland Oliver Loomes and brewer Orla Gill with the new plastic free packaging, as the company announced it was removing plastic packaging from its beer packs. Picture: Naoise Culhane

MINISTER CALLS FOR NEW INFORMATION ON THE MASS BURIAL SITE OF BABIES

People ‘must know more’ Cate McCurry

Irish charity worker killed in Guatemala IRISH leaders have sent condolences after a life-long charity worker died in Guatemala. Tyrone woman Sally O’Neill Sanchez was killed in a car accident along with three co-workers while working for human rights causes in Central America in early April. She joined the charity Trocaire in 1978, and had a career spanning 37 years, working in Latin America, and Africa, most notably Ethiopia and Somalia. President Michael D Higgins said he was deeply saddened to hear of the death of his long-time friend (pictured above).

“To have known Sally O’Neill Sanchez was a privilege,” he said.

“To have been with her in some of the places of conflict, distress and human suffering was to see the brilliance, compassion, and limitless courage she brought to her engagement with the poor, the oppressed, and the displaced.”

Ireland’s NBN rollout to cost €3bn THE roll-out of the National

Broadband Plan (NBN) would cost in the region of €3 billion.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the Government needed to spend a little bit more time before it could make a decision on whether to award a contract for the multi-million euro project. Only one bidder remains in the process for the contract to deliver high-speed broadband to more than 540,000 homes.

The cost of the project was originally estimated at between €355 million and €512 million, but earlier this year Mr Varadkar said the cost may end up being many multiples of what was budgeted.

IRELAND’S children’s minister has urged people living in a Co Galway town to come forward with information about the burial of hundreds of babies at a mother and baby home.

Katherine Zappone made the plea as she published the fifth interim repor t by the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes in Ireland.

The repor t examines the burial arrangements in the institutions under investigation by the commission.

The report states that 937 children and babies died in Tuam, either in Glenamaddy or the Tuam home itself.

The report makes a number of findings in relation to the burials at the Tuam home, whose past was uncovered and publicised by local historian Catherine Corless.

The Glenamaddy workhouse had its own burial ground, and the report finds that 79 children who died there are most likely be buried on the site.

However, there is no burial register available for the institution and cannot

be verified. Of the 802 children buried at Tuam, a significant number were legitimate children who were accompanied by a parent.

“There must be more people in the Tuam area who know more about the burials arrangement than was made available to the Commission,” the Minister for Children said.

“If anyone has that information, please come forward. The Government is supporting my proposal that the commission’s report be referred to relevant ministers and then to specific authorities for consideration of any appropriate action including An Garda Siochana, the Coroner’s service and relevant burial authorities.

“My plea this morning, especially to the relevant people who may be out there is this: let us know where they are buried. Please come forward and tell the truth; let us acknowledge them with that truth, that they lived and died and maybe then finally they can be treated with dignity in death and this is my hope.”

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the report made for gruesome reading.

Minister for Children Katherine Zappone, launching the latest mother and baby homes report.

“It gives us a further insight into a very dark part of our history, a time when women and their babies were appallingly treated, often simply just for being unmarried or even just for being poor … badly treated by the State, the Church, their own families and also by wider society,” the Taoiseach said.

“As a society we inherit a deep shame for what was done back then

and we must now endeavour to learn, to atone and to put things right, and that is the guiding approach the government has.”

The commission is also critical of Galway County Council, saying it was surprised by the lack of knowledge about the burials.

“Galway County Council ... must have known something about the manner of burial when the home was in operation,” the report states.

One of the most notable issues raised by the commission is that they have not found the main burial ground in the Bessborough mother and baby home in Co Cork.

Bessborough, which opened in 1922, was run by the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

The report states that there has been difficulty in locating the site where burials took place.

Ms Zappone said that more than 900 children died in Bessborough but the Commission does not have any information about where they are buried.

“A lot of questions” r emain unanswered, she said.

NEW PARENTAL LEAVE BEING MADE AVAILABLE TO 60,000 PARENTS A YEAR

Parents will soon get up to seven weeks leave each Aoife Moore

UP to 60,000 parents a year are to gain new paid parental leave and benefit from November. The government has announced that parents will have access to two weeks’ leave each. This is expected to rise to seven weeks each over the next three years.

The legislation will also enable male same-sex couples to receive adoptive leave and benefit.

Under the scheme, both parents will have access to a non-transferable, two weeks each benefit for babies, which will be paid at the same rate as mater-

nity benefit and paternity benefit – €245 per week.

Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection Regina Doherty and Minister for Justice and Equality Charlie Flanagan announced that from this November all new parents in employment or self-employment will be able to avail of the new scheme, offering two weeks’ leave and benefit to spend with their new babies during their first year.

The government says that, ultimately, parents will be able to benefit from seven weeks’ leave each under the scheme as it develops incremen-

tally over the next three years. Ms Doherty said she hopes the scheme will encourage fathers to share parental responsibility.

“In that formative first year of life, children now have the opportunity to spend more time with both parents,” she said.

“Secondly, on top of the recently introduced paternity benefit, this extends the leave benefits available to fathers. Crucially, this new benefit is non-transferable and is available on a ‘use it or lose it’ basis.

“This, I hope, will help to incentivise fathers to take more time off work to

care for their children than has been the case up to now.

“The evidence shows that when fathers take a more significant and meaningful share in the parenting of their children the individual family benefits. So does wider society, as by encouraging more fathers to take time off we are in a position to challenge the existing culture regarding work and gender.”

“The leave will initially be set at two weeks, increasing on a phased basis over the next three years,” Mr Flanagan said: “This is in addition to existing entitlements.

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ireland ENTIRE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION IRELAND BOARD TO STEP DOWN

FAI’s own-goals exposed Aoife Moore

T H E ent ir e boa r d of Football Association Ireland have indicated they will step down.

The FAI has been in the eye of a political storm since it emerged that former chief executive John Delaney provided it with a bridging loan in April 2017 to prevent it exceeding its €1.5 million bank overdraft. Mr Delaney has insisted he acted in the best interests of the game when he loaned the organisation €100,000.

Minister for Sport Shane Ross said he was disappointed by the behaviour of the board.

He was speaking after a seven-hour committee meeting, in which members appeared unwilling or unable to answer basic questions.

“Concerns remain about a financial transaction, and corporate governance, which suggests that all is far from well,” he said.

“The FAI has written to me to say decisive action has been taken. I welcome that the FAI is engaging with Sport Ireland in a process, and that

they have now indicated that the board will step down.”

Sport Ireland has temporary withheld fur ther funding to the FAI pending an auditors’ inquiry.

In his appearance before a parliamentar y committee in Dublin, Mr Delaney read out a prepared statement but refused to answer questions from committee members.

Mr Delaney left his role as chief executive last month after the loan furore, taking on the newly-created FAI job of executive vice-president.

The job was not advertised and no other applicants were considered by the FAI board.

Mr Delaney told members of Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: “I accept that the overdraft limit issue arose on my watch as chief executive officer. I wish that it had not happened, but I acted in the best interests of the association.

“I regret the embarrassment that this entire issue has caused to them and the association, but I did it in the best interest of football.”

He said he could not make any

FAI President Donal Conway and former CEO and current executive vice president John Delaney.

further comments on the payment, his role as CEO or the finance arrangements at the FAI, due to legal advice.

“In the interests of fair procedures and natural justice, while I have made this statement to the committee and have attended this meeting voluntarily as I have attended many Oireachtas committees in the past, I am not in a

position to answer any such questions here at this time,” he said.

The former chief executive was accompanied by other senior FAI officials at the hearing. At the start of proceedings, the FAI president said the organisation had much work to do to rebuild trust and confidence.

FAI president Donal Conway moved to address the controversies surrounding the organisation’s financial and governance arrangements.

“I know we have much work to do to rebuild trust and confidence in the association, and we are committed to achieving this as a board,” he said.

Chair of the committee Fergus O’Dowd concluded the meeting by saying that he felt that the entire organisation down to the grass roots level would benefit if the board of the FAI “moved on”.

“I believe that an EGM should be called before July … to facilitate a transition to a new board by way of transparent elections.

“Considering the issues over which most of this board has presided... it is clearly time for a regime change.”

FACEBOOK BOSS MARK ZUCKERBERG JETS INTO DUBLIN

Baby gorilla born at Dublin Zoo A NEW arrival to Dublin’s west

has been sent warm wishes from Ireland’s leaders. The as yet unnamed western lowland gorilla was born at Dublin Zoo on April 1, to first-time parents, mother Kafi and father Bangui. It is not yet known if the infant is a boy or a girl, as protective mother Kafi is keeping her baby close to her chest, impeding zookeepers from carrying out examinations.

One of the many well wishers for Dublin’s newest citizen was Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who said he was “glad to welcome a new resident to Dublin’s west”.

