Irish Echo Nov 21, 2013 Edition by Irish Echo

November 21 – December 4, 2013

the icemen

Meet The Irish Chill-Seekers In Antarctica feature :: time out

AUS $3.95 (incl GST) NZ $4.95 (incl GST)

Volume 26 – Number 25

irish bailout exit

‘hurricane’ hogan

Page 10

sport :: page 38

Government Looks To Life After Debt

Kildare Native Clinches Boxing Belt In Brisbane

family attend melbourne court to face father’s alleged killer

Accused denies stabbing Galway-born jeweller to death Perry denies the charges. Mr O’Toole, a Galway-born jeweller, was allegedly stabbed at his main street store for stock valued at just $200. The 64-year-old Irishman was fatally stabbed while trying to protect his wife Bridget during the raid on their jewellery shop in the Mornington Peninsula town. Mrs O’Toole, 63, was also stabbed but survived. The court heard she was one of six potential witnesses who would not

relief as funds for australia grow

Cash boost for welfare groups Luke O’Neill

EMIGRANT welfare groups have received a welcome funding boost thr ough the Emigrant Suppor t Programme, with several organisations receiving higher grant amounts than in 2012. Over $590,000 has been distributed to 15 community and suppor t organisations across Australia, an increase on the $385,581 shared between ten organisations in 2012. The biggest beneficiary is the Irish Australian Welfare Bureau (IAWB) in Bondi, which has received a grant of $160,000, up from its 2012 allocation of $134,415. The Melbour ne-based Australian Irish Welfare Bureau (AIWB) has received $138,132, up from $106,045 in 2012. The Irish Australian Chamber of Commerce has received a grant of $32,700, up from $26,124 last year. Funding for the Irish Australian Support Association of Queensland (IASAQ) also rose, up to $81,990 from $65,737 in 2012. The Claddagh Association in Perth, which provides emigrant support and welfare services for the Irish community in Western Australia, has been given $17,000, up from $10,181 in 2012. IAWB president Elizabeth Kenny said the bureau was extremely grateful for the grant. Ms Kenny said the funds would help it to cover administration costs, one full-time staff member and another part-time staff member. “We certainly understand the financial situation the government is in,” she said. AIWB administrator Marion O’Hagan also welcomed this year’s funding allocation. Ms O’Hagan said the Melbournebased bureau had put in a similar

funding application to recent years. “Every year we get it, it’s a bonus,” she told the Irish Echo. IASAQ president Peter Long said this year’s allocation was not a ‘significant increase’ for the association, but it would help to cover its overheads. “We’re ver y pleased to get it, it’s needed,” said Mr Long. He said the association was lucky to have been called on to handle fewer fatality cases in 2013. “It’s been a different mix of cases, but this is the first year we have had less tragic events,” he said. Among the other recipients, were the Queensland Gaelic Football and Hurling Association, which receives a grant of $65,000. In Victoria, grants were also awarded to the Melbourne Irish Festival and the Friends of St Brigid’s Association. In NSW, the Irish Language School of Sydney, the Dictionary of Sydney, the Great Irish Famine Commemoration Committee and the Sydney St Patrick’s Day Parade were also beneficiaries. The Canberra Irish Club and the Irish Australia Association of South Australia both received grants of $10,000. Ireland’s Ambassador to Australia Noel White said he was delighted overall funding for Australia had increased this year. “Suppor ting Irish communities overseas, in particular the most vulnerable and marginalised members of those communities, is a priority for the government,” Mr White said. “The Emigrant Support Programme continues to be an impor tant and practical expression of the government’s commitment to Irish communities abroad,” he said. Editorial :: Page 33

have to give evidence at the committal. Melbourne Magistrates Court was told prosecutors were still waiting on forensic test results, including analysis of fingerprints found on the case of a knife stolen from a nearby supermarket. Police took a blood sample from the spot where the accused is alleged to have fallen while fleeing the scene. Prosecutor Diana Hogan told the court separate witnesses claim they saw the accused near the Jewel Shed.

Two witnesses “make observations of the accused running to the car”, Ms Hogan told the court. The court heard that CCTV footage from inside The Jewel Shed had been obtained. Mr Perry, who sat in court dressed in a green tracksuit, has been remanded in custody to appear for a committal hearing on March 24. Members of the O’Toole family were in court for the hearing, but Mrs O’Toole left just before it began.

VICTIM: Dermot O’Toole, 64, was fatally stabbed in July.

abbey to see you :: Downton star’s day at the races

SUITS YOU: Downton Abbey star Allen Leech enjoyed his time at the Melbourne Cup, but left Flemington Racecourse without having any luck on the horses. “Unfortunately I didn’t. I had a couple of places, no wins. I was still up but not up as much as I’d like to be,” he told the Irish Echo. The Dubliner plays chauffeur Tom Branson in the hit period drama, which airs on Channel Seven. Pic: Emirates/SDP Media. Interview :: Page 26

www.irishecho.com.au | Postal Address: PO Box 256, Balmain NSW 2041 Australia | Phone: 1300 555 995 | Email (Editorial): newsdesk@irishecho.com.au | Email (Administration): mail@irishecho.com.au

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FINGERPRINTS found on packaging for a knife used in the fatal stabbing of an Irish jeweller will be analysed to see if they belong to the man accused of his murder, a court has heard. Gavin Perry, 26, of Crib Point, is charged with the murder of Dermot O’Toole. He is also facing charges of armed robber y and intentionally causing serious injury, over the incident in July this year at the Jewel Shed, in Hastings, southeast of Melbourne.

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local news INVESTIGATORS SPEND 2,000 HOURS SEEKING DAZED AUSTRALIAN’S IDENTITY

Mystery woman home after exhaustive hunt AN AUSTRALIAN woman found in Dublin dazed and unable to communicate has returned to Sydney after Ireland’s High Court ordered she be released from protective care. Samantha Azzopardi, 25, flew back to Australia accompanied by two gardaí. Described as vulnerable, she had been in HSE care in Dublin since concerns were raised she was an Eastern European teenager who had been trafficked into the country. Ms Azzopardi – who media reported had a number of aliases – originally went to Ireland in September to visit her stepfather. She stayed with him in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, but it is understood she then told him she was going travelling around the country. The blonde-haired woman turned up three weeks later on O’Connell Street in Dublin on October 10 appearing distressed and unable to communicate. Gardaí thought she was Eastern European and only about 15. Ms Azzopardi was described as thin, dressed in clothes bought from a common high street retailer and appearing dazed and confused. She drew some

pictures while in care but did not communicate fully. An investigation team spent 2,000 hours trying to identify her and came up with 15 possible names. It was not until a judge cleared the way for a photograph of the woman to be released worldwide that her stepfather come forward. Australian Federal Police then liaised with gardaí once her identity was established. It subsequently emerged she was convicted of deception in Australia for illegal attempts to draw social welfare. Ms Azzopardi received a six-month sentence for the offence, which was suspended for 12 months. The High Court in Dublin heard from psychiatrist Brendan Kelly, who said she could not be committed for psychiatric reasons but was suffering from a “specified particular condition”. It had previously heard she could be at risk if she is released from care. Justice George Birmingham, who lifted the care order, said the initiative taken by gardaí and the results of publishing the photograph came as a surprise to everybody. ”The case has run its course,” the judge said.

programme’s apology falls short

Doctor seeks action over network’s ‘sickie sting’ Luke O’Neill

AN Irish doctor featured in a hiddencamera segment on Channel Nine’s A Current Affair has lodged a formal complaint with the Australian Communications and Media Authority. Dr Liam Carroll hit out at the programme-makers last month after he was secretly filmed in a segment about medical sick notes called “Doctors Certificate Scandal”. Producer Aaron O’Brien and a colleague visited Dr Carroll at the Brassall Clinic in Ipswich. In the resulting segment, Mr O’Brien claimed he told the doctors he was merely tired and managed to obtain five medical certificates. The Dubliner told the Irish Echo he has since received “guarded” apology from the programme. Dr Carroll claims there are several sections of the programme’s transcript in which it is clear the filming and reporting methods broke industry codes of practice. But Nine rejects the claims. In a letter from its compliance department, the network provides a defence under its own code of practice, while apologising for the “grief caused”. The network says it protected Dr Carroll’s privacy by pixelating his face and cropping and blurring other identifying material from vision taken in his office. The network has challenged claims by Dr Carroll that the producer who visited his office stated he was “bullied” and “could not face work”. “From the broadcast, the producer did not state he was being ‘bullied’ or that ‘he could not face work’ as alleged in your complaint. Nor did he raise issues of violence towards his boss as mentioned in your complaint,” the network said. “Matters of factual accuracy under the code are relevant to statements that were broadcast during the segment and therefore as these statements were not broadcast these alleged statements are not covered by this clause of the code.”

PUZZLE SOLVED: Garda Superintendent Dave Taylor holds a picture of Samantha Azzopardi, who was initially thought to be a victim of people trafficking. Pic: PA

melbourne IRISHWOMAN safe after nz park accident

Rescued Irish hiker ‘lucky to be alive’ Luke O’Neill

FORMAL COMPLAINT: Dr Liam Carroll has taken his case to the television watchdog.

Dr Carroll still wants an on-air apology and retraction. “Channel Nine have written a letter. They did apologise but it was a very guarded apology,” he said. “They still maintain there was a public interest even though we clearly showed they lied on several occasions. The complaint that I put into ACMA was that I wasn’t happy with their letter.” The broadcast has had an effect on his work practices and he is concerned about reputational damage. “Sometimes it’s what’s unsaid that gives it away. There are some people even still in this clinic who have seen A Current Affair part one that still partly believe it, oddly enough. That’s why programmes like A Current Affair will always do OK, because people want to hear bad stories. “I don’t think it’s affected my patient numbers, but I certainly had a number of comments from patients about it. You just wonder if they think I’m a bit of a joker, and there are times where I feel a bit paranoid.”

An Irishwoman who was announced missing in a New Zealand national park has been treated for hypothermia after being rescued by another hiker. Siobhán Flynn, 35, was rescued when she stumbled into a hut occupied by a US doctor. The Irishwoman, who usually lives in Melbourne, turned up in Nelson late at night with the American woman. The pair, who were left without transport, had hitch-hiked to Nelson from Kahurangi National Park. The doctor had treated Ms Flynn for injuries and mild hypothermia. Ms Flynn was missing since about 10am on November 10, police say. She and family members stayed on a Saturday night at a hut in the park before leaving for an area known as Karamea Bend on Sunday morning. Along the way the group became separated. Four members made it to Karamea Bend and stayed there on Sunday night, but Ms Flynn never arrived. Her boyfriend raised the alarm with police. It is thought she was knocked unconscious in a fall and, after a failed atempt to continue the hike, then spent a night under a tree. “The pr oblem is, she’s been concussed, so her recollection is hazy,” police spokeswoman Barbara Dunn told the Irish Echo. Ms Flynn told police that while walking alone she fell off a ledge and believes she lay unconscious for several hours. When she regained consciousness she managed to climb back up the ledge but was disoriented and unable to continue far because of darkness. She said she spent that night huddled under trees. She put on all her clothing and got inside her sleeping bag to keep

RUGGED TERRAIN: Mountains at the head of Cobb Valley, in New Zealand’s Kahurangi National Park, where an Irish hiker went missing.

warm. Ms Flynn has little recollection of Monday, but she believes she made it to Mytton Hut, where she rested for a while, replenished her water and decided to continue on. She reached what is believed to be Trilobite Hut about 3am on November 12, two days after going missing. Sleeping inside the hut was a lone woman tramper – the American doctor. Ms Flynn said the doctor, an experienced mountaineer, treated her for mild hypothermia and inspected her head injury. The pair then walked out of the area together via the Cobb Valley and then hitch-hiked to Nelson. The Police Search and Rescue Coordinator, Constable Malcolm York, said Ms Flynn was extremely lucky to have survived and to have come across the American doctor.

He said she was shaken and traumatised by the experience, but was receiving good support from friends and did not require further medical treatment. He said that while the group had made a bad decision to separate, Ms Flynn did the right thing by recording her intentions in the hut log. “That information prevented police launching a large-scale search and allayed our immediate fears for her safety,” Constable York said. Designated in 1996, Kahurangi is one of New Zealand’s newest national parks and is its second-largest, covering an area of 452,002 ha. There are more than 570km of walking and tramping tracks in the park, according to New Zealand’s Department of Conservation.

November 21 – December 4, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

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local news Dad takes back seat as AUSSIE WIFE AND TRIPLETS star on telly

Donegal-man’s accent cost him role in TV ad Cronan Scanlon A DONEGAL man says he is not disappointed at being left out of a television advertisement seen by millions in Australia which features his wife and their triplet daughters – because of his accent. Declan O’Callaghan, from Mullanbuoy, lives in Sydney with his Australian wife Jodie and their three-year-old triplet girls, Naomi-Gwyneth, Bronwyn-Ava and Niamh-Charlotte, as well as five-year-old Hannah. Recently, they spotted a notice placed with the Australian Multiple Birth Association (AMBA) for Higher Order Multiples calling for a family with triplets to star in a new Volkswagen Australia advertising campaign. “We responded, did an audition and got it,” Declan explained to the Donegal News. Volkswagen Group Australia and DDB Sydney launched the multi-channel campaign showcasing the extensive range of models in their Australian portfolio. The new campaign “Welcome to the Family” tells the story of an extended

family arriving to celebrate a traditional family get together. One couple, “Peter and Susan”, arrive in their VW Touareg with “their” beautiful triplet daughters in the back. However, a professional actor was hired to play the “Peter” part because Declan is Irish. “They needed Aussie males, given they were selling to Aussie males which is fair enough, I suppose,” Declan said. “Apparently, this was a good one to do and a lot of professional actors were queuing up to be involved, and then there was us. “I suppose my Donegal accent was too strong, but we did it for the experience – it was great fun and we got paid for it. So no complaints from me.” A hedge fund partner with Deloitte in Sydney, Declan tied the knot with Jodie in St Columba’s Church, Doneyloop, in April 2007. The son of Donal and Eileen O’Callaghan, Declan returned to Donegal with Jodie in 2011 to have the girls christened in the local church. The minute-long ad can be seen on http://volkswagenaustralia.com.au/

DAD A PASSENGER: Declan and Jodie O’Callaghan with their triplets Naomi-Gwyneth, Bronwyn-Ava and NiamhCharlotte, and older daughter Hannah. Inset: Jodie and the triplets with their onscreen dad in the Volkswagen.

SENT to ireland ON fraud charges

Extradited Dubliner touting legal advice Luke O’Neill

A FORMER solicitor extradited from Perth to face fraud charges in Ireland earlier this year has set up a mediation practice in Dublin. Dubliner Vincent O’Donoghue, 62, lost an eight-year battle against his extradition in April and was sent from Hakea Prison in Perth back to Ireland. He is due to go on trial at Dublin’s Circuit Criminal Cour t in March, charged with 16 counts under two sections of the 1990 Larceny Act. The charges relate to property deals in Dublin and Belfast in 1998, made before Mr O’Donoghue and his family migrated to Australia. He was granted bail by the High Court after he argued his surety should be reduced from €40,000 to nothing. The Irish Echo has learned that Mr O’Donoghue, who is now living in Drumcondra in north Dublin, is offering his services as a mediator from offices in the city centre. He is offering services for property, mortgage and

bankruptcy matters, as well as on migration, extradition, deportation and civil disputes. On the website for his new business, he describes himself as a troubleshooter and mediator. “I’ve represented many clients and I have the experience, courage and ‘the

I’m saying to people if you want somebody to dig their heels in and do battle, well, I’m your man. I’ve experience at that and I’m quite prepared to do that. I won’t flinch from a challenge.

balls’ that you are looking for. I’m simply here to help you. I’m good at my job and some would say I’m even the best,” the homepage states. Speaking from Dublin, he told the Irish Echo he has “more clients than I can handle”.

He claims his legal battles in Australia have given him unique experience. “There’s nobody here in Ireland who has been through the ringer the way I’ve been through the ringer. You can go to college but you will not learn the stuf f I lear ned in Hakea or in Perth. You won’t learn it in college,” he said. “So, yes, I’m saying to people if you want somebody to dig their heels in and do battle, well, I’m your man. I’ve experience at that and I’m quite prepared to do that. I won’t flinch from a challenge.” There are no legal requirements to practise as a mediator in Ireland, according to The Mediators Institute of Ireland, which sets its own quality assurance standards. The institute said Mr O’Donoghue was not listed as one of its accredited members. The former solicitor has taken separate cases in the High Court in Belfast and in the Australian Federal Court.

big list of events drives RECORD visitor NUMBERS

Aussies, Kiwis answer Gathering’s call RECORD numbers of Australians and Kiwis have visited Ireland this year. Australia and New Zealand have driven record tourism growth this year from Ireland’s long-haul markets for the period July to September, according to the Central Statistics Office. The figures reveal an additional 326,000 overseas visitors during the January-September period. Tourism Ireland claims the figures for the first nine months show it is having the best year ever from Australia and New Zealand. “The figures from the CSO for the

high season months of July to September are very strong, showing growth from almost all of our markets around the world,” Tourism Ireland chief Niall Gibbons said. He said there was record growth this year from long-haul markets with rises of 24.5 per cent for Australia and 22.5 per cent for New Zealand. “We have a really extensive programme in place between now and the end of the year, targeting late-season travellers around the world, to keep this momentum going,” he said. Tourism Ireland’s manager for ANZ

Diane Butler hopes the growth will continue in 2014. “We are really excited as next year poses to be just as big, with the Wild Atlantic Way of ficially opening in March and events including St Patrick’s Day celebrations, Giro d’Italia Big Start in Belfast in May, the World Flower Show and Bloom in Dublin in June, Waterford’s 1100th anniversary and Limerick named the Irish City of Culture for 2014.” Tourism Ireland said The Gathering had been a key driver bringing Ireland’s diaspora home.

irish studies conference

The never-ending story of Ireland up for discussion Andrea McCullagh

LEADING academics will congregate in Sydney next month for a conference on Irish studies investigating the theme “The Ends of Ireland”. UNSW’s Global Irish Studies Centre is hosting the conference, and a wide range of topics will be discussed. “The Ends of Ireland is to be understood in the widest possible meaning of the word ends,” said Prof Rónán McDonald from UNSW. “So ends as in conclusion. Are we at the end of the recession/depression or not? Are we at the end of the Celtic Tiger or not? Are we at the end of the Troubles? Ends as in terminus but ends as purpose, as in goal. The Ends of Ireland as in the aims, the function, the raison d’etre.” Prof McDonald says the theme was chosen to give the conference direction and the delegates have interpreted it in different ways. One of the keynote speakers, Prof Mark Finnane, will give a lecture entitled “The Ends of Silence”, which is about responses to child abuse in the church in Ireland and Australia. The Queensland-based Grif fith University academic will discuss the political, jurisdictional and institutional arrangements that hinder and enable the establishment of of ficial inquiries. Prof Elizabeth Malcolm, from the University of Melbourne, will give a paper entitled “The End(s) of Massacre in Ireland”. Associate Prof Tom Inglis, from UCD, will give a lecture called “The End of Irish Difference”, exploring his argument that the core of Irish cultural difference lies in the body. And Prof Joanna Bourke, from Birbeck University of London, will open the conference with a paper on sexual violence in Irish history. This is the first time the conference will be held in Sydney, with the event having previously been hosted by Canberra, Belfast and Dunedin. “We are open to people to give papers on

OPEN-ENDED: Prof Rónán McDonald says delegates will interpret the theme differently.

any topic related to Irish studies. That’s Irish histor y, Irish literature, Irish politics, sociology, law. We have music and all those things represented,” Prof McDonald said. The conference draws together academics and members of the public who are interested in the scholarly study of Ireland in Australia and New Zealand. Everyone is welcome to attend. “It is unusual as it attracts a very high number of non-participating attendees which I think is a sign of the interest in the non-academic Irish studies community,” he said. Parallel sessions will take place over the course of the conference and issues discussed will include Irish Aboriginal encounters, the Irish diaspora and modern Irish society. The conference is on December 4-7 and costs $300 for ISAANZ members, $320 for non-members, single day tickets are $120 and registration is available at the UNSW website.

November 21 – December 4, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

local news ex-prison officer slams use of his photo on website about anzac impostOrs

Anger over ‘medal cheat’ claims Andrea McCullagh

Retired high-ranking correctional officer Paddy Armstrong is furious about being listed on a website for medal cheats and military impostors. Mr Armstrong served for more than four decades in the NSW prison service and received a range of medals for his dedication. “It’s knocked me about because it’s difficult to deal with a shadow,” he said. “You can’t see them, you don’t know who they are, you don’t know what they are, you don’t know what their motives are for trying to destroy you. I can deal with anything if it’s facing me. I can’t deal with something I can’t see.” Mr Armstrong is also a former army cadet of the Royal Ulster Rifles in Belfast and set up the United Irish Ex Ser vices Association Australia (UIESAA). He is featured on a website called Australian & New Zealand Militar y Impostors. It uses a photo taken of him in October 2012. The website complains he is wearing three New South Wales Corrective Services medals on his left breast. It alleges the only medal he is entitled to wear on his left side is the federally awarded National Medal. “I wear the medals in accordance with the regulations, and the regulations state the medals are worn on the left hand side,” Mr Armstrong said. “Now that’s where I wear them and I wear them in the correct sequence.” He stated that other retired officers from the corrective services wear the medals in the same position as him.

“If I’m wearing the medals wrong so is everybody else,” he said. However, an investigator for the website, Bill Hobson, insisted Mr Armstrong was wearing his medals in “an inappropriate way”. The Vietnam war veteran said the website had received a report about Mr Armstrong. “There’s no problem with him taking part in any celebrations, it’s certainly welcomed, but he should wear his medals in accordance with the protocols,” Mr Hobson said.

I’m holding my head up. I’ll be marching with the Irish on St Patrick’s Day and I’ll be marching again on ANZAC Day. – Patrick Armstrong

“I think he’s basing his wearing them on what is said in the state prison officers manual, which says he can wear them on the left, but that’s only while he’s in prison uniform,” he said. However, this claim is disputed by both Mr Armstrong and Ross Baker, an operations officer for the RSL at ANZAC House in Sydney. Mr Baker sent the website a copy of the dress regulations for the NSW correctional services. “I’ve written to the website and told them he is eligible to wear his medals on the left as per the guide I gave them,” he said.