Search is on for new NI police chief INDEPENDENT recruitment specialists

have been hired to oversee the appointment of Northern Ireland’s next police chief. A senior occupational psychologist will look at sample notes taken by selection panel members and ask them to justify the marks they allocate to shortlisted candidates for the chief constable’s job. A preference for applicants to have served outside Northern Ireland has also been dropped from the list of desirable criteria in the selection process.

Former soldier to face murder charge A FORMER British soldier is to be

prosecuted for the murder of a teenage boy who was shot dead in 1972, Northern Ireland’s Public Prosecution Service (PPS) has announced. The veteran, identified only as Soldier B, will face the charge of murdering 15-year-old Daniel Hegarty, who was shot and killed by a member of an Army patrol on duty in the Creggan area of Derry on July 31, 1972, during what was known as Operation Motorman.

Daniel died after being shot twice in the head by Soldier B. The former soldier will also be charged with wounding with intent after Daniel’s cousin Christopher Hegarty, then aged 17, was also shot and injured in the incident.

Long wait for asylum seekers, says report MORE than 140 people have

Mark Zuckerberg outside the Merrion Hotel in Dublin during his visit last month. Picture: Niall Carson

Facebook chief doesn’t like ‘harmful content’ online Michael McHugh and Cate McCurry FACEBOOK chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has admitted that there is a lot more the social network can do to regulate social media content that is harmful to children.

Mr Zuckerberg denied that his recent call for governments to take a more active role in regulating the internet was an effort by the company to absolve itself of responsibility.

The firm’s founder and chief executive was in Dublin in April to visit the technology giant’s offices. Facebook’s European headquarters is in Dublin.

“Either way we’re going to have responsivity for making sure that we can police harmful content and get it off our services,” Mr Zuckerberg told RTE News.

“I think these days a lot of people don’t want tech companies or any pri-

vate companies to be making so many decisions about what speech is acceptable and what this harmful content that needs to be gets taken down.

“So I think there is a role for a broader public debate here and I think some of these things would benefit from a more democratic process and a more active government role.”

The Facebook boss said he could not guarantee the company would be able to stop its platforms being used by malicious actors trying to influence the outcome of the European Elections.

“We’ve certainly made a lot of progress in building defences to protect the integrity of elections,” he said. “But no, I don’t think anyone can guarantee in a world where you have nation states [that] are trying to interfere in elections there is no single thing that we can do, and say okay, we have now solved the issue. This is an ongoing arms race.”

Mr Zuckerberg met senior Irish politicians during his visit to the Republic and assured them that he would work with governments to establish new policies in a bid to regulate social media.

He discussed his plans to regulate the internet with Hildegarde Naughton, James Lawless and Eamon Ryan, three members of the International Grand Committee on Disinformation and Fake News.

Mr Zuckerberg told the politicians that issues around child protection and age verification are of huge concern to him. Ms Naughton said the meeting was positive and constructive.

“We went through a number of issues including child protection and the need for a robust age verification system,” she said.

“He said it was an area of huge concern to him and that he is looking forward to working with law enforce-

ment agencies and legislators in relation to that.

“Our committee is working on a number of pieces of legislation, including an online safety commissioner as well as looking at and protecting democracy.

“I mentioned the importance around age verification because you have right now paedophiles online lying about their age and preying on young children and grooming them. This is something he acknowledged. He knew it was a problem and he stated that he wanted to work with law enforcement agencies and policy makers to make more robust laws.”

“Our focus was also on electoral integrity,” Mr Lawless said. “[Mr Zuckerberg] … said he is working on those internationally to be able to see who is running campaigns, who is paying for campaigns and who is being targeted.”

been living in Direct Provision for over seven years, according to government figures. Figures supplied to the Public Accounts Committee show that of the 6,093 asylum seekers currently in Direct Provision centres, 142 of those have been there for more than 84 months.

Direct Provision is intended to house asylum seekers while their applications are processed. Many housed there cannot work, and receive an allowance of €38.80 per week. Children account for almost a third of the people housed in the 40-plus centres around Ireland. The system was designed as a shortterm measure, but many applicants are now experiencing longer and longer stays, which charities say is linked to declining physical and mental health, social isolation and self-esteem. The average length of time people live in Direct Provision is about two years. Over a third of all asylum seekers have lived in a centre for more than 24 months. There has been a six per cent increase in occupancy in the first quarter of 2019.

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ireland IRISH GOVERNMENT TO ASSIST EX-SOLDIER TO RETURN TO IRELAND WITH DAUGHTER

ISIS bride wants to return David Young

and take her home with me and get her educated. People her e ar e not educated.”

“The only thing for me … what I can do anyway … is just live my life the way I live it, in my own home, with my daughter, and bring my daughter up.

“I don’t want to cause problems for anyone, I don’t want to mix, I’m still me, I’m still like a good neighbour, I’m still a good friend, I’m just still me.

“I’m not, like, out to kill anyone, I don’t believe in suicide attacks.”

According to the newspaper report, when asked whether she fought for Isis, Ms Smith said: “No, I didn’t do anything.”

She reportedly added: “I didn’t even own a gun. My husband many times said to me, ‘you want me to buy you one?’ I said no. He said ‘it’s just for

self-defence’ or, I said: ‘I don’t want, I don’t want’.

“I think anyone that knows me, you know in the army or outside the army or anywhere in my life, will know that, they know me, that I wouldn’t pick up the weapon and fight and stuff like that.

“I didn’t do it, I didn’t own a rifle, I didn’t teach them anything.”

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has already indicated that Ms Smith would be permitted to return to Ireland if she wished. But he has said a security assessment would have to be carried to make sure she is not a threat to anyone in Ireland.

Asked if she should face investigation in Ireland, Ms Smith said: “I have nothing to hide. The only thing I did was come here and like other people I’ve realised I made a mistake.”

Lisa Smith went to live in ISIScontrolled Syria.

A FORMER Irish soldier who went to live in Islamic State-controlled Syria has reportedly denied fighting for the jihadist militants.

Lisa Smith, a 37-year-old originally from Co Louth, is living in a refugee camp in Syria.

In an interview with The Mail On Sunday, Ms Smith spoke of her desire to return to Ireland with her two-yearold daughter, whom she claims was born to a British father while living in IS territory, a man she says died in the past three months.

“For me, I want to go back to my country,” the former member of the Defence Forces told the newspaper. “[My daughter is] my number one priority now. That’s why I want to leave

SEAMUS HEANEY

EASTER RISING ANNIVERSARY MARKED IN DUBLIN

BBC film on life of muchloved poet Craig Simpson THE BBC has announced a featurelength film exploring the life of Nobel Prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney.

Following the Irish writer’s death at 74 in 2013, his wife, children and brothers have shared poems and insights into family life with Heaney with “intimacy and poignancy”.

Raised in a family of nine children and the son of a cattle dealer, he shot to fame in 1966 with his earthy portrayals of rural life in his lauded collection Death Of A Naturalist.

Heaney has been described as the greatest Irish poet since WB Yeats, and forged an international reputation for verse which lead to him being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995.

With the working title of Seamus Heaney: The Music of What Happens, the film will examine his powerful rise as a modern bard with the help of his wife Marie, and his three children Michael, Christopher and Catherine.

Patrick Holland, controller of BBC Two, said: “Seamus Heaney is a cultural colossus who created some of the most powerful, beautiful and resonant poetry of the last 50 years. This film promises exceptional intimacy and poignancy. I am so delighted the family has agreed to share their memories him for the BBC Two audience.”

Mark Bell, commissioning editor of BBC Arts, called the film “a rich and tender appraisal of this great writer using the memories of his family and those closest to him”.

Heaney was born in Co Derry and raised in a rural setting. He later attended university in Belfast. His breakthrough came with the publication of his poems by Faber & Faber in 1966.

Heaney moved to Co Wicklow in the Republic in the early 1970s, and remained an Irish citizen.

The famed poet was also praised for his translation work, in particular the ancient epic Beowulf.

Queen’s uni role for former taoiseach FORMER taoiseach Bertie Ahern has

been appointed honorary professor of peace studies at Queen’s University in Belfast. Mr Ahern will take up the role at the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice. Mr Ahern, who served as taoiseach from 1997 to 2008, played a significant role in the negotiations that led to the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. He also helped to negotiate the return of devolution to Northern Ireland in 2007. In his role as honorary professor, Mr Ahern will take part in workshops and masterclasses with students and will participate in events at the university.

Monkey seized in Dublin police raid A WOMAN has been charged by

detectives who seized guns, drugs and a monkey during a raid in Dublin.

The woman, who is in her 30s and was arrested along with two men after Friday’s search operation, has been charged under Ireland’s Theft and Fraud Offences Act, 2001. She has been released and is due in court at a later date. Officers conducted the searches at a halting site on the Ratoath Road in Finglas in north Dublin on Friday morning. One machine pistol, one sub-machine gun, one .357 calibre revolver, 300 rounds of assorted 9mm and .357 ammunition and 227 rounds of 12 gauge shotgun cartridges were seized. Gardai also discovered almost €30,000 worth of cannabis and cocaine worth an estimated €97,000.