Mr Baker has also been backed by NSW’s Retired Commissioned Officers Association. Secretary Ray O’Connor said the legislation states that the “medals are to be worn on the left”. “We are simply complying with what the act says. It would be unlawful not to,” he said. Mr Armstrong’s medals include the National Medal with two clasps, the NSW Ser vice Medallion, the Exemplar y Conduct Cross and the Meritorious Service Medal. He wears ancestral medals in honour of his father and grandfather. He said he had faced difficult incidents throughout his career. “Riots, tear gas, burnings, prisons were burned down in this state, people were shot, people got injured, a lot of stabbings, a lot of murder, bashings, suicides, industrial turmoil that I was up to my neck in, but I survived all that,” he said. He is furious that he has not been given a right of reply by the site. But he says he has received support from members of UIESAA. “I’m holding my head up. I’ll be marching with the Irish on St Patrick’s Day and I’ll be marching again on ANZAC Day,” he said. The Australian Honours and Awards Secretariat said in a statement to the Irish Echo: “National awards (under the Australian honours system) instituted by the Sovereign under Letters Patent should be mounted according to the order of precedence, and worn above the left breast on all appropriate occasions.”

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STATE HONOUR: NSW Police and Emergency Services Minister Michael Gallacher presents Patrick Armstrong (right) with the Public Service Medallion at a ceremony in 2011.

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local news new group connects irish mothers in port phillip

Melbourne Irish mums keep home fires burning Andrea McCullagh A NEWLY formed playgroup for Irish mothers is on the lookout for grandmothers in Melbourne to come along to their weekly meetings. The group was set up last month by Jen Keyes, and she has found the other mums are missing their own mothers. “Our big plan is to try and get some Irish grannies involved, because what’s happening is everybody here is missing the grandmother presence,” she said. “It’s really hard so we are trying to see if we can find some elderly Irish people who might be interested in coming in and doing story time and things like that so the kids have exposure to that older generation of Irish people.” Jen and her husband Michael Coogan welcomed their baby girl Eli into the world four months ago. The Kilkenny couple have been living in Australia for the past five years and she was working with Save the Children before going on maternity leave. Part of her role as a programme coordinator was organising playgroups for refugee families, and she wanted to set

up something for the Irish community in the St Kilda area. “I had experience of setting up those types of groups and trying to get communities connected and supporting those families,” she said. “That’s a special reason for wanting to set up the group. It seems like a no-brainer for me that if there wasn’t something there we should start something,” she added. Jen has received a lot of enquiries from mothers who want to come and so far has welcomed ten different families to the playgroup. Mothers from Dublin, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Limerick, Kildare and Roscommon have turned up – and they have enjoyed cups of tea and authentic Irish brown bread. A New Zealand mum who married an Irishman also joined the group as she wants her son to be connected to his heritage. This is a key factor for many of the mums involved, Jen explains. “That’s been the big thing,” she said. “Nobody wants to have their children here and feel like they don’t have that connection to Ireland.

JUST KIDDING: Claire Hamilton and son Joe, Carmen Tuckerand baby Aoife Loche, Sarah Sheppard with son Harry, Sarah Jane Fielding and daughter Alice, Jennifer Keyes and baby Eli Coogan, Paula Venter and baby Sam, and Flynn McGettrick on the floor (whose mum Carmen Dunick took this photo). “It means if they are there meeting all their fellow Irish buddies it makes things a bit easier for them.” The group plan to mark special events such as the All Ireland and St Patrick’s Day – and they hope to organise family days to get the dads involved. She said it is hard being away from home when a baby arrives and

that the group provides great support. “It’s a bit different when you are here and you don’t have kids. You are busy out and about, socialising and working. “It’s very hard once you have a baby. You are missing that whole family support and close friends and generally being in your home country.” The City of Port Phillip has provided

nationals mp pays tribute to irish heritage in parliament

Joyce’s speech honours famine orphan forebear Andrea McCullagh

Barnaby Joyce has paid tribute to his Irish heritage in his maiden speech in federal parliament. “My forebear, Mary Troy, who came to this great country in 1847 and whose name is etched in a monument at Macquarie Barracks in Sydney, had parents who starved to death – found dead in a hedge,” he said. “Mary could read and write when she arrived, so it was not ignorance that brought about her predicament.” The Agriculture Minister used his family history to make a point about looking “after your own” when it comes to food. He brought up the case of the Great Famine to hammer home his argument about the economics of food. “There is indisputable evidence that

huge quantities of food were exported from Ireland to England when the people of Ireland were dying of starvation,” he told the house.. “Almost 4,000 vessels carried food from Ireland to the ports of Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool and London during 1847. At the same time, 400,000 Irish men, women and children died of starvation and related diseases.” Minister Joyce cited the book Ireland Before and After the Famine saying that the country was producing and exporting more than enough grain crops to feed the population. “But that was a money crop, not a food crop, and could not be interfered with,” he said. “This is the deadly hand of bureaucracy as defined by politics beyond your domestic control, and the

reality of where power tr uly lies, especially when it comes to food.” He argued for a strong agriculture sector for the future of Australia and stated that other nations will play to Australia’s weaknesses. “The protagonist, who is currently excitedly typing this up from a room somewhere on the fourth estate, will say this speech implies that Australia is heading to the Irish famine scenario,” he said. “Far from it. Responsible foreign investment is essential. I do not oppose that, and I never have.” Meanwhile, in New South Wales the parliament has confirmed Irishwoman Deborah O’Neill’s selection for the Senate. She will fill the Senate seat of former foreign minister Bob Carr following his retirement.

Tel: (02) 8243 2600 Fax: (02) 8243 2611 Email: georgina@celtictravel.com.au

Suite 502, LEVEL 5, 4 BRIDGE St, Sydney 2000 Licence No. 2TA003945

DESCENDANT: Barnaby Joyce.

the venue for the playgroup free of charge and toys are also supplied for the children. The group meet at Middle Park Community Centre every Wednesday from 1pm for two hours. The group is suitable for babies to three-year-olds. For more, search for ‘Melbourne Irish Mammies Play Group’, or contact Jen on 0416 864 472.

george st lease

PJ’s bolster pub portfolio GALLAGHER Hotel Management (GHM) has continued its recent expansion, taking over a key pub site in Circular Quay. The gr oup, known for its PJ Gallagher’s chain of Irish pubs, has secured the lease for Jacksons On George. The group will introduce a PJ Gallagher’s venue within the four-level p r o p e r t y, i t a n n o u n c e d i n a statement. The highly sought-after George Street site went on the market in July. GHM has since signed a lease for the property, which is currently closed and undergoing safety upgrades and basic refurbishments. This will be the twelfth venue in the GHM portfolio which already includes award-winning pubs The Union Hotel, Le Pub and a string of PJ Gallagher’s in and around Sydney. Jacksons will reopen in coming weeks with a sports bar, nightclub and rooftop bar, plus the new Irish addition.

At last! one hop with one stop - to Ireland Call and let us show you how!

November 21 – December 4, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

special report :: life on fifo fifo irish workers fly the flag

INTO THE WEST: Irish workers proudly display the tricolour in the Pilbara. The group are working on the Roy Hill iron ore mine in the remote West Australian region. Pic: Ciarán Byrne

Mining life can take toll Andrea McCullagh

A REMOTE r egion in Wester n Australia is experiencing an influx of Irish construction workers to a new iron ore mining project. The workers have been building accommodation and developing the site for Gina Rinehar t’s Roy Hill project. Ceiling fixer Ciarán Wright recently returned to Perth after four and a half months of fly-in fly-out (FIFO) work. About 70 Irish workers were on the site at the same time as him and he said there was a great atmosphere among the team. “It was interesting. I got to meet a lot of new people, made a lot of good friends up there,” he said. “I think the Lions beat Australia one day we were down in the wet mess, that was good craic. We had all the Irish on one side of the bar, all the Australians on the other.” The workers organised a group photograph as a memento of their time together on the $10 billion Roy Hill iron ore mine, which is being developed by Gina Rinehart in partnership with a number of companies. The site is about 150 kilometres from Newman and it was Ciarán’s first time to work on a mine. He encountered some unusual creatures in the area including lizards, spiders and scorpions and a few snakes were also sighted. Ciarán worked for 12 hours a day with four weeks on and one week off – and looked forward to time away from the mine. “It’s pretty much like a prison. I don’t mean it to sound that bad. You are in there to work and just to get out of that place for a couple of hours is brilliant,” he said. A number of his co-workers were not based in Perth and took the opportunity to fly to Bali and Thailand during their weeks off. He has mixed emotions about re-

It is pretty much like a prison. I don’t mean it to sound that bad. You are in there to work and just to get out of that place for a couple of hours is brilliant. – Ciarán Byrne

turning after Christmas but admitted the money is the main drawcard. “You get about $7,000 a fortnight after tax and that’s your food and accommodation paid for too,” he said. “One month I was up there I spent only $100 the whole month … there’s guys going up there spending $1,400, $2,000 a month.” Ciarán admitted the heat was difficult when he was working but found the management didn’t push the workers and he said he was well looked after. He was involved in building the accommodation camp for the iron ore site alongside the wet mess, the food hall and the administration area. And he has spotted Irish people on the website Gumtree offering to pay money to get a job on the mines. “You see them on Gumtree, you will see Irish people writing ‘I will pay $4,000 if someone gets me a job in the mines’. It’s crazy,” he said. “You go up there for a year, you can make $140,000. You can go buy a house, whatever you’re into.” Ciarán is back in Perth where he is based with his girlfriend Frances Flood, also from Belfast. He didn’t find it unusual to meet so many Irish people at the mining project as in Perth there are a large number of Irish construction workers. “The site I’m on, east Perth, all the bricklayers are Irish, all the plasterers are Irish,” he said.

‘It’s hard on kids, it’s hard on families’ FOR Mark and Donna Waldron the FIFO lifestyle was a means to an end. Mark spent just under a year commuting to a site in rural Queensland in a bid to save enough money to set up his own business. He supervised a trenching crew for three-week stints and after wards made the long trip home from Roma to Newcastle. But he called it quits when it simply became too much of a strain on his family. “It is hard being away,” he said. “It drags out and you just want to get home. And by the time you get home the week goes by very fast and you are going back again. It’s hard on kids, it’s hard on families. It’s not the ideal thing but it serves its purpose if you want to raise some cash.” He was taking home up to $3,200 a week on the QCLNG Project and it has allowed him to build up enough money t o s e t u p h i s c o m p a n y, M W Landscaping. The Waldrons have three children: seven-year-old twins Caoimhe and Keelin, and Kayla, 10. At the start Donna was able to cope with her husband being away but towards the end it became hard. Donna found that she couldn’t go to mothers’ nights or the gym without Mark around – and she was on the road nearly seven days a week bringing the children to school and their activities. The tiredness got the better of her and it was very difficult for the kids. “Especially my eldest girl because she is a real daddy’s girl,” she said. “It used to break her heart. She used to hate him going away and they’d be counting down the days. “People need to know when enough is enough. It could have been very easy for Mark to stay there and continue on until we reached the goal that we really wanted. But I think it was just starting to get the better of me, and with the kids and everything that’s when we decided enough is enough. He’s at home now and it’s great.” At the start the Waldrons set a time limit of a year on living the FIFO lifestyle. And on the site Mark encountered men who were flying back to Ireland every two months to see their families over the past two years.

QUALITY TIME: The Waldrons enjoy a family day out in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney.