A monkey in a cage was also found during the search. It was taken away by animal welfare officers and is being cared for by the Dublin Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA).

Sinn Féin MP reveals PTSD diagnosis A SINN Fein MP says she was

Captain Paul Conlon holds his four-year-old son Senan after reading the Proclamation during the national commemoration to mark the 103rd anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising. Picture: Liam McBurney

Rising victims remembered at Easter Michelle Devane PRESIDENT Michael D Higgins led a commemoration to mark the 103rd anniversary of the Easter Rising in Dublin. Mr Higgins was joined by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and defence minister Paul Kehoe at the state ceremony outside the GPO on O’Connell Street, the landmark building that served as the headquarters of the 1916 rebels.

Members of the Irish Defence Forces including representatives of the Army, Air Corps and Navy also took part in the commemorations.

The event began with the lowering of the Irish Tricolour.

A prayer was read and a piper played a lament before the Proclamation of Independence was read by a Defence Forces officer.

Mr Higgins laid a wreath to commemorate all those who died in 1916.

A minute’s silence was also held.

The official ceremony concluded with the raising of the Tricolour, the playing of the Irish national anthem and a flypast by the Irish Air Corps.

On Easter Monday 1916, rebel

leader Pádraig Pearse stood outside the GPO and read out the proclamation to herald the start of the insurrection against British rule.

The Easter Rising was a military failure for the revolutionaries, who included poets, journalists and teachers, but it sparked a chain of events that ultimately led to the partition of Ireland and the creation of an independent Republic as well as Northern Ireland.

On Easter Sunday morning Culture Minister Josepha Madigan led a remembrance ceremony at Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin for all those who died in the rebellion laying a wreath at the Sigerson Monument and at the graves of Edward Hollywood, the man who delivered the first Tricolour to Ireland from France, and Peadar Kearney, the composer of country’s national anthem. Ciara Considine, a relative of Peadar Kearney’s, sang the anthem.

“Over the past 187 years, people have gathered here in Glasnevin Cemetery to mark the passing of one and a half million individuals,” Ms Madigan said.

“The cemetery has been a place

for solemn and significant occasions, commemorations and the burial place of key persons in Irish history. “ “The sacrifice of those who died for Irish freedom is acknowledged and perhaps better understood today, and the legacy of 1916 has passed on to new generations and informed and guided our path to independence and the first 100 years of the latest chapter in Ireland’s history.”

John Green, chairman of Glasnevin Trust, said: “It’s hugely important that we continue to remember the young men and women who perished Easter week 1916. It’s remembrance days like these at Glasnevin Cemetery, where so many men and women of the Easter Rising of 1916 are buried, that allow us the chance to reflect on our history as a nation. It’s a privilege for us to honour both those who lost their lives in 1916, as well as the Irish citizens that contributed in different ways like Peader Kearney and Edward Hollywood.”

Almost 500 people were killed in the uprising, the majority of them - 268 were civilians caught up in the violence.

A total of 119 British soldiers also died.

diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder because of trauma related to the long-running Troubles in Northern Ireland. Fermanagh and South Tyrone representative Michelle Gildernew was speaking in Dublin during a meeting of the Oireachtas committee on the Good Friday Agreement. The political veteran grew up Co Tyrone in the 1970s and 1980s where her family took part in the civil rights’ campaign.

“Anybody who has lost a loved one knows what it feels like to be a victim,” she said.

“There is an awful lot of pain and hurt out there, I recognise that, we’ve all been through the conflict.

“I was diagnosed with PTSD in 2013 as a result of it.”

Celebration of Irish links with Japan HUNDREDS of people gathered in Dublin to celebrate Ireland’s links with Japan. The traditional Japanese Cherry Blossom festival, called Hanami, was held in the grounds of Farmleigh House in the city’s Phoenix Park. During the colourful event there were performances of Taiko drums and Soranbushi dance. Members of Ireland’s Japanese community were among those enjoying the day. Now in its 10th year, the festival was hosted by the Office of Public Works and the Embassy of Japan.

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brexit :: ireland EUROPEAN LEADERS GRANT UK EXTENSION TO AVOID DISORDERLY BREXIT

New deadline for UK as Brexit debacle drags on THE British Prime Minister Theresa May has accepted an offer from Brussels to delay Brexit to October 31.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who backed a longer extension, said she supported the effort to secure an orderly Brexit.

“In my eyes it’s important now that the European Union does not exert pressure here on Great Britain. We have very clear demands and expectations. We have to have ways and means to ensure that the withdrawal agreement is adhered to. It’s not important whether it’s that date or another one.”

French President Emmanuel Macron said he had pushed against a long extension “for the collective good”.

“It is true that the majority was more in favour of a very long extension,” he said. “But it was not logical in my view, and above all, it was neither good for us, nor for the British people.”

“I think we delivered the best possible compromise. First because it was the one to preserve the unity of the 27 (member states).

“Second because we addressed the request from the UK to get more time

to deliver a deal on the basis of the withdrawal agreement negotiated a few months ago. And third because, thanks to this agreement, we preserve the well-functioning of the European Union,” Mr Macron said.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the European Union “is not a prison (and) nobody has to stay, but it’s also a home and we’re not going to kick anybody out either”.

Asked if he thought the extension was long enough, he replied: “I really hope so. It’s three years since the referendum now and we really think it’s time for the United Kingdom to make a decision.”

Mr Varadkar said there was genuine concern about the UK remaining in the EU for an extended period in case it disrupts EU business.

“That is already the case, with Ukip and [Nigel] Farage,” he added.

Vice-president of the European Parliament Mairead McGuinness said EU leaders were focused on bringing Brexit to a conclusion.

“We [in Europe] do need to move away from Brexit talk, because it’s morning, noon and night,” she said.

Little British support for union with NI

TAOISEACH SEEKS TO REASSSURE NATIONALISTS IN NORTHERN IRELAND

BARELY a third of the public in Great Britain hope Northern Ireland would vote to remain in the UK, new research showed. A fifth said they would prefer it left and joined the Republic of Ireland following any future referendum on removing the Irish border, pollsters revealed. One in three (34 per cent) thought Brexit will make it more likely that Northern Ireland will join the Republic over the next decade. The research was published by market research organisation Ipsos MORI. Conservatives are most likely to hope that Northern Ireland would vote to stay in the UK: 49 per cent of those who would currently vote Conservative say they would prefer Northern Ireland to vote to stay, compared to 34 per cent of Labour supporters and 27 per cent of Liberal Democrats.

Those who voted for Britain to remain in the EU in the 2016 referendum are more likely (23 per cent) to want Northern Ireland to leave the Union and join the Republic than those who voted leave (15 per cent). Three in four adults who live in Great Britain have never visited Northern Ireland.

Beef farmers sound alarm over losses IRISH beef farmers have already incurred losses of €101 million ($160m) because of the effects of Brexit, an Oireachtas committee has heard. Irish Farmers Association (IFA) president Joe Healy said his organisation has calculated that angry and frustrated beef farmers have already incurred the unacceptable losses since last October, and need help.

“Farmers cannot afford to carry this loss and it must be made good by the Government and EU Commission,” Mr Healy said. He believes large retailers and meat plants have taken advantage of anxiety around Brexit, which has resulted in a lack of competition for Irish farmers, affecting prices and income, particularly for small farms.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in Dublin. Both leaders supported an extension of the Brexit deadline to allow the UK to make a decision. Picture: Brian Lawless

No ‘diminution’ of NI rights Cate McCurry

IRISH citizens in Northern Ireland will continue to be European in all circumstances, the Taoiseach has said.

In a move to reassure northern nationalists, Leo Varadkar said people in Northern Ireland will continue to benefit from important rights and will not be discriminated against on the grounds of nationality.

Thousands of nationalists living north of the border have called on Mr Varadkar to ensure their rights are protected as the political fallout over Brexit continues.

In January more than 1,500 Irish citizens attended an event in Belfast that highlighted the potential impact of Brexit on their rights and liveli-

hoods. “The Withdrawal Agreement contains a commitment from the UK that Brexit will not result in any diminution of the rights, safeguards and equality of opportunity as set out in the Good Friday Agreement,” he said.

“I have discussed with Prime Minister [Theresa] May the responsibilities of the UK Government under the Good Friday Agreement, with or without a deal.

“No matter what happens, there are a number of areas on which we can provide reassurance for Irish citizens living in Northern Ireland.

“Irish citizens in Northern Ireland will continue to be European citizens in all circumstances.

“They will continue to enjoy the right to travel and work and study

freely throughout the EU, benefiting from the important rights not to be discriminated against on the grounds of nationality while doing so.”

He said the continuation of the Common Travel Area will allow Irish and British citizens to move freely.

“They will continue to enjoy a range of rights and privileges in each other’s countries, including the right to live and work as well as to access healthcare, housing, education, pensions, social benefits and the rights to vote in each other’s local and parliamentary elections,” he added. “Even in the event of a no-deal outcome, we will ensure that people in Nor ther n Ireland will still have access to European Health Insurance Cards.

“Similarly, we will work to ensure

third-level students in Nor ther n Ireland will continue to be able to access the Erasmus+ higher education programme.”

He thanked both Houses of the Oireachtas legislature for showing “unity” in dealing with Brexit, particularly the Brexit Omnibus Bill which was passed last month.

“This landmark piece of legislation, crossing the remit of nine Government departments, focuses on protecting Irish citizens, assisting businesses and jobs, and securing ongoing access to essential services and products,” he added.

“Our work complements the steps under way at EU level to implement measures to mitigate the impact of a no-deal Brexit.”

GOOD FRIDAY AGREEMENT CAN NOT BE THROWN UNDER THE BUS, CAMPAIGNER SAYS

‘We are Irish too’ campaign gains momentum

Georgina Stubbs

THE British Government cannot just “throw the Good Friday Agreement under the bus” to pursue a shor tsighted Brexit agenda, a campaigner has said.

Rallies held in London (pictured) and Belfast last month, dubbed #WeAreIrishtoo, called on all governments to uphold the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts. The protests came after the British Government rejected Der r y woman Emma DeSouza’s American husband’s application for a visa because of her refusal to call herself British.

The campaigner and paralegal, Mark Hughes, who was born in Newry and now lives in Lewisham, south London, said Ms DeSouza’s case highlighted the legal grey area that Northern Irish citizens could fall into.

“The Good Friday Agreement gave us peace, normality and a shared future

no matter what. We could be British, we could be Irish and we could be both,” he said.

Speaking outside the Nor thern Ireland Of fice in Westminster, Mr Hughes said the murder of journalist L yra McKee had shown just how fragile that peace is.

“We need to show the Government that they cannot just throw the Good Friday Agreement under the bus to pursue a myopic Brexit agenda. The stance of the Tory government dumps on that parity of esteem which is provided by the Good Friday Agreement.

We do not want a two-tiered society where EU rights are given to one group and not the other”.

Under the terms of the Good Friday peace agreement of 1998, people from Northern Ireland have the right to hold UK or Irish citizenship, or both.

Ms DeSouza and her husband Jake were told after their wedding in 2015 that his application for a family member residence card to remain in Northern Ireland had been rejected because she applied for the visa as an Irish national.

She and others have claimed they were being forced to declare as British, or

formally renounce British citizenship they insist they never held, to engage with the r esidency application process.

In a video posted on Twitter, Ms DeSouza said in the current climate it is important to come forward and stand up for the Good Friday Agreement, peace process and their rights which are “under threat”.

Ms DeSouza has previously said the lack of legislative protections for citizens in Northern Ireland is because the Good Friday Agreement has not been fully implemented.

Der r y Girls actr ess Siobhan McSweeney attended the rally in London and said that as someone from the Republic of Ireland, she supports Northern Irish voices”.

“What I see is a sleight of hand by the British Government to dismantle the Good Friday Agreement which ... allows citizens of Northern Ireland to identify as Irish as British or as both.”

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Mal Rogers scans Ireland’s regional media for what’s making news in your county DERRY

Drunk driver jailed for injuring girlfriend in car crash A 20-YEAR-OLD MAN has been jailed for four years for a crash that left his then girlfriend permanently brain-damaged.

BBC News reports that Conor McSorley from Limavady, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily injury to the woman by careless driving while drunk. He also admitted driving while disqualified and without a licence.

The victim, 28 at the time, now requires 24-hour care.

The Crown Court in Derry was told that on the night of December 20, 2017, McSorley lost control of his car. It overturned and struck several trees before ending up in a ditch.

When the police tried to establish the identity of the victim to inform her family, McSorley denied knowing her. He told two women who stopped at the scene that he was not the driver and had been out for a walk when he saw the car crash.

The judge told the court the victim’s parents now shared caring responsibilities for their daughter.

“The injuries she sustained were life changing in every way,” Judge Babington said.

Sentencing McSorley, the judge said his behaviour at the scene of the crash was “unacceptable and did him no credit”.

McSorley was also disqualified from driving for five years.

ANTRIM

Driver caught doing 122mph A DRIVER was caught by police driving at 122mph along one of Northern Ireland’s most treacherous roads, the Belfast Telegraph reports.

He was detected speeding along Frosses Road in Co Antrim on Saturday evening.

Frosses Road has been the scene of several fatal crashes over the years.

Posting on social media, PSNI Road Policing said the driver “claimed he wasn’t paying full attention to his speed”.

LIMERICK

Novel idea: Limerick library to open without staff A €1m facility in Cappamore is to be the first in Co. Limerick to be part of the My Open Library pilot project.

The Limerick Leader reports that the new concept means that the library will open 8am to 10pm, seven days a week.

“People can enter and leave with a card and security has been ramped up with extra cameras, a monitoring system and a panic button,” county librarian Damian Brady said.

“There will be an induction for everyone on how to exit the building if an incident happens. For example, if you want to go into the library at, for instance, 5.10pm on a Tuesday you swipe your card and key in your personal code. The system knows who is entering and leaving.

If somebody rushes in behind you as you enter you are required to make contact with security. It is self responsibility,” said Mr Brady.

The librarian said people’s lives have changed and quoted Rural Minister Michael Ring’s phrase, “We want to keep a light on in rural Ireland” MAYO

Balla poultry farm ruffles feathers A GROUP of locals is objecting to plans for a free-range poultry house in Brownhall Demense, outside Balla.

The development will have a capacity for 12,000 hens and one of the objectors has told The Mayo News that it is not a suitable location for the development.

In his objection, Michael O’Connor said it would be extremely unpleasant to live next to the proposed development, and he cited a number of reasons why he believes the development is not suitable for the area.

The local mechanic says he has spent considerable time, money and effort in saving for and then building.

The planning application, which was lodged by Noel and Ann Mulhern, is for a 1,856-metresquared site set on 1.677 hectares of land, three kilometres south west of Balla.

The application is currently with Mayo County Council.

WICKLOW

Solicitor admits stealing over €350,000 from clients A FORMER solicitor at a Wicklow town firm who admitted the theft of hundreds of thousands of euro from client accounts over the course of several years, received a suspended sentence at Wicklow Circuit Court.

The Wicklow People reports that Michelle Caulfield (39), was charged with 34 counts of theft from Augustus Cullen Law, Detective Garda Eoin Martin told the court.

She entered pleas of guilty to nine, with the remainder taken into consideration.

The thefts occurred between 2006 and 2015. Since the start of the investigation, all money has been repaid.

Judge Terrence O’Sullivan heard that Caulfield had sold her house; that she had sold a car obtained using some of the stolen money; and that family members had re-mortgaged property to come up with money to be repaid.

Caulfield was the only one who knew that money had been stolen, the court heard, even though there

AUST R ALIA’S IR ISH NE WSPAP E R

were a number of beneficiaries in her family. The court heard that Caulfield had a number of personal problems to deal with that caused great stress.

Judge Terrence O’Sullivan said that aggravating factors included the breach of trust of her employers, and those people to whom the money belonged.

Mitigating factors included her having no previous history of offending, her obvious remorse, and the fact that she had entered an early plea and cooperated fully. Also mitigating, was the fact that all monies had been repaid.

Judge O’Sullivan handed Caulfield a one-year sentence, fully suspended.

KERRY

Pub owner fined A PUB in Listowel in which gardaí found customers still present seven minutes after closing-time – on the night of the Revival music festival last August – has been fined €200 at the district court.

The Kerryman reports that O’Connor’s Public House, trading as Mike the Pie’s, was before Judge David Waters who was informed by gardaí they had found 70 people on the premises at 2.40am on a night when closing time had been at 12.30am, with half-an-hour drinkingup time.

The defence said an exemption allowed for the serving of alcohol until 2am, with 2.30am the cut off time and that the inspection had been carried out at 2.37am.

Judge Waters imposed a €200 fine.

DOWN

Newry Council to repay £23k over TV screen beside cathedral A COUNCIL is to repay funding of more than £23,000 to a government department following a scheme where a large TV screen was erected without proper planning permission.

In 2015, Newry, Mourne and Down Council erected a large screen beside Newry Cathedral.

The BBC reports that the Catholic Church said it had not been consulted about the screen and that it was a breach of planning rules.

Planning permissions were overturned and the screen was taken down and sold.

At the time Canon Francis Brown from Newry Cathedral told the BBC that the church and parishioners were “delighted” with the court’s decision”.

The council will now have to pay back £23,193 of funding to the Department for Communities after the department deemed the original payment “irregular”.