“There’s a couple of guys there doing it for two years. They come six to eight weeks and maybe go home for two weeks,” he said. “There’s one guy in particular does ten days at home and he does six weeks here. It’s a long trip home for ten days.” The couple, who are both from Tuam, Co Galway, moved to Australia in 2010 due to a lack of work at home. Donna believes it depends on family circumstances whether FIFO works or not. “Sometimes they get a bit fond of being away and having their single life

again and not having to be worrying about their wife or their kids. No one nagging them or bothering them. “Some men, not intentionally, can fall into that ‘It’s easier to be away than be at home’ kind of attitude. “Thankfully Mark had had enough of it too. He was missing out on what the kids were doing more so than anything. He wanted to get back. “It has its good points and it has its bad points. At the end of the day it really is all down to you as a family and what you need to get out of it.”

November 21 – December 4, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

ireland family speak of ‘very worrying time’

higgins accepts invite for first ever state visit

President will make historic British visit Brian Hutton

CONCERN: Donegal-man Jimmy Harte, 55, suffered a fractured skull.

Labour senator badly hurt after freak fall LABOUR Senator Jimmy Harte was fighting for his life as we went to press, after a freak fall left him with serious head injuries. The Donegal politician was in a critical but stable condition, after he had surgery at Beaumont Hospital. A Labour Party spokesman said the Harte family have been comforted by the widespread concern for him. “The family have been very heartened by the support they have received from right across the political spectrum,” he said. “It has given them some comfort during this very worrying time. Jimmy is getting the best treatment he can get at Beaumont Hospital and everybody is hoping he makes a recovery.” Mr Harte, 55, from Letterkenny in Co Donegal, was found collapsed on the street at Newmarket Square in Dublin’s south inner city at around 3am last weekend. He was taken to Beaumont

Hospital – which specialises in head injuries – where he is under constant watch in the intensive care unit. Gardaí are satisfied the injuries were sustained as a result of an accidental fall rather than any assault. Following the inquiries, the Harte family also believe the life-threatening injuries were accidental. Detectives at Kevin Street Garda station had been making inquiries to find out what happened to the Donegal politician. The insurance broker was at the Ireland v Latvia football international friendly at the Aviva Stadium in Ballsbridge, south Dublin, earlier in the evening. Mr Harte is from a well-known Donegal family who have been involved in politics for generations. He is also known as a keen sportsman, who has run 12 marathons in recent years and raised more than €30,000 for charities.

President Michael D Higgins is to become the first Irish head of state to make an official state visit to Britain. Queen Elizabeth formally invited the President and his wife Sabina to stay with the royals at Windsor Castle next April 8. Áras an Uachtaráin has confirmed they have accepted the invitation. The groundbreaking three-day State visit follows the Queen’s hugely successful trip to Ireland in May 2011. In remarkable scenes, the British monarch paid her respects to republican dead at Dublin’s Garden of Remembrance, visited Croke Park – site of the 1920 Bloody Sunday massacre – and made a widely-praised speech on Anglo-Irish history at Dublin Castle. In what is considered a pivotal moment in relations between both countries, the invite to Ireland from former president Mary McAleese has paved the way for a reciprocal invite for her successor to Britain. A number of meetings between Mr Higgins – a former Labour government minister, poet and academic – and members of the royal family have taken place since his election. Both he and his wife met the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in June last year at Belfast’s Lyric Theatre. The President met Princess Anne at a sporting event while the Duke of

RSVP: President Higgins and his wife Sabina will stay at Windsor Castle. Pic: PA

Kent visited him this year at Áras an Uachtaráin. Although the Irish head of state has travelled to events in London, Manchester, Liverpool and Scotland over the past year, these were not official visits. Likewise, pr evious meetings between the Queen and President McAleese and her predecessor Mary Robinson at various functions in Britain were not of ficial State visits. Next year’s trip will the first time an Irish head of state has been formally invited

to the country by a British sovereign. Although the official programme is yet to be finalised, it is expected Mr and Mrs Higgins will stay at Windsor Castle and will pay official visits to the Prime Minister at Downing Street as well as the leader of the Opposition. In line with other State visits to Britain, it is anticipated the Lord Mayor of London will host a banquet for the President. Sources said the programme will reflect the political, economic and cultural relations between the two countries. A concert may also be held to mark the occasion. During the Queen’s trip to Ireland, she was entertained by The Chieftains, Westlife, X-Factor singer Mary Byrne and Riverdance during an hour-long extravaganza at Dublin’s Convention Centre. It is also expected the Queen will host a State banquet for the President next April, during which both heads of state will make speeches. Taoiseach Enda Kenny said he warmly welcomed the announcement. “This is a further demonstration of the warm and positive relationship that now exists between Ireland and the United Kingdom,” he said. “The State Visit in April, following on the very successful visit to Ireland by Queen Elizabeth in 2011, will be a wonderful opportunity to deepen this even further.”

trio raise human rights concerns

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Women take fight against Irish abortion ban to UN Sarah Stack

The Irish Gover nment has been accused of violating the basic human rights of a woman forced to travel to England for an abortion by subjecting her to severe mental suffering. Amanda Mellet has filed papers before the United Nations Human Rights Committee to hold Ireland accountable for what she claims was the inhumane and degrading way she was treated. Her case has been backed by the Centre for Reproductive Rights and Terminations for Medical Reasons. In May 2011 Ms Mellet, 38 and her husband James Burke, 36, who live in Dublin with no children, were forced to travel to Liverpool to terminate a pregnancy when medics diagnosed a fatal foetal anomaly. She fought back tears as she said the most horrific and heartbreaking experience of her life was compounded by the treatment she received – or did not receive – in Ireland. “There is no doubt in my mind being forced to leave Ireland and end my pregnancy of my much wanted baby overshadowed my grief,” she said. Ms Mellet said it was not easy to share their loss publicly, but they had to show that the issue affects ordinary people whose dreams are shattered and turned to sorrow. “We could be your neighbours, friends and relatives. What happened to us could happen to any woman,” said the American-born woman. The couple’s case is the first of three petitions to be lodged with the UN.

Ruth Bowie and Siobhán Whelan are due to take action early next year. Ir eland r ecently passed new abortion laws which clarified that a legal abortion can be carried out when the mother’s life is at risk, including suicide. But the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill did not include non-viable pregnancies. Johanna Westeson, regional director for Europe at the Centre for Reproductive Rights, said Irishwomen are being cruelly denied the option of safety and legally ending their pregnancy. She said: “Because of Ireland’s harsh policies, Amanda was forced to travel like a fugitive to the United Kingdom to obtain legal abortion services and was essentially shamed for the only medical option that made sense to her. “Without the strength and means to travel, Amanda would have been forced to carry to term, fearing every minute her foetus had died in utero or that she would give birth only to watch her baby die,” she added. The abortion debate reignited last year when Indian dentist Savita Halappanavar died from septic shock after she was refused a termination as she miscarried, because a foetal heartbeat was present. An inquest returned a verdict of medical misadventure while two reports found medics in Galway missed several early opportunities to terminate her pregnancy on health grounds and unacceptable clinical practice. Her widower Praveen Halappanavar is taking legal action against the HSE.

November 21 – December 4, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

ireland :: economy Ryanair flags more turbulence ahead Low-cost airline Ryanair warned its

profits will be hammered this winter by downward pressure on fares. The Dublin-based carrier expects a 9 per cent drop in average fares for the current quarter and a possible decline of 10 per cent in the three months after Christmas. Issuing its second profit warning in as many months, Ryanair said its surplus for the year to March 31 might dip to as low as €500 million from the €569 million achieved a year earlier. For the period to September 30 – a period when airlines make most of their money – Ryanair recorded profit growth of 1 per cent to €602 million. The airline also announced it will move to fully allocated seating on all Ryanair flights from February.

government opts for clean break from troika programme

State to exit bailout unaided Lyndsey Telford

moneylenders run into problems paying back the loan, research has shown. A Central Bank report found about 360,000 people are using the businesses and outstanding loans are worth about €200 million. And it found 13 per cent of people surveyed are aware of illegal moneylenders operating in their area. The report said the number of people in difficulty meeting payments had jumped from 9 per cent in 2007 to 25 per cent earlier this year. It revealed the most frequent loan term offered was about nine months and at a rate of 125 per cent, but rates can vary from 17.23 per cent to 188.45 per cent, and soar from 37.79 per cent to 287.72 per cent if a collection charge is included.

Emergency aid to help typhoon victims The Irish government will provide

€1 million emergency aid towards the relief effort for Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. Tents, tarpaulins and blankets will also be donated and distributed through charity workers, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed. Ireland’s Rapid Response Corps is also on standby to provide expert help to United Nations agencies operating on the ground. At least 2,360 people are confirmed to have died in Tacloban city and hundreds elsewhere. Hundreds of thousands are displaced. “My thoughts are with the families of those who have perished, and indeed with those waiting to hear of news from their loved ones,” Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore said.

Exports to Africa treble since 2009 THE value of Irish exports to Africa

has trebled since 2009, it has been revealed. Goods and services worth €2.7 billion were sent to the continent last year. Minister for Trade and Development Joe Costello is leading 37 companies in a major drive to increase business links with South Africa and Nigeria. The five-day mission will focus on financial services and telecommunications. “It is estimated that total exports of Irish goods and services to Africa reached €2.7 billion last year – an increase of 200 per cent since 2009 – and I am confident we can increase this further,” Mr Costello said.

pr ecautionar y cr edit line. The Taoiseach’s announcement followed an emergency morning Cabinet meeting during which Finance Minister Michael Noonan briefed ministers ahead of a summit in Brussels. His department said the decision to leave the €85 billion bailout without a so-called backstop of credit was the best option. It said market and sovereign conditions were favourable towards Ireland. The country has built up more than €20 billion in reserves since returning to the international money markets last year. This could be used to keep Ireland in the black until early 2015. IMF managing director Christine Lagarde said the per formance of Ireland bodes well for the future. “Although uncertainties remain in Europe and the global economy more broadly, Ireland is in a strong position in terms of its bond yields and has built a sizeable cash buffer,” she said.

POSITIVE: IMF managing director Christine Lagarde says Ireland is in a strong position. Pic: PA

Ireland will make a clean break from its international bailout programme without seeking a backup overdraft. The once financially-crippled country will go it alone when it exits the programme on December 15 and reenters the money markets. Taoiseach Enda Kenny said it was the right decision for Ireland. “We will set out a path to a brighter economic future for our people, a path from mass unemployment to full employment, from involuntary emigration to the return of thousands of people who have to leave for other countries to find work,” Mr Kenny said. “Today is just the latest step in that ongoing journey, a significant step indeed but also just another step towards our ultimate job of getting Ireland working again.” Ireland’s finances, budgets and policies have been under intense scrutiny

property tax

government looks to life after the bailout

Quarter struggle to repay moneylenders A QUARTER of people who use

since the country agreed to a massive loan package in 2010. Its debt masters, a Troika of the International Monetar y Fund, the European Central Bank and European Commission, have carried out 12 intense reviews over the past three years and imposed a series of tough targets. All of which were met by the state. Among them were orders for the government to impose controversial water charges, which are due to take effect from next year, and a muchdebated property tax introduced in the first half of 2013. A series of deep cuts across the health service were also enforced under the Troika’s rule to save money, as was a major overhaul of the public ser vice sector under the divisive Haddington Road Agreement. As Ir eland becomes the first Eurozone state to have successfully completed a strict bailout programme, the government decided not to seek a

Revenue defends bill demands Lyndsey Telford

Revenue admits it made a blunder on payment demands for the property tax – but insisted it was only trying to deliver the best service possible. Tax boss Josephine Feehily (pictured) faced down challenges from politicians about controversial letters sent to homeowners asking for credit card payments for next year’s bills this month. The letters neglected to say there were other ways of paying the tax next year. Trying to explain the ill-judged communication, Ms Feehily said she thought people would be aware of all the other payments options and that of fering seven dif ferent options was a good thing. Revenue sent letters to almost a million homeowners telling those planning on using a debit, credit card or cheque they would have to pay this month. It explained this was due to a data protection matter – that Revenue could not retain card details. Ms Feehily defended the fact Revenue does not retain credit card details, insisting homeowners would not want it to be able to “dip in” and take money whenever it wants. Ms Feehily said she was “intrigued” by the fact there was “virtually no complaints” earlier this year when homeowners were asked to pay their first proper ty tax bill more than a month in advance of the deadline. She said had this been a problem at the time, Revenue might have communicated the payment methods differently this time around. “I think we assumed that people might still have their local property tax (LPT) booklet and that there had been so much printed and said about this tax only five or six months ago, that people would be somewhat familiar with the concept and the language and so on,” Ms Feehily said.