BELFAST

‘We hate Catholics’ song woman faces footie ban A WOMAN from Castlederg is reported to be one of the fans who will be issued with a ban on attending Northern Ireland international matches.

THE move is a joint effort between the IFA and the Amalgamation of Northern Ireland Supporters’ Clubs (AONISC).

The Belfast Telegraph alleges that the woman was captured on video as part of a group singing “we hate Catholics, everybody hates Roman Catholics” to the tune of Tiffany’s 1987 pop classic I think We’re Alone Now. The incident happened in a

Tourism Ireland CEO Niall Gibbons (left) and Tourism NI CEO John McGrillen, with the new stained glass installation that has been unveiled opposite Belfast City Hall to mark the beginning of the final season of Game of Thrones. Photo: William Cherry/PA Wire packed south Belfast bar. Sunday Life says that the young woman can be seen dancing on a chair leading the chanting. The newspaper says it made a number of efforts to contact those who could be identified from the video. They report that no one answered the door at the woman’s home in Killen but a friend of the family approached the Sunday Life reporter and firstly told him to “clear off” and then shouted “f*** off”.

The fans group AONISC said they were working with the IFA to ascertain the identity of all the individuals shown to be involved in sectarian singing in the video.

DONEGAL

Retired psychotherapist assaulted by Donegal sheep farmer in pub row over Palestine A RETIRED psychotherapist told a court he could have been killed or seriously injured after being assaulted by a Co. Donegal sheep farmer in a pub row over Palestine.

The Irish News reports that Francis Cunningham (39), of Glencolmcille, pleaded guilty to a charge of assault causing harm to Eamon McMahon in the Glen Head Tavern, Glencolmcille.

Glenties District Court heard that Mr McMahon, from Belfast, was on holiday in the area and had gone to the pub to buy cigarettes where he encountered the defendant and his fiancée.

A discussion arose about Palestine. The court heard that the defendant grabbed the retired psychotherapist by the lapels, pushed him backwards and tried to bang his head against the wall.

He was rescued before the defendant attacked again, but had already suffered injuries, including a broken collar-bone.

Mr McMahon told the court he knew the defendant to see and had been introduced to a young woman with him. The conversation turned to the Palestinian badge he was wearing.

He had made a remark about the political situation at which point Cunningham threatened to throw him through the window.

A defence solicitor said his client

reacted as he did because the remarks related to US involvement in Palestine; his fiancée, now wife, is American.

Judge Paul Kelly said he was going to consider restorative justice. He put the matter back to May 22 to see if Cunningham was suitable for community service.

He added that compensation would be considered.

MAYO

Floating wind farm to be tested THE project leaders of the first floating offshore wind project, due to be tested off the Belmullet coast, say it is a technology that can be employed anywhere.

The Mayo News reports that the first full-scale floating off-shore wind turbines are expected to be deployed off the Belmullet coast within the next three years, after funding was approved.

The project, which is expected to cost €31 million, is the first of its kind at such a scale, and draws on expertise from right across Europe.

The announcement was welcomed

by Mayo County Council. Michael O’Boyle, head of marine development with Mayo County Council, said that the project was the “first step in harnessing what is the now considered the greatest Renewable Energy Resource anywhere in Europe if not the world”.

WEXFORD

Composer PJ McCall remembered THE 100th anniversary of the death of PJ McCall, has been marked in Wexford.

The Dublin-born author of songs Follow Me Up to Carlow, Boolavogue, and Kelly from Killane, had family roots in Wexford.

He spent a lot of time with local musicians and ballad singers in Rathangan and his aunt Ellen was said to have provided much of the raw material for a lot of his songs.

A ceremony was held in Rathangan, followed by a session at Rathangan Bar, where musicians performed McCall’s best known and best loved tunes.

MERC_WEEKLY SPECIALS_1-2pageAd_ECHO_rev.pdf

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time out

RIVERSIDE THEATRES IN ASSOCIATION WITH MERRIGONG THEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS FISHAMBLE: THE NEW PLAY COMPANY PRODUCTION

WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY MARGARET MCAULIFFE

16 – 18 MAY A story full of heart, humour and wisdom.

A vivid portrait of a world far removed from the showbiz glitz of Riverdance, this award-winning work is a charming reminder that there’s more to life than learning the right steps. ««««« ‘…a delight… sit back and enjoy this emotional rollercoaster ride.’

Broadway Baby

Developed as part of Show in a Bag an artist development initiative of Dublin Fringe Festival, Fishamble: The New Play Company and Irish Theatre Institute to resource theatre makers and actors.

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Leprechaun letter a 59-year-old mystery

May the road be with you

Donegal drone road A ROAD in Donegal has been renamed the R2D2 in tribute to one of Star Wars’ most famous characters.

New signs were unveiled on what was the R242 near Malin Head in to mark the location where scenes from the most recent instalment of the franchise, The Last Jedi, were filmed.

A replica R2D2 droid joined other Star Wars characters on the island’s most northerly point to celebrate the novel tourism initiative.

The name change on a road that runs through the scenic Inishowen peninsula has been approved by Donegal County Council.

It was initially agreed on a temporary basis but the switch is now set to become permanent.

Jack Murray, a local councillor who also works with tourism group Explore Inishowen, first proposed the rebrand.

“It is so simple, because we had the R242 and just the one letter change and you’ve captured Star Wars and one of the famous characters in Star Wars – R2D2,” he said. “Hopefully for a long time tourists will come and get their photo taken with the R2D2 sign and see the beautiful location where Star Wars was filmed.”

The signage has been erected ahead of Inishowen’s first May The Fourth festival this week.

Tourism promotion body, Failte Ireland, has announced details of the festival programme on Inishowen.

It includs a Star Wars themed 3km Fun Run and, wait for it, Yoda Yoga.

Canine commuter THE owners of an adventurous Irish dog who took a solo train ride to Dublin have been found.

Irish Rail announced the happy ending to a shaggy dog’s story that has captivated pet lovers across the island. The canine commuter boarded the 08.46 in Sallins, Co Kildare and joined bemused passengers on a 30-minute journey into Dublin’s Heuston Station.

Irish Rail’s efforts to track down his owners proved a hit on social media, with its Twitter appeal shared and liked thousands of times, as fans christened the train-loving terrier Hamish. But it turns out his real name is Tyson, and Irish Rail arrenged a tearful reunion with his owners. Announcing the news on Twitter, the operator joked: “The movie rights are exorbitant.”

Ted Maher, who works for Irish Rail but also volunteers at an animal sanctuary My Lovely Horse Rescue, looked after Tyson overnight on Wednesday.

The dog has now been electronically tagged by the sanctuary to help keep track of him if he embarks on any future trips.

Irish Rail later highlighted that both Hamish and Tyson were trending on social media, generating more tweets between them than German chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to Dublin for Brexit talks.

The operator tweeted “#SorryAngela”.

THE letter begins: “Dear King of the Leprechauns. I would love to come to Ireland but my daddy doesn’t have very much money”.

The letter was written by an 11-year-old Australian girl, to Irish actor Jimmy O’Dea in 1960.

O’Dea was fresh from his role as King Brian, King of the Leprechauns, in Disney’s 1959 film Darby O’Gill and the Little People.

Sixty years on, the search is on for the letter’s author, Patricia Hickson, from Sydney who, as a child, wanted to go to Ireland.

Brían Patrick Doyle from Malahide recently discovered the letter’s existence. O’Dea, who was from Dublin and died in 1965, had been godfather to Brían’s father, Conor.

The latter is an Irish theatre historian and inherited a huge collection of O’Dea memorabilia.

“My dad has had the letter for donkey’s years, but I’ve only found out about it,” Brían told the BBC. Somehow, the letter, which was adddressed to the “King Of Leprecons” (sic) had been delivered to the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin and passed on to O’Dea who, in turn, sent it on to Walt Disney. Disney read it and sent a note back to him.

So the search is on for leprechaun lover Patricia Hickson, who would now be aged 70 or so.

“We wonder does she even remember writing it and did she ever hear back from Jimmy,” Brían asked.

“Does she know that her letter made it to the desk of Walt Disney?

We would love to fill her in.”

Patricia, if you’re out there, give us a bell at (02) 9555 9199.

They said it...

“I am, however, left with a question: Why in God’s name does it take the death of a 29-year-old woman with her whole life in front of her to get us to this point?”

Catholic priest Father Martin Magill, who officated at the funeral of Lyra McKee, the young Belfast journalist murdered in Derry.

“That’s why it’s important that we get back to the Assembly. To get it up and running again. There is a great public desire to see the Assembly up and running again, there’s an awful lot to be done.”

DUP leader Arlene Foster, speaking after Fr Martin Magill’s funeral address.

“This is an attempt to get the Executive, recognising the faults and failings of the last Executive, recognising why it collapsed and wishing to put together one which is sustainable and does not collapse again.”