WRITING’S ON THE WALL: Graffiti in central Dublin protests the Irish bailout programme. Ireland will make a clean break from the Troika assistance package without seeking precautionary funding. Pic: Brian Lawless/PA

We can lead Europe again – Gilmore Lyndsey Telford and Michael McHugh TÁnaiste Eamon Gilmore has said he is determined Ireland will be Europe’s success story. The Troika paid their final visit to Dublin this month as the country prepares to exit the European bailout programme. Mr Gilmore (right) told a conference in Armagh the past two and a half years had been tough, exacting and, at times, frustrating. “The economic collapse affected every person in the country. It affected employment, pay and services. It affected confidence. It affected Ireland’s reputation,” he said. “It affected the capacity of the government to make the level of investment in an all-island economy that we would have liked to make. “But we were determined – determined that Ireland would, once again, offer its people a secure future, a bright future. Determined Ireland would be Europe’s success story.” He said it was because of this drive to be a success story the government took decisive action to recapitalise and

restructure the banks and why ministers insisted on rewriting the terms and conditions of the bailout and “tore up” the Anglo Irish Bank promissory note. “That is why we have prioritised investment in the infrastructure, the training, the reforms that reflect not just our needs now, but our aspirations for the future. “And it is that future which we look forward to here today.” Meanwhile, Finance Minister Michael Noonan has said no deal could be done on Ireland’s legacy bank debt until at least the end of next year. Ahead of a meeting with European finance chiefs in Brussels, the minister

insisted the government remained committed to striking a deal to restructure its bank debt – including burdens from the past. Mr Noonan also gave assurances taxpayers would not be forced to bail out failing banks again, saying it would come from a fund built up by the banking sector. “It is the industry that will pay the levies to build up the fund, not the taxpayer,” Mr Noonan said. Addressing the Joint Oireachtas Finance Committee ahead of an ECOFIN meeting, Mr Noonan admitted he would not raise questions about Ireland’s legacy debt issues in Brussels. He insisted it was not on the agenda and he would not have the opportunity. When asked if the Fine Gael-Labour government was still pursuing the retrospective recapitalisation if Irish banks, he said: “Oh yeah.” But he said this could not be addressed until after the so-called banking union was in place – a mechanism in which the link between sovereign and banking debt is broken. He said that would be “not sooner than 12 months, but some time at the back end of 2014”.

November 21 – December 4, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

ireland piece by late dublin-born painter sells for $152 million

extradition bid

Emma Clark

Child porn accused put on remand

Bacon’s artwork fetches tasty price at US auction A FRANCIS Bacon portrait of his friend and fellow painter Lucian Freud has become the most valuable work of art ever sold at auction – fetching over €100 million in just six minutes of frantic bidding. The work brings together two of the greatest names in the contemporary art scene and went for almost $152 million at the sale in New York. The three-panelled painting, called Three Studies of Lucian Freud, depicts the German-born British artist sitting on a chair from three different angles and has never been offered for sale before. The painting’s three panels were split up shortly after it was completed in 1969 and were only brought back together as one work in the 1980s. The pair, who were friends and rivals, are regarded as two of the modern masters of British art. Bacon, who died in 1992, sat for a portrait by Freud but it was stolen during an exhibition in Germany and has never been seen since. Freud died in 2011. “Three Studies of Lucian Freud, executed in 1969, is a true masterpiece that marks Bacon and Freud’s relationship, paying tribute to the creative and emotional kinship between the two ar tists,” said Francis Outred of Christie’s in Europe.

Brian Hutton

BRINGING HOME THE BACON: The triptych above – Three Studies of Lucian Freud – has become the most expensive artwork ever sold. Pic: PA

“The juxtaposition of radiant sunshine yellow contrasting with the brutal physicality and immediacy of the brush-strokes in this celebrated lifesize triptych is what makes Bacon’s art so remarkable.” The record price is more than dou-

ble that of Bacon’s second-most expensive piece of artwork. Triptych, 1976, was bought for $45.8 million in 2008 by Chelsea proprietor Roman Abramovich at an auction by Sotheby’s in New York. The auction set another record when Jeff Koon’s sculpture Balloon

Dog (Orange) went for $62.2 million, a new world record for a living artist. Bacon was born in Dublin to British parents in 1909. His work was brought to Australia for the first time in October last year, for a popular exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

A MAN branded the largest facilitator of child porn on the planet by the FBI has been remanded in custody for a further week. Eric Eoin Marques (above), of Mountjoy Square in Dublin’s north inner city, is wanted in America on four charges linked to website images described as being extremely violent,graphic and depicting rape and torture of pre-pubescent children. During a brief mention in Dublin’s High Court, Judge John Edwards said he was anxious to fix a date for a hearing into the extradition case. Judge Edwards said he would like the hearing to go ahead sooner rather than later as the accused remains in custody. He remanded Mr Marques in custody, with the case to be heard again on November 26. Dressed in a grey hooded sweater, the 28-year-old, who has Irish and US citizenship, was in the High Court for the brief mention. He waved to a handful of onlookers before being led away again.

November 21 – December 4, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

ireland Rent rise blamed on housing shortage Rent levels in Dublin have risen by almost 8 per cent compared with a year earlier. Thousands more people risk losing their homes because costs are quickly increasing, the Focus Ireland charity warned. The inflation was blamed on a shortage of properties. Outside the capital, rents in other cities are rising less rapidly. Roughan MacNamara, Focus Ireland advocacy manager, said: “The continuing rise in rent in Dublin – which is now spreading to other counties – is bringing the risk of losing your home a little bit closer for thousands more people in Ireland.” The charity said it was dealing with many households who have lost their home due to rising rents. According to property website Daft.ie, in Dublin, rents were 7.6 per cent higher than a year previously.

Paul McGuinness to move on and sell management company

U2’s manager calls it quits

INFLUENTIAL: Paul McGuinness has been the manager of U2 since 1978.

U2 MANAGER Paul McGuinness is on the verge of stepping aside after 35 years at the helm of the famous band. The unofficial fifth member of the Irish rock group is also close to selling his management company, Principle Management, to Live Nation Entertainment. McGuinness said he was delighted that Live Nation has joined him in creating a powerful new force in artist management. “It could be seen as slightly poor etiquette for a manager to consider retiring before his artist has split, quit or died, but U2 have never subscribed to the rock ‘n’ roll code of conduct,” he told the New York Times. “As I approach the musically relevant age of 64, I have resolved to take a less hands-on role as the band embark on the next cycle of their extraordinary career.” McGuinness has managed U2 since

SPecial probe

New ward opened for Ireland’s youngest cardiac patients

Rise in number of gonorrhoea cases Cases of sexually transmitted

gonorrhoea have increased by about a third each year since 2011, health chiefs have warned. An outbreak control team has been appointed to monitor the rapid increase in cases in the east and south-east of the country where the disease, which can cause infertility, is most common. The major concern is the upsurge in the Dublin, Wicklow and Kildare region, where there were 817 cases recorded last year compared with 613 the previous year – an increase of 33 per cent. Health chiefs said the increase shows no sign of abating this year, with 1,077 cases recorded across the country.

Parents’ stress ‘can harm babies’ Stress and depression among

parents can affect babies as young as nine months and harm their development, a new report has claimed. Research on infant development found mothers and fathers with high levels of stress show less sensitivity to their children. Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald said the findings, which are part of the government-funded Growing Up in Ireland study, demonstrate how family influences can impact children from such a young age. The report, published by Elizabeth Nixon, Lorraine Swords and Aisling Murray, found that stress among mothers was strongly associated with a difficult temperament from an infant.

Pair honoured with Freedom of Dublin Rugby star Brian O’Driscoll and human rights campaigner Father Peter McVerry are to be awarded the Freedom of the City of Dublin. Lord Mayor of Dublin Oisin Quinn said it would be a great honour to be able to give two of the capital’s most inspirational citizens its highest award. “Brian and Fr Peter are from different generations but they share much in common,” he said. “They are both inspirational leaders. They set a remarkable example to us all by the way they apply themselves to their challenges. They are people who lead by the example they set. In their own way and in their own fields, they are both individuals who walk the walk.”

1978, two years after four Dublin teenagers – Paul Hewson (Bono) on vocals, David Evans (The Edge) on guitar, Adam Clayton and Lar r y Mullen on drums – formed a band. He founded Principle Management in 1982 and became one of the most highly rated executives in the music business. His client list also included PJ Harvey, The Rapture and Paddy Casey. Under his control, U2 sold more than 140 million records and won 22 Grammy awards. The band’s last tour, called 360, grossed more than €520 million in ticket sales and was seen by nearly seven million people around the world. Live Nation, which owns Ticketmaster, is also in talks to buy Madonna’s management company Maverick. The move will result in Madonna’s manager, Guy Oseary, taking over the

management of U2 and day-to-day r unning of Principle, while McGuinness will become chairman of Principle Management. Live Nation is due to issue a statement on the deal, which is estimated at €22 million. In 2008, Live Nation struck a deal with U2 to handle the band’s touring and merchandising exclusively for 12 years. According to Pollstar, a concert industr y trade magazine, the top 10 highest-grossing tours include four by U2 and one by Madonna. McGuinness has received many inter national awards, including Pollstar Personal Manager of the Year and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Irish music industry in 2002, and the Peter Grant International Manager of the Year Award in 2006. In 1999, together with U2, he received the Freedom of the City of Dublin.

Roma family cases sent to Ombudsman Ed Carty

Reports from the garda and health chiefs on the removal of two children from separate Roma families have been sent to the Children’s Ombudsman. Emily Logan, who has been given special powers to investigate the force’s handling of the cases, is taking the lead on inquiries into the controversial cases. One internal report has been sent from the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and a second is from the Department of Justice. Ms Logan’s office declined to comment as her investigation was continuing. The youngsters, a girl aged seven and a two-year-old boy, were taken from their parents over the course of two days last month after members of the public reported they were not the families’ children. The claims were unfounded. A blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl was taken from her south Dublin home for 48 hours, while the boy, also fairhaired, was removed from his home in Athlone in the Midlands. Both children were subsequently proven to be members of the families, with the girl returned home after DNA tests. Justice Minister Alan Shatter (above) gave Ms Logan the power to investigate the cases under section 42 of the Criminal Justice Act 2007, even though her remit normally stops her from probing the garda. The Garda Ombudsman also sought a copy of the r epor t fr om the Department of Justice.

NO SKIPPING A BEAT: Four-year-old Holly Moore, from Ferbane, Co Offaly, was one of the first patients in the new Children’s Heart Centre which opened in Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in Crumlin. Pic: Brian Lawless/PA

broadcaster to start new NETWORK based in Dublin

UTV to lock horns with rival stations Brian Hutton

UTV has vowed to go head-to-head with RTÉ and TV3 in a battle for Irish television viewers with a new station based in Dublin. Bosses revealed surprise plans for the channel – which they say will be on air by 2015 – a day after signing a deal with British TV giant ITV for exclusive rights to popular soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale. John McCann, group chief executive of parent company UTV Media, said the recent agreement set the wheels in motion for the new station, which is expected to employ 100 people. “It’s as simple as that – we were able to do a deal with ITV,” he said. Commercial rival TV3, which currently airs the British soaps in the Republic, claimed they were losing money on the shows. UTV Ireland, which will be based in Dublin’s Docklands, close to where the company runs a stable of local radio stations, will replicate its model in Northern Ireland. Schedules will be based around ITV’s offering of current affairs, enter-

BIG PLANS: UTV’s managing director Michael Wilson.

tainment and drama, with local shows and news bulletins slotted in to customise the channel for an Irish Republic audience. The only homegrown show already planned is a peak-time one-hour evening news programme, anchored in Dublin and taking in reports from bases in Cork, Galway, Waterford and Limerick. Station chiefs have refused to disclose what time the flagship news programme will air. Michael Wilson, managing director

of UTV, said the plan was to increase the number of Irish-made shows using independent producers in Ireland. “In terms of where we see our sights, let me be absolutely clear – we are a mainstream public service broadcaster, we are aiming to go head-to-head with RTÉ and TV3,” he said. “We aim to be the first choice for viewers in Ireland and that’s our goal.” An application to run the station was submitted to the Br oadcasting Authority of Ireland last week. Company officials claim the new channel will break even in its first year on air and be profitable by 2016. Of the 100 new jobs, it is expected about half will be editorial, with other roles including transmission, scheduling, sales and advertising. Mr Wilson said the staff who had lost their jobs at UTV in Belfast in recent months could apply for the new roles in Dublin. The “restructuring” in Northern Ireland was part of preparations for the new venture, Mr Wilson said. He refused to say if UTV had considered a takeover of cash-strapped TV3 before launching plans for a rival station.

November 21 – December 4, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

northern ireland four defendants alleged to have videoed assault on victim

Gang ‘shaved woman’s head’

concert costs

Lesley-Anne McKeown

A VULNERABLE woman with learning difficulties was left traumatised and petrified after her head was shaved by a gang while she lay partially clothed and helpless, a court has heard. Details emerged as 20-year-old Paula Wilson and three men appeared in the dock at Ballymena Magistrates’ Court accused of a string of charges connected to the alleged attack. District Judge Des Perry said: “It is probably one of the most horrific cases I have heard in the recent past.” Wilson, 20, whose address was not disclosed, Nathan Telford, 22, from Beechwood Avenue, Ahoghill, Co A n t r i m , P a u l B a l m e r, 4 1 , o f Maghaberry Prison, Co Antrim, and Alister Hamilton, 22, from Shane Cour t, Ballymena, are accused of causing grievous bodily har m, attempted grievous bodily harm and common assault. Charges were brought against the four after Wilson’s mobile telephone was seized in October by detectives. The incident occurred some time between May 18 and 22 but was not repor ted at the time because the alleged victim, who has been granted anonymity, was too frightened. A police officer, whose identity was not given for security reasons, said video footage and still photographs downloaded from a phone showed the woman lying unconscious at Telford’s flat in Ballymoney Road, Ballymena. “Her hair was shaved while she lay unconscious. Dr y shaved by three

Van’s band knows price of freedom Lesley-Anne McKeown

ACCUSED: Nathan Telford, Alister Hamilton, Paula Wilson (head covered), and Paul Balmer (not photographed) face charges over an incident in which a woman with learning difficulties was attacked and terrorised in May. Pix: PA

males while Ms Wilson videoed the whole thing,” he said. The policeman said he believed he could connect all four defendants to the charges. The court heard claims that the woman had no recollection of what happened. She woke up par tially clothed with her hair nearly all removed and her face scrawled over with black ink. The detective said when she came round she was ordered out of the flat by Telford and returned home. Trophy-type photos of the four posing with the unconscious woman and gesturing towards the camera were found on the phone, the court heard.

Judge Per r y said although the alleged victim had no memory of the incident, the video and images provided a “real record” of what happened. Flanked by two prison guards the four defendants almost filled the dock of courtroom number two. Wilson was dressed in a navy sweatshirt, jeans and white high-top trainers, with bleached blonde hair scraped into a bun on thetop of her head. She smirked, smiled and chatted with her co-accused during the brief hearing. Balmer, who looked older than the others, was wearing a blue and bright yellow zip-up tracksuit.

Hamilton, who has a tattoo of a spider’s web covering most of his neck, wore a light blue jumper with an image of a naked woman on the front and combat-style blue jeans. His dark hair was shaved at the back and sides. Ginger-haired Telford, who has tattoos covering his neck, face and hands and three ear piercings, was wearing dark tracksuit bottoms and blue trainers. None of the defendants spoke during the proceedings. There were no applications for bail and all four were remanded in custody to appear again by videolink on Thursday, December 5.

Van Morrison’s band was paid $62,000 to perform at a concert in his home city where he will be awarded the Freedom of Belfast, it has been revealed. Belfast City Council, which is organising the Waterfront Hall show, has signed off an agreement for the singer’s company Exile Productions to receive the money. The concert, before an invited audience of 2,000, took place last week. The fee does not include costs for special receptions before and after the concert which is scheduled to last for one hour 45 minutes. Ulster Unionist councillor Jim Rodgers said he was shocked and amazed at the payment. “As far as we were aware this was a free concert.” The event has already sparked controversy after it emerged a fifth of the tickets had been reserved for VIPs. Two thousand tickets were released to members of the public in Belfast through a lottery system but there was a huge outcr y after it emerged 500 were being held back for councillors, senior staff and special guests.

A St. Patrick’s Day Update Message from President John Roper A Chairde, I’ve received a number of phone calls over the past few weeks asking me what’s the date of next year’s parade. So I can confirm that next year’s St Patrick’s Day Parade & Family Day will take place on Sunday March 16, 2014. So lock the date in your diary! In the meantime, your committee has been cracking on, fundraising and putting in place all the infrastructure required to get the parade and family day up and running. Therefore, I’d like to announce the committee’s latest St Patrick’s Day Fundraiser Trivia Night. It will take place at the Gaelic Club, Devonshire Street, Surry Hills on Thursday November 21 at 7pm. Tickets cost $10 per person (max table of 6). There will be prizes for first, second and third and, most importantly, best team name! You can pre-enter your team on our Facebook event page at “Sydney St Patrick’s Day Festival”, or just rock up to the door on the night. The last trivia night was a cracker and the Gaelic Club was packed to the rafters, so make sure you get down early on November 21 to nab yourself a table. We are also selling tickets for our Monster Raffle of two return flights to Ireland! They cost $50 each and there are only 500 tickets available (That’s

good-looking odds!). The draw will be held on St Patrick’s Day in Hyde Park and all funds raised go directly into the parade and family day. To purchase tickets, call me on 0414 647 909 or visit www.stpatricksday.org.au and click on “Monster Raffle” under the heading Purchases & Donations to place an order for tickets. We are also seeking volunteers to help us design, create and build floats for next year’s parade. If you feel you can spare some time to help make our parade the best parade in Australia, please call 0141 647 909 or email me at president@stpatricksday.org.au. Volunteering is a great way to make new friends and learn new skills, plus, you’ll feel great by giving something back to our community. As always, donations to help put on the biggest St Patrick’s Day Parade in the Southern Hemisphere are most welcome. To donate, email me at president@stpatricksday.org.au, or send a cheque made out to “Sydney St Patrick’s Day Organisation Incorporated” to PO Box Q1168 QVB NSW 1230. Mise le meas,

John Roper President

Proudly supported by the

November 21 – December 4, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

northern ireland tv documentary on ‘disappeared’ leads to new calls for truth

Kenny presses Adams over McConville’s brutal killing Lyndsey Telford

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has challenged Sinn Féin president Gerr y Adams over the IRA abduction, murder and secret burial of widowed motherof-ten Jean McConville. On the back of a special documentary on the “Disappeared” – 16 victims of republican paramilitaries – Mr Adams has been criticised over his appeals for people to come forward. A tweet from the republican leader urged anyone with information to “contact the commission, families or me”. Mr Kenny challenged Mr Adams over his knowledge of the Disappeared and said the people with information about Ms McConville’s death are “still around”. “The fact of the matter is that somebody ordered that Jean McConville be murdered,” Mr Kenny said. ”Somebody instructed that people take her away. Somebody instructed that Dolours Price drive that vehicle across the border and somebody instructed that what happened took place. “It may well be that those people are still around and they know what happened, and your own appeal from this may well have some effect, and I hope it has.” At least 16 people were abducted, murdered and secretly buried by republican paramilitaries between 1972

CHALLENGE: Enda Kenny (right) told the Sinn Féin leader people with information about the Disappeared are ‘still around’. Pix: PA

and 2003. Ms McConville was one of them when she was taken at gunpoint from her home in Divis, west Belfast, in 1972. Even though a former IRA man claimed Mr Adams ordered the murder, the Sinn Féin president has continued to insist he had nothing to do with the mother’s death, most recently in a special television documentary. Brendan “Darkie” Hughes, once a close friend of Mr Adams, said: “There’s only one man who gave the order for that woman to be executed. That man is now the head of Sinn Féin.”

But Mr Adams, now a Louth TD, denied the claim. “I had no act or part to play in either the abduction, the killing or burial of Jean McConville or indeed any of these other people. Brendan is telling lies,” he told the documentary-makers. Hughes died in 2008, but Old Bailey bomber Dolours Price, who died earlier this year, also made the allegation against Mr Adams. The Sinn Féin leader has always denied being a member of the IRA. Ms McConville’s remains were recovered at Shelling Beach, Co Louth,

DA APPROVED LAND

in August 2003 – more than three decades after she was abducted – by a member of the public. She had been badly beaten and shot in the back of the head. Her murder is a live investigation because a man out walking made the discover y rather than information coming from the IRA. To date the bodies of ten people – who became known as the Disappeared – have been recovered. A further seven people, including west Belfast IRA man Joe L ynskey, Brendan McGraw from Twinbrook and SAS-trained officer Captain Robert Nairac, have never been found. Mr Adams repeated calls in the Dáil for anyone with information on the Disappeared to co-operate with the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains. The body was jointly established by the British and Irish governments in 1999 and guarantees that all information given is treated anonymously. The Taoiseach said he hopes the programme “stimulates active minds” to make their information available. “For others who are disappeared in a similar fashion, if they are laid to rest in tragic circumstances in Co Meath or Co Monaghan, there are people out there who know what happened to them as well, and it’s time they would engage with the commission.”