Sinn Féin negotiator Conor Murphy on restarting the talks in the North.

“I can’t tell you how shocked I am about this decision. I think it’s going to shake the very core vote of the DUP to the foundations. The party is making a very clear statement here by this selection and it fundamentally undermines the values and traditions of the party … Many, many members have contacted me and just can’t understand what has happened here. The party was founded by Ian Paisley from a fundamental Protestant background, and the biblical teaching on this subject is absolutely clear. There is no ambiguity, that this lifestyle [homosexuality] is not endorsed biblically.”

DUP MLA Jim Wells speaking after the party announced that Alison Bennington, an openly-gay woman, is to run for the DUP in the council elections.

“The Good Friday accord is alive and well – just like our commitment to protect it. Here is the most important place we could ever be, this Good Friday.”

Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, speaking in Belfast.

“There must be more people in the Tuam area who know more about the burials arrangement than was made available to the Commission.”

Katherine Zappone, Ireland’s Minister for Children after the report on the Mother and Baby Homes Commission investigations into the notorious burials associated with the Tuam maternity institution “It is rather humiliating that we had to go and beg to the European Union.”

Arlene Foster, DUP leader, speaking after the EU’s decision last week to give the UK until October 31 to sort out the Brexit imbroglio. Irish leaders and representatives have had much to say about the situation.

Jimmy O’Dea in the famous 1959 Disney film Darby O’Gill and The Little People.

Quiz

Crossword

1. What links James Joyce, war correspondent Marie Colvin; the soul singer Gabrielle; Sammy Davis Jr; Moshe Dayan?

2. What was banned in Ireland in 1942, causing the theft of bicycles to soar?

3. How is Dublin-born Arthur Wellesley better known?

3. What was the name of the Irish regiment who mutinied in India in 1920?

4. What position does Jude Thaddeus Okolo, who lives in an official residence on Navan Road, Dublin, hold in Ireland?

5. What are the constituents of the cocktail ‘black velvet’?

6. The Council of State is the advisory body to whom under the constitution?

7. Which detective fiction writer born in Chicago, but brought up partly in London, England and in Waterford, Ireland, said on quitting a post with the British Admiralty: “I have too much Irish blood in me to be pushed around by suburban nobodies.”

8. What is the Tallyman’s Guide a guide to?

9. Fred Daly was he first Irish golfer to win a major, back in 1949. Who was the next Irish man to win a golf major?

10. In which lough is the monastery island of Devenish?

Clues across: 1 Vessel at base in Wicklow town (6) 4. Finished handin’ over, we hear in Derry (8) 9. Irish leader and man from Genesis (7) 10. Roman figures old Chinese leader must keep digging(7) 11. Before noon everyone turns up for South American carrier (5) 12. Hunter is a version of ripe green (9) 14. Standard measurement of craic (6) 16. Their tips cover a lot of additional trouble (8) 18. Be a proprietor, having won out (3) 19. Via a secluded road? (2-3) 21. The teacher, arts graduate, gets rest for a change (6) 24. Doubtful that is initially removed from Dublin river (4) 26. Throngs swarming over ancient castle (10) 27. A bit like England’s articulated second most southerly county?

Yet an island in Lough Erne (8) 29. Raconteur opens secret place (6) 30, 31 across, 20 down: Route unravels why a low wicket can

be found (3,7,3) 32. Man in mountain in Ireland or Scotland? (3) Clues down: 1. Sea bird circling temperature gauge in Antipodes (8) 2. Assassinate Arnie in articulated Kerry town (9) 3. Chemical substance, toxin, arranged with attorney (7) 5. Milk producer terribly rude about 500 in Rome (5) 6. Awkwardly reserves his inn situated in Scottish county (9,5) 7. Weapon returns and acquires lumps of gold (7) 8. Drumbrughas appears to reveal an appeal to act swiftly (1,1,1,1) 13. Bride hung around fringe city (9) 15. Greeting, greetings to up and down toy (5) 17. The Ballymacrea monastery hides Irishman (5) 20. see 30 across 22. Surpass a celestial occurrence (7) 23. Animal quarters, perhaps (4) 25. Beefy viewer might spot Aberdeenshire village (5) 28. Chemical firm, here in France (1,1,1) 29. The self found in Donegore (3)

“Our country is being humiliated.”

Kate Hoey, the Antrim-born Labour MP for Vauxhall, London, referring to the UK and the Brexit negotiations.

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LAST EDITION’S ANSWERS: Clues across: 1. Raided. 4. Sultanas. 9. Donegal. 10. Impasse. 11. Ahern.

13. None. 16. Clan. 17. Epic. 18. Borstal Boy. 21. Madame. 24. Reach. 29 & 31 across: Liam Gallagher. 32. Northern. 34. Marble. 35. The Haw Lantern.

Clues down: Radiated. 2. Inn. 3. Engine. 5. Union. 6. A Man Called Horse.

7. Sweeney. 8. Slan. 12. Erica. 14. Oar. 15. Eat. 19. Ode. 22. Dam. 23. Maghera. 25. Carolan. 26. Flynn. 27. Elan. 28. Eamonn. 30 Air. 33. Tie.

Answers: 1. They all wore eyepatches; 2. Private motoring, due to petrol rationing; 3. The Duke of Welling ton, the Iron Duke; 3. The Connaught Rangers; 4. He’s the Papal Nuncio, the Vatican’s Ambassador to Ireland. 5. Champagne and Guinness; 6. The President; 7. Raymond Chandler; 8. The Oireachtas; 9. Padraig Harrington; 10. Lough Erne (Lower)

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May, 2019 I www.irishecho.com.au

19

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review

May, 2019 I www.irishecho.com.au

Madness in the house of fun

WHAT is it about Ireland that has it turning out all these new writers?

Male and female, they crowd the publishing lists: Sally Rooney, Anna Burns, Donal Ryan, Liz Nugent, Dervla McTiernan, each with her/his own following. Is it something in the water, I wonder, or in the education system or some unexpected detritus from the time when the banks brought the country to bankruptcy?

Perhaps it is some diaphanous agent rising from the Liffey or the Shannon and stored in an antique demitasse, only to fade before the bits and bytes of modernism? Come to think of it, perhaps that last is the key, because it felicitously happens to be an element in this story by Paraic O’Donnell, his follow-up to the wonderful The Maker of Swans.

To explain: there is a vaporous substance, stored in some medieval grail, which has a strange and deleterious effect on any who

happen to breathe it. It is used by a group of miscreants, mainly upper class fops called Spiriters, to entrap young women for uses that our kind author does not spell out, allowing us to imagine what we will.

All this is happening in London in the years when Conan Doyle is making Baker Street famous and Oscar Wilde is frightening society with his unconventionally strong and assertive women.

More significantly, the story is set at a time when Dickens had spoiled his readers, because it is to him that O’Donnell’s style most reverently bows. Not so much in the content as in the easy flow of language, the delightful gush of words that tell of exuberant glee as the author takes his readers on a journey into what the English language used to be before the new century flattened it to mere prose.

O’Donnell avoids lyrical descriptions of places or people, allowing us to learn about his characters by what they say. Here for example, is Inspector Cutter of Scotland Yard, meeting the person he mistakenly believes to be the sergeant sent to help him in his investigation.

“Hark at him, the boozy whelp. Not even nine o’clock in the morning and he presents himself to a superior officer addled with drink.

Well, there’s an end to it. … Better no sergeant than some babbling ninny who staggers here from the King’s Cross-road full to his ears with piss and notions. Get along back to your station, there’s a good fellow. Tell them that Inspector Cutter has no use for the enclosed imbecile and returns him unmarked or nearly so.”

The young man in question is

“Here is a book

to delight, to have you by turn laughing and applauding, but never bored.

”

BOOKS THE HOUSE ON VESPER SANDS

By Paraic O’Donnell Weidenfeld & Nicolson 372 pp $22.99

CCCC THE HOUSE OF SECOND CHANCES

By Esther Campion Hachette Australia 363 pp $29.99

CC Frank O’Shea the quite sober Gideon Bliss, an unenthusiastic student of divinity at Cambridge. He is visiting his uncle in the hope of avoiding Orders, the said uncle being almost the only source of support that the unfortunate young victims of the Spiriters can call upon. Bliss turns out to be an excellent vade mecum for the irascible Inspector; by the end of the book, he has earned the nearest thing to approval of which the older man is capable and leaves readers on bended knee begging for another episode in their relationship.

Then there is young Octavia Hillingdon, an 1893 Miss Marple with 21st century feminist ideas, who is determined that her skills would be better employed investigating the underworld than describing the gowns and gossip of high society. Her sidekick is her brother Georgie, a young navy lieutenant, fortunately making up in physique what he lacks in sophistication. “Not to tell you your business, sister, which I keep from as much as I can, but we are

not in Mayfair now. There are streets hereabouts that I would not wander into with half a ship’s company at my back.”