McGuinness: deaths ‘cruel, unjustified’ Michael McHugh

The IRA’s secret killing and burying of victims accused of passing information to the British security services during the Northern Ireland has been condemned by Mar tin McGuinness (above). “What happened to those families was totally and absolutely wrong. I believe it was cruel, I believe it was unjustified. Of course the IRA were responsible,” he said. “I and other republican leaders have over the course of a number of years been involved in exhorting anyone with any scrap of information whatsover about the location of these bodies to bring them forward and that has brought considerable success for some families but sadly not for others, and I would reiterate my appeal to anyone out there in the community who was in any way involved in any of these situations to bring forward that information,” he told MLAs at a meeting of the Stormont Assembly.

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November 21 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; December 4, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

The Ice Men Meet The Hardy Irish On Expedition In Antarctica Feature :: Page 30 CUp cool in melbourne

Getting down to business

Irish Revellers Turn Out In Style For The Big Race

Dublin Star Of Downton Abbey Talks TV Fame

irish seen :: PAGE 18

interview :: PAGE 26

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November 21 – December 4, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

Irish

Global Irish Studies dinner

Parliament House, Sydney Photos: Billy Cantwell

Sydney Irish Consul General Catríona Ingoldsby (right) and husband Colm Healy.

Ireland’s Ambassador to Australia Noel White with Mary Lee of Eblana Travel.

The Jim Stynes table.

Prof James Donald (Dean of Arts and Social Sciences at UNSW) and his wife Prof Stephanie J Hemelryk.

Dr Richard O’Brien, former Ambassador of Ireland to Australia.

Frank Curran performs on the grand piano.

Harpist Cliona Mollins entertains guests.

November 21 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; December 4, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

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November 21 – December 4, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

Irish

Melbourne Cup Flemington Racecourse Photos: Darryl Kennedy

Liz Connery (Cork), Maine Murray (Dublin), Sinéad O’Shea (Dublin) and Nikki Carew (Dublin).

Gemma Reynolds, Lisa Loughney, Elaine Twomey and Maresa McGettigan.

Anthony and Shirley Quinn with Linda and Danny McAlister.

Sinéad O’Mara with John Sheehan.

Ashling Lawlee (Cork), Rachel McCann (Kerry), Sinéad Morgan (Waterford), Eileen McCarthy (Cork) and Shane Ryan (Waterford).

Shane Ward, Glenn Ward, Tom Wilson, Daniel Finnie, Kerri Wilson, and Sinead Fitzpatrick.

Clare natives David O’Dea with Mags Commane.

Lara and Lech Hunt with Cara O’Riordan and Elaine and Juliann Harrington.

November 21 – December 4, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

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touring Jedward Irrepressible pop twins John and Edward Grimes return to Australia for a trio of dates. Better known as Jedward, the duo rose to fame through the X-Factor and Eurovision.

Nov 23

Perth

Regal Theatre

Nov 30

Melbourne

Palais Theatre

Dec 1

Sydney

Enmore Theatre

Celtic Woman After sell-out dates in the US, Celtic Woman return to Australia for a nationwide tout. The January gigs take place after dates in September were rescheduled.

Jan 12

Brisbane

Entertainment Centre

Jan 15

Newcastle

Entertainment Centre

Jan 16

Wollongong

Win Entertainment Centre

Jan 17

Sydney

Entertainment Centre

Jan 18

Canberra

The Royal Theatre

Jan 19

Melbourne

Hamer Hall

Jan 21

Adelaide

Entertainment Centre

Jan 24

Perth

RiversideTheatre

The Wolfe Tones (feat. Duke Special) The enduring Irish folk trio bring their 50th anniversary tour to Australia, with a quartet of summer dates. Support comes from Belfast songwriter Duke Special.

Jan 17

Sydney

Selina’s (Coogee Bay Hotel)

Jan 19

Brisbane

The Tivoli

Jan 24

Melbourne

Forum Theatre

Jan 25

Perth

Riverside Theatre

Daniel O’Donnell (with special guest Mary Duff) Arguably Donegal’s most famous son, Daniel O’Donnell has won a legion of admirers around the world, thanks to his wholesome sound and devotion to his fans.

Mar 2

Adelaide

Entertainment Theatre

Mar 4

Launceston

Albert Hall

Mar 5

Hobart

Wrest Point Entertainment Centre

Mar 8

Brisbane

Convention and Exhibition Centre

Mar 9-10

Gold Coast

Arts Centre

Mar 12

Newcastle

Entertainment Centre

Mar 14

Canberra

Royal Theatre

Mar 15

Sydney

Mar 17-18 Mar 20

MAC IS BACK: Mick McHugh has won praise for his live performances and has toured with Damien Dempsey, Mundy, and John Spillane. He plays the Celtic Club in Melbourne on November 29.

community Friday, November 22 Brisbane O’Doherty to O’Shea: The QIA to 1910

This free, historical presentation will focus on the origins and early years of the Queensland Irish Association. From 1.30pm to 3pm. www.queenslandirish.com/

Saturday, November 23 Melbourne City and Country Get Together

The Celtic Club hosts a series of workshops and a dinner in the Brian Boru function room with guest speaker Dr Clare Wright, who is launching her book The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka.

Sydney Gaelic Club Concert / Fundraiser

Lively traditional and contemporary Tasmanian dances and tunes dedicated to the natural and musical heritage of Tasmania. Contact (03) 6273 2127 folkdancetas@gmail.com

Sunday, December 1 Perth Fundraiser for People in Crisis

Tuesday, December 3

Two of Australia’s most noted actors, Hugo Weaving and Richard Roxburgh, take on Samuel Beckett’s seminal masterpiece. www.sydneytheatre.com.au/

Canberra Eureka’s Children Dinner

State Theatre

Melbourne

Hamer Hall

Sunday, November 24

Wednesday, December 4

Perth

Riverside Theatre

Brisbane Annual Remembrance Mass

Sydney Patrick O’Farrell Memorial Lecture

Canberra 18th Annual Eureka Dinner Lecture

Former Chief Justice of the ACT Supreme Court, Terry Higgins AO, delivers this year’s address. Tickets $35, arrive 6.30pm for 7pm start. Contact Tania (02) 6251 4838

Friday, November 29 Melbourne IACC Christmas Party

Irish Australian Chamber of Commerce members and guests celebrate the festive season at PJ O’Brien’s Southbank. admin@irishchamber.com.au

Saturday, November 30 Hobart Buttongrass Ball

what’s on

The Irish Club of WA presents its annual Christmas Dinner Dance from 7pm, with live entertainment, three-course meal and spot prizes on the night. Tickets $40. Contact Nick (08) 9381 5213

Arts & Culture

Performances by Louise Phelan, Ben Stephenson, Maeve Moynihan, Coolfinn and Cameron Mather, from 7.30pm. Tickets $15, children can attend for free.

Wednesday, November 27

Perth Christmas Dinner Dance

The Claddagh Association’s men’s and ladies’ golf day takes place at Peninsula Gold Course, in Maylands. Tee off from 7.30am, fee $75. Contact Tom 0412 236 498 www.claddagh.org.au

Journalist and author Peter FitzSimons discusses Eureka’s links to Australian Democracy and Republican aspirations at the Southern Cross Club. Tickets $55-$70. Contact Terry 0411 861-237 terry@quinane.id.au.

Irish Australian Support Association of Queensland mass at Guardian Angels Church Southport, from 12noon. Contact Rita 0432 087 328 info@iasaq.com.au www.iasaq.com.au

Friday, December 20

Prof Joanna Bourke, a war and violence historian, delivers the 2013 lecture to the Global Irish Studies Centre at UNSW. http://irish.arts.unsw.edu.au/

December 4 – 7 Sydney Conference for Irish Studies

This year’s Australasian Conference for Irish Studies has the theme The Ends of Ireland. http://irish.arts.unsw.edu.au/

Until December 7 Sydney Waiting For Godot

gigs Saturday, November 30 Belgrave, Victoria Roesy

Roesy plays the End Of The Line Festival. www.roesy.net/tour

Saturday, December 7 Brisbane A Very Celtic Christmas

Music from Súnas and Sásta. Tickets $22. www.queenslandirish.com/

Tuesday, January 7, 2014 MELBOURNE James Vincent McMorrow

Acclaimed singer-songwriter James Vincent McMorrow plays Melbourne’s Corner Hotel.

Thursday, December 5

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Sydney Lansdowne Club Christmas Drinks

SYDNEY James Vincent McMorrow

Irish business network to host festive drinks for members at PJ O’Brien’s in the CBD, from 5pm. www.lansdowneclub.com.au/

McMorrow plays Sydney’s Metro Theatre.

Sport

Friday, December 6

Thursday, December 26

Sydney IACC Christmas Party

Sydney International Passport Day

The Chamber’s Sydney members gather at PJ O’Brien’s for a festive bash. admin@irishchamber.com.au http://irishchamber.com.au/

Show your Irish passport at the gates and gain entry free at the Royal Randwick Racecourse. Gates open at 11.30am, first race 1.20pm. https://australianturfclub.com.au

whatson@irishecho.com.au :: (02) 9555 9199

November 21 – December 4, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

Irish

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Sinn Féin GAC celebrates 60 years Yarraville Club, Victoria Photos: Darryl Kennedy

Deirdre Gorvie, Garrard Cawe, Neettee Jordan and Fiona Simpson.

Noreen Burns Fanning and Neil Donnelly.

Navelle Smith, Melissa Creedon, Jamie Conway from Wexford, Paddy Fitzgerald from Clare, Helen and Gráinne Boyle from Donegal, with Blaithin Gilsenan from Westmeath.

Women’s Player Of The Year Claire Kildunne, from Tyrone, and Damian MacSearraigh.

Orla Kirwan from Laois and Noreen O’Sullivan from Cork.

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November 21 – December 4, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

24-27 January 2014 plus

Blackwater

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Celtic Stone Mick McHugh Jenna Murphy & the Roses

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danielodonnell.org

November 21 – December 4, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

National Top 10 Guinness Outlets – OCTOBER 1 PJ O’Brien’s, Melbourne 2 Durty Nelly’s, Perth 3 JB O’Reilly’s, Perth 4 The Quiet Man Irish Pub, Melbourne 5 PJ O’Brien’s, Sydney 6 Whale and Ale Tavern, Perth 7 The Mighty Quinn Tavern, Perth 8 Durty Nelly’s, Sydney 9 The Drunken Poet, Melbourne 10 Maloney’s Hotel

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SOAP STAR THURSDAYS

@ SCRUFFY’S

NSW/ACT Top 10 Guinness Outlets 1 PJ O’Brien’s 2 Durty Nelly’s 3 Maloney’s Hotel 4 Mercantile Hotel 5 Scruffy Murphy’s 6 King O’Malley’s, Canberra 7 Penrith Gaels Cultural and Sporting Assoc. 8 The Porterhouse 9 Kelly’s on King 10 PJ Gallagher’s, Leichhardt QLD Top 10 Guinness Outlets 1 Fiddler’s Green, Gold Coast 2 Queensland Irish Club, Brisbane 3 Dublin Docks Tavern, Gold Coast 4 Gilhooley’s, Brisbane 5 PJ O’Brien’s, Cairns 6 Irish Murphy’s, Brisbane 7 Kitty O’Shea’s, Gold Coast 8 Hoolihans, Hervey Bay 9 Waxy’s Irish Pub, Gold Coast 10 O’Malley’s, Brisbane VIC Top 10 Guinness Outlets 1 PJ O’Brien’s Melbourne 2 The Quiet Man 3 The Drunken Poet 4 The Snug Public House 5 The Irish Times 6 PJ O’Briens, Melbourne Airport 7 Pint on Punt 8 Kangaroo Hotel 9 Young and Jackson 10 Lomond Hotel

RHIANNON FISH

STARTS 8pm 43-49 Goulburn St SYDNEY

THURSDAY DEC 05

2hr

Rhiannon Fish

APPEARANCE

‘April’

WA Top 10 Guinness Outlets 1 Durty Nelly’s 2 JB O’Reilly’s 3 Whale and Ale Tavern 4 The Mighty Quinn Tavern 5 Bailey Bar and Bistro 6 Fibber McGee’s 7 The Moon and Sixpence Tavern 8 Crown Perth 9 Murphy’s Irish Pub 10 Fenians Irish Pub SA Top 5 Guinness Outlets 1 The Elephant 2 Mick O’Shea’s 3 Daniel O’Connell Hotel 4 Verve Bar & Kitchen 5 PJ O’Brien’s, Adelaide TAS Top 5 Guinness Outlets 1 New Sydney Hotel 2 Irish Murphy’s, Launceston 3 Irish Murphy’s, Hobart 4 Knopwood’s Retreat 5 Cock ‘n Bull Hotel

CORRECTION :: DURTY NELLY’S: There was an issue with the September data for the Black List. Durty Nelly’s in Paddington was listed fifth in NSW and should have been the number one venue for that state and the fifth venue nationally for September.