Here is a book to delight, to have you by turn laughing and applauding, but never bored. It may occur to you that you have read little in these few words about the story being told because it is not entirely credible nor altogether logical. Which is precisely the kind of thing I would say about a Flann O’Brien book. I know no higher praise.

THIS is Esther Campion’s second novel and is set mainly in Cork where the author grew up. She now lives in Tasmania and some of the action of the story also takes place in Australia, South Australia to be precise.

It would probably be correct to classify the story as chick lit. In the opening chapter, the central couple Aidan and Colette each describes the other as ‘a challenge’, but they move inexorably and predictably into a relationship that will probably be successful. All the characters are well-meaning and without malice, their main problems being relics of family problems or older relationships. It is the kind of dramatis personae – salt-of-theearth but upwardly mobile – that the late Maeve Binchy used to gather so successfully into her stories.

The book is almost finished when a young child is taken from a family fundraising fair by her estranged father. This gives the narrative a bit of a kick out of the third gear in which it has been coasting for almost 250 pages and the reader realises that he wants to know

how it ends up. It may be that the author is too concerned to fill in all the gaps before this happens, but certainly the second half of the book is much closer to what will keep a reader interested.

Those early chapters are daunting also for the large cast of characters and their interrelationships.

It requires some willpower to remember who is who and there are times when the reader might even wish for some form of family tree as a help.

One other point about Campion’s characters. Unlike Sally Rooney’s Normal People and Tana French’s Wych Elm, all the main people here are in their middle years and appear to make decisions based on respect for those around them. The contrast with those in their twenties in the other two books mentioned is quite refreshing.

Campion has a keen eye for interesting situations and writes with a light touch and a mix of wry humour and a minimum of grandstanding.

“It would probably be

correct to classify the story as chick lit.

”

THE TOP 10 BOOK CHARTS FROM IRELAND BESTSELLERS 1

Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid

2

A Book of Bones

3

Fing

4

Hinch Yourself Happy

5

Pinch of Nom

PAPERBACK NON-FICTION Jeff Kinney

1

Just One More Question

John Connolly

2

This is Going to Hurt

David Walliams Mrs Hinch

4

Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz

Kay Featherstone/Kate Allinson

5

The Choice

6

The Hunting Party

Lucy Foley

6

Essays: Notes to Self

The Gift of Friends

Emma Hannigan

7

Educated

8

Nine Perfect Strangers

Liane Moriarty

8

Tiger Woods

9

The Tattooist of Auschwitz

Heather Morris

9

The Secret Barrister

Niall Tubridy

ORIGINAL FICTION 1

A Book of Bones

2 3 4

The Country Girls Trilogy

5

When All is Said

Adam Kay Sinead Gleeson

3 Constellations

7

10 Just One More Question

Niall Tubridy

Jeremy Dronfield Edith Edgar Emilie Pine Tara Westove

Jeff Benedict/Armen Keteyian

10 The Cow Book

The Secret Barrister John Connell

CHILDREN’S John Connolly

1

Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid

The Hunting Party

Lucy Foley

2

Fing

The Gift of Friends

Emma Hannigan

3

The Wonky Donkey

Craig Smith

Edna O’Brien

4

The Meltdown: Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Jeff Kinney

Anne Griffin

5

Dog Man 6: Brawl of the Wild

Dav Pilkey

Jane Casey

6

The Getway: Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Jeff Kinney

David Baldacci

7

Dog Man 4: Dog Man and Cat Kid

Dav Pilkey

6

Cruel Acts

7

Redemption

8

Machines Like Me

Ian McEwan

8

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

9

Normal People

Sally Rooney

9

The Adventures of Dog Man 2: Unleashed

10 The Importance of Being Aisling

Sarah Breen/Emer McLysaght

10 Dancing the Charleston

Jeff Kinney David Walliams

J.K. Rowling Dav Pikley Jacqueline Wilson

May, 2019 I www.irishecho.com.au

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May, 2019 I www.irishecho.com.au

sports O’LEARY ADAMANT TIGER ROLL BID FOR THIRD NATIONAL NOT ON THE AGENDA

Irish joy as Tiger Roll wins another National

OWNER Michael O’Leary has declared that Tiger Roll is “very unlikely” to bid for a third Randox Health Grand National next April following his historic second triumph at Aintree last month.

The diminutive nine-year-old became the first horse since the great Red Rum in 1973/74 to win back-to-back renewals of the world’s most famous steeplechase on a glorious afternoon on Merseyside.

Red Rum, of course, added a third National to his CV in 1977 but Ryanair and Gigginstown House Stud supremo O’Leary is not keen on the idea of asking Tiger Roll to carry the likely burden of top-weight in 12 months’ time.

“It’s very unlikely that he’ll come back and run in it again next year,” O’Leary said. “He will be carrying top-weight. He is a small horse and every time he runs now I get nervous. I’d hate for anything unfortunate to happen to him while he’s racing. For his sake and for the sake of the race, I really wouldn’t want to bring him back shouldering huge lumps of weight. There’s no reason to emulate Red Rum’s feat. Red Rum saved the Grand National and put it back on the map at a time when it was struggling.

“Tiger Roll isn’t Red Rum … and I feel no pressure to go back and try to win a third time. There’s huge public affection for him and I think we’re duty-bound to mind him now.”

Tiger Roll was paraded through trainer Gordon Elliott’s home village of Summerhill in Co Meath.

“To come back here and see the crowds, it’s unbelievable, it’s great,” Elliott said. “You get emotional. It’s the

Owner Michael O’Leary, trainer Gordon Elliott and families with Tiger Roll who won the Grand National at Aintree last month for the second consecutive year. (Right) Tiger Roll in action during the race. biggest race in the world. Everyone will remember Tiger Roll winning two in a row. We’re all proud Summerhill men.

My uncle passed away this year; he used to take me point-to-pointing and the race was for him.

“To come here [and celebrate] two years in a row is great. It’s great to see a big crowd here. It looks an even bigger crowd than last year.”

About 2000 people were in attendance as Tiger Roll, also a four-time

Cheltenham Festival winner, strutted his stuff on the main street alongside his trainer, jockey Davy Russell, his devoted groom Louise Magee and owner Michael O’Leary.

Ryanair boss O’Leary treated Ryanair passengers to free drinks on his flight back to Ireland after the race, and added: “I give away free drinks every time we win the Grand National.

“It probably won’t happen for another 45 years!”

RUGBY :: CHAMPIONS CUP SEMI FINALS

SHANE LONG SCORES FASTEST EPL GOAL

HEAD coach Leo Cullen praised Leinster’s application after the defending champions swept aside Toulouse in a 30-12 Heineken Champions Cup semi-final win at the Aviva Stadium.

James Lowe, Luke McGrath and Australian Scott Fardy all touched down and fit-again captain Jonathan Sexton kicked 12 points. Leinster will now face 2017 winners Saracens in a mouth-watering May 11 decider at St James’ Park in Newcastle.

“Probably what pleased me most is the attitude of the players over the course of the last couple of weeks and how they applied themselves in training,” said Cullen. “When they prepare well, they’ve a much better chance of performing well in these big games.

There was great fight for each other.

You could see the players, how much it means to them.”

While the returning fly-half Sexton was the official man of the match, the title holders had a number of star performers as they restricted Toulouse to just three penalty goals from Thomas Ramos and one from replacement Romain Ntamack. Chief among them was London Irish-bound flanker Sean O’Brien, whose return to fitness has coincided with long-term injuries to Josh Van Der Flier and Dan Leavy.

HAVING endured a ver y dif ficult period in front of goal over the past couple of years, it looks as though Shane Long may be getting back to top form.

The Southampton man netted his four th goal in five games against Bournemouth last weekend, a stretch that included scoring the fastest goal in Premier League histor y. Long scored after just seven seconds against Watford.

His return to form could have hardly come at a better time, with Ireland set to play in two key Euro 2020 qualifiers against Denmark and Gibraltar in June.

Long missed the opening two qualifiers due to injury, but looks set to play a big part in the games at the start of June.

One man who is delighted to see him playing well is Ireland boss Mick McCar thy. Speaking on the FAI website, McCarthy said seeing Long playing consistently at Southampton again is hugely encouraging.

“The Ireland fans used to sing that Shane Long was on fire, well he is now so they can get the song ready again.

“I am delighted to see him scoring but just as happy that Shane is back in the Southampton team and playing on a regular basis. It’s his fitness as much as his goalscoring that pleases me.

“Shane is a really effective centreforward. These goals will just give him

Leinster into decider

Leinster’s Australian star Scott Fardy with son August after the semi-final win over Toulouse.

“Seanie is an unbelievable competitor. He’s worked incredibly hard to get back from his injury. You can see what it means to Seanie the way he plays,” said Cullen. “I thought he was really exceptional today. It’s not just his performance, it’s how he leads the group.