Expected Arriva l

9.30-10.30

ADVISED TO COME EARLY

www.scruffymurphys.com.au

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VISA-BILITY YOUR IMMIGRATION

QUESTIONS ANSWERED... Co Antrim native and registered migration agent John McQuaid provides a uniquely Irish perspective on current visa and migration issues.

Send your immigration questions to John at

visability@irishecho.com.au

November 21 – December 4, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

Stick with your studies before switch to 457 visa Dear AP,

Dear John, I have been working parttime on a student visa in Australia for the past six months. My employer is now looking at sponsoring me as they need me fulltime. My boss is saying I need to finish my student visa first. Is this true? What is the process? I have another year left on my student visa. AP

This Migration Column is intended to provide general information on migration issues and does not constitute legal or migration advice. While all care is taken, no responsibility is accepted by the Irish Echo or John McQuaid for the accuracy of material in the column. People seeking advice on migration law should seek advice from a registered migration agent.

NED IRISH OW

There is no migration law requirement to complete the full term on a student visa to apply for and be granted a 457 work visa. However, you should consider whether the qualification you are studying for is relevant or necessary to meet the skill requirement for the 457 visa. If you move to the sponsored visa, you could elect to finish your studies provided you continue to meet the full-time work requirement of the 457 visa. For your job to be eligible for sponsorship, the duties of the role need to line up with the occupations on the Consolidated Skilled Occupations List (CSOL). The employer needs to pay a ‘market salary’ above the current minimum $53,900 ‘guaranteed earnings’. Overtime, bonuses or superannuation cannot be counted. A market salary varies depending on the job, so it may be much higher than the minimum. A check of the pay rates for Australian coworkers in the same role or what’s being offered in the local market is needed. To meet the sponsored visa requirements you need to have either a relevant qualification, usually a diploma or degree or trade certificate or – depending on the occupation – a minimum of three or

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five years’ full-time work experience in a similar role. In July 2013, new migration rules were introduced for occupations that require licensing or registration. The new rules mean that if licensing or registration is mandatory in the state you intend to work in, then you need to be able to become licensed/registered.

The new Coalition government has committed to unwinding some some of this new red tape: it remains to be seen how long this will take. It is important to note that each Australian state sets its own requirements for registration and licensing – what is mandatory in one state may not be mandatory in another. Great care needs to be taken to work through this, so consider consulting a registered migration agent.

If a 457 visa holder works in an occupation without meeting mandatory requirements or having appropriate authority to work in that occupation, they may be in breach of visa condition 8107, and risk visa cancellation. From November 22, further rule changes require employers to show they have first tried to fill the position with an Australian. This is referred to as Labour Market Testing (LMT). Indications from the department are that evidence of a job advertisement will meet the requirements. Some professional occupations will be exempt. The new Coalition government has committed to unwinding some of this new red tape: it remains to be seen how long this will take. If your employer is already an approved sponsor, they will need to lodge a nomination application with immigration; you can then lodge the 457 visa application. Anyone on a student visa needs to maintain their studies while waiting for 457 visa processing. Having a student visa cancelled for non-compliance could jeopardise any new visa application. When an application is lodged in Australia, applicants are issued with a bridging visa that comes into effect only when any current visa expires. Find an agent: mia.org.au/

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November 21 – December 4, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

Ich bin ein Queenslander CLIVE Palmer might have some way to go before he is spoken of in the same terms as JFK. The tycoon-turned-politician has been accused of plagiarising large swathes of a 52-year-old speech from the former US president during his address to the National Press Club in Canberra. The ABC ran portions of the two speeches side by side and there were some striking similarities. For one, Mr Palmer’s references to Karl Marx seemed to echo Kennedy’s. Make up your own mind. Mr Palmer said: “In 1851 – a long time ago – the New York Herald Tribune had retained its London correspondent, a little known journalist, named by his mother as Karl Marx. "Apparently he was without means, his family was sick and hungry, he didn’t have any money. “He repeatedly appealed to his publisher Horace Greeley … to boost his salary of $5 a story, a stipend his close friend Engels said was the lousiest petty bourgeoisie cheating that he’d ever seen.” Compare it to Kennedy: “You may remember that in 1851 the New York Herald Tribune, under the sponsorship and publishing of Horace Greeley, employed as its London correspondent an obscure journalist by the name of Karl Marx. “We are told that foreign correspondent Marx, stone broke, and with a family ill and undernourished, constantly appealed to Greeley and Managing Editor Charles Dana for an increase in his munificent salary of $5 per instalment, a salary which he and Engels ungratefully labelled as the ‘lousiest petty bourgeois cheating’.” Clive, maybe next time don’t do it in a room full of journalists.

as Republic of Ireland manager and assistant manager. The duo fielded their first training session last week ahead of Ireland’s friendly against heavyweights of Baltic football, Latvia. Does anyone know what to make of it so far? Our excitement about the duo is understandably tempered by the fear that Keane will be seen stomping down a road with a dog after some dispute with the FAI over the quality of the upholstery on the team bus. Alas, his faithful pet Triggs passed away last year. Irish soccer fans will always associate the pet with things going balls-up in Irish soccer circles. But Saipan is a distant memory and bleary-eyed Irish soccer fans would

O'Neill's Keane for some belly laughs FELIX and Oscar eat your heart out, the Irish world is agog at a new odd couple. Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane are now in their respective hot seats

Quiz

1. Dublin gangster Martin Cahill stole a gold record from the house of film director John Boorman. Was the record awarded to Boorman for the music (a) Tubular Bells; (b) White Christmas; (c) A Fairytale of New York; (d) Duelling Banjos? 2. The Irish company Gilbey’s makes one of the most popular liqueurs in the world. Which one? 3. Paul Brady from Cavan is world champion in which sport? 4. She was an Irish actress born in Waterford who became companion of the future King William IV for 20 years. Together they had 10 illegitimate children, all of whom took the surname FitzClarence. What was she called? 5. Auburn is the title location of which Goldsmith poem? 6. How many halfpennies were there in a pre-decimal Irish pound? 7. The Titanic left Belfast and sailed for Southampton. Its last port of call was Cobh in Co Cork. But which port did it visit between Southampton and Cobh? 8. The books of Irishman Fitz-James O’Brien are often regarded as one of the forerunners of which genre of literature?

NICE AND NAUGHTY: Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane, the new odd couple of Irish soccer.

be forgiven for showing signs of hope. The Trapattoni era ended as a joke and Martin O’Neill seems determined to maintain at least some commitment to comedy under the new regime. He’s been wise-cracking like mad in his early media appearances. At his first press conference, O’Neill was asked by an RTÉ journalist if Keane would be just as much of a management challenge as the players. “Well, I thought you were going to ask if he was going to cause a headache. He certainly has caused me a few headaches. Someone asked me the other day, ‘Why Roy?’ And I’ve asked myself that question a number of times.” Stony silence greeted the gag, before O’Neill declared: “I was joking.”

“I am going to try and clear something up here. I am not Roy’s father, absolutely not. He can look after himself, he can say what he wants. Seriously, he is under absolutely no gagging at all and I am quite sure I would not even have to have that conversation with him.” Martin O’Neill speaking about Roy Keane. The pair are in charge of the Republic of Ireland football squad. “People might see me as a threat or some sort of troublemaker … Martin will have to ultimately pick the team and pick the tactics but hopefully he will take my opinions on board.” Roy Keane on his appointment as Ireland’s assistant manager. “Jesus. A prophet in his own time. I love the line in Monty Python’s The Life of Brian: ‘He’s not the Messiah, he’s a very naughty boy.’ That’s me.” Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair, on being asked if he was “Jesus, Superman or an odious little shit”. “I am absolutely prepared to say sorry to people whose lives I have affected.” Deputy First Minister Martom McGuinness speaking to the Oxford Union, hosted by al-Jazeera TV, about his IRA activities.

With a rebel yell, he cried less, less, less

“I had not heard anything about the costs. I thought this was at the behest of Van Morrison himself. This is not the normal way we would go about giving a freedom award but I thought that was the way he wanted the Freedom of the City bestowed on him.” Belfast City councillor Máire Hendron on hearing Van Morrison’s band is being paid £36,000 to perform at a concert at a ceremony where he will be awarded the Freedom of Belfast.

IT must be open season on Michael Collins. Recently, The Hurler reported on a council error that saw promotional material for a Cork tourist event list Collins’ gender as "langer". And now a UCC professor has claimed the former rebel leader was vain and most likely died a virgin. Speaking at the unveiling of a plaque in honour of Collins in Bandon, UCC history professor John Murphy said the leader was “hardly a flawless hero”, even if he was “universally attractive to public opinion.” The Irish Examiner reports Prof Murphy in his speech called several writings and film depictions of Collins “unhistorical and distorted”. “Moreover, Collins has sometimes been wrenched from his proper historical context and forced into contemporary relevance. Thus, he is depicted as a very modern ‘macho’ man, cast in a late 20th-century mold, especially in the area of sexual permissiveness," he said. “However, his alleged womanising remains mere speculation and there is no evidence he succumbed to the blandishments of his groupies."

“As I approach the musically relevant age of 64 I have resolved to take a less hands-on role as the band embark on the next cycle of their extraordinary career.” Paul McGuinness, manager of U2 since 1978, announcing he will retire from the position. “It’s a drama, it’s obviously very successful. I have no difficulty at all with members of An Garda Síochána being part of dramatic societies and things of that nature … But there are issues surrounding this particular show and there’s a superintendent looking at those issues.” Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan speaking about the hugely successful RTÉ Dublin gangland series. Det Garda Kieran Reilly of the Garda National Drugs Unit appearing in the series has caused controversy. “There was a slight fear. But beyond anything else, I was really f***ing excited.” Co Down actor Jamie Dornan on his emotions after being told he was to play Christian Grey in the movie Forty Shades of Grey. “The defendant has committed one heinous crime after another. The carnage that he has caused is grotesque.” US