“In terms of dominating that contact area, he’s one of the best players to have ever played the game, certainly Irish guys. I think he’s showing again what he’s capable of. It was good to have Seanie back out there.”

There was controversy in the other semi final when a disgruntled Munster fan confronted England star Billy Vunipola following Saracens’ win.

Vunipola scored Saracens’ second try in an impressive 32-16 semi-final triumph but was booed by many in the crowd. Vunipola received formal warnings from his club and Rugby Football Union in the past week after he posted on social media that “man was made for woman to procreate that was the goal no?”

He also liked a social media post from controversial Australian star Israel Folau that stated “hell awaits” for homosexuals.

Vunipola, meanwhile, said there was “no intention to hurt anyone” following his social media posts.

“Behind closed doors I felt a lot of love, a lot of kindness shown to me.

From my point of view, I believe in what I believe in.”

Meanwhile. Ireland international centre Bundee Aki has apologised after he “mistakenly liked” an anti-gay social media post by Israel Folau. Connacht player Aki, who has won 17 caps for Ireland, apologised via Twitter..

“I mistakenly liked Israel Folau’s post without paying any attention to the content,” Aki tweeted.

Irish striker back in form

Southampton’s Shane Long.

a real lift and boost his confidence coming back into our squad and that can only be good news with the training camp in Por tugal and two big games on the horizon.”

McCar thy also congratulated Ireland’s Sheffield United contingent, who sealed promotion to the Premier League last weekend. Scott Hogan, Enda Stevens, David McGoldrick and John Egan all play for Sheffield United with Hogan especially attracting McCarthy’s attention.

23

May, 2019 I www.irishecho.com.au

sports A LEAGUE: STAR IRISH PLAYER SHINES FOR PERTH AS PLAY-OFFS BEGIN

Keogh rediscovers Glory in Perth David Hennessy talks to former Republic of Ireland stirker Andy Keogh about winning the A League Premiers Plate with Perth Glory, joining the late Liam Miller as the only Irish players to have earned such an honour and the team’s plans to add the A League Championship to their trophy cabinet

DUBLIN striker Andy Keogh has led Perth Glory to their first A League Premiers Plate, ending a 15 year silverware drought for the Western Australia club.

Keogh told The Irish Echo: “I’m ver y proud. It is long overdue but thoroughly deserved this year. Very happy, delighted to have played a part.”

Perth Glory have led the race all season, losing only two games on their way to claiming the plate with two rounds to spare after a 1-0 win over Newcastle Jets on April 14.

Glory were eight points clear of second placed Sydney FC at that point of the season.

Keogh, 32, joined Per th Glory in 2014 and although he went to play in Thailand a year later, he returned for a second spell with the club in 2016.

He has been Per th’s star striker since his arrival and this season, his most prolific to date, helped Tony Popovic’s team to the top of the table.

The Dubliner is one of the top scorers in the competition. A first-half double last weekend against Wellington Phoenix took his tally to 17, making him the highest scorer in a single season in Glor y’s A-League history.

“I’m ver y happy with that return”, he said. “I can’t complain with how the games have gone and the overall season.”

Keogh plied his trade with Leeds, Scunthorpe United, Wolves and Millwall and earned 30 caps for Republic of Ireland,

scoring two international goals, before making the move to Perth where he had some family. While playing at Millwall, Keogh had a devastating striking par tnership with Harr y Kane who was on loan from Tottenham and is now England captain.

Keogh and Perth Glory will now look to add the A League championship to their trophy cabinet by making the Grand Final in May. “Of course, we’ve come a long way this season and we don’t want to stop now. We want to take all the silver ware and continue the good form.”

Keogh would become only the second Irish player to win an A League Grand Final after Liam Miller who claimed the honour with Brisbane Roar in 2014. Miller passed away from cancer last year at the age of 36.

“I played with him many years with the Irish team,” Keogh recalled. “To win the Grand Final and join his company as the only Irish men to win one would be very honouring for me and very good for myself because we used to knock around together.”

The big A League news is that Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler will be taking over as manager of Brisbane Roar.

“Great. Good profile. Great player. It’s always good to have people of that stature representing teams in the A League,” Keogh said. “I’m sure he’ll bring a lot to the team and the league

Family man: Andy Keogh pictured with wife Natalie and daughters Mia and Kaia. (Right) Keogh in action for the Republic of Ireland against Sweden in 2013.

and attract a lot of good imports, good import players.”

Asked if Perth is home now for him and his family, Andy says: “Definitely, we’re getting our citizenship soon so it’s a place we’re calling home for the foreseeable future.”

Perth Glory will now represent Australia in the Asian Football Confederation Champions League and face a semi-final against unknown opposition for a place in the A League Grand Final.

Also key in Per th Glor y’s

successful season was former Aston Villa and Millwall defender Shane Lowry.

Born in Perth to Irish parents, Lowry played for Republic of Ireland up to Under- 23 level before declaring for the Socceroos.

ATHLETICS :: LONDON MARATHON

AUSTRALIAN RULES FOOTBALL

Irish Cats purring on top of ladder Marathon effort keeps Diver GEELONG’S Irish duo of Zach Tuohy and Mark O’Connor may already be contemplating finals football after the Cats impressive win over the reigning Premiers West Coast Eagles last weekend.

Geelong’s dominant victory saw it go one-game clear atop of the AFL ladder, with a scintillating opening quarter where the Cats booted seven goals to the Eagles’ two, setting up the 15.14 (104) to 7.4 (46) win.

Zach Tuohy returned from injury for his first AFL appearance in 2019 and performed well, accumulating 18 disposals. The Laoisman had been sidelined with a knee injur y since last year’s preliminary final.

Off the field the 29-year-old has had plenty to occupy his mind with the birth of his second son.

He and partner Rebecca Price have welcomed Rafferty into the world early last month. The new arrival is the couple’s second child with son Flynn born in 2014.

T uohy’s Irish teammate Mark O’Connor has really hit his straps in 2019, playing in all six of the Cats fixtures and scoring his first AFL goal.

The Kerryman was named among the Cats best on ground against the Eagles, clocking up 21 disposals.

Elsewhere, Colin O’Riordan is knocking on the door for a recall to the Sydney Swans first team after accumu-

Mark O’Connor, 22, has impressed for the Geelong Cats this year.

lating an impressive 40 disposals against the GWS Giants.

O’Riordan was dropped to the reserves after a below par performance against the Adelaide Crows in March but his form in the Neafl competition prompted development coach Jeremy Laidler to say he was “knocking the door down” for a return to the firsts.

“Colin’s put together some really solid performances over the past few weeks,” he said.

The Sydney Swans have also trialled Wexford prospect Barry O’Connor.

The 193cm, 92kg 20-year-old is a versatile athlete – as a footballer in the GAA he plays midfield, centre-half forward and full forward, while he also plays hurling, rugby and soccer.

O’Connor, who plays for local club St Martins, is also in his third year of studying commerce and business at University College Dublin.

Elsewhere, Hawthorn dropped their Irish star Conor Nash for the clash against Carlton. The Meathman has scored two goals so far in 2019 but his form has not been impressive enough to stay in the firsts.

Darragh Joyce remains in the shakeup for a place in the St Kilda side having played one senior game in 2019.

Conor McKenna is enjoying a fine run of form for Essendon and has clocked up more than 20 disposals in each of his last four games for the Bombers . The speedy Tyrone man is now a first team regular for Essendon.

Meanwhile the AFLW competition may be over for 2019 but at least seven Irish players will take part next year.

Premiership player Aisling Considine will be back for the Adelaide Crows and Sarah Rowe will return for Collingwood. Cora Staunton and Yvonne Bonner will be back for GWS and Mayo sisters Niamh and Grace Kelly have signed for West Coast.

on track for Tokyo Olympics

MELBOURNE-based Sinead Diver, originally from Belmullet, finished seventh in the London Marathon last weekend. The 42-year-old, who now competes for Australia, finished the event in a time of 2:24.11.

The time was a significant personal best, beating her previous mark of 2:25:19 set last October when she won the Melbour ne marathon. It also makes her the third fastest Australian marathon runner ever and qualifies her for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

She had unexpectedly led the race at the halfway point but was reeled in shortly after. The women’s race was won by Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei in 2:18:20 with compatriot V ivian Cheruiyot in second and Ethiopia’s Roza Dereje in third.

Diver only took up running nine years ago following the birth of her first child. Having moved to Australia in 2002, she began competing for her adopted countr y in 2015 when she finished 21st in the marathon at the World Championships in Beijing.

Two years later – having missed out on the Rio Olympics due to injury – she f i n i s h e d 2 0 t h a t t h e Wo r l d Championships in London.

After the race, Diver said: “I hope that’s good enough to get to me Tokyo.

That was the main goal for today.”

Sinead Diver in action during the London Marathon in which she finished seventh in a PB time.

24

May, 2019 I www.irishecho.com.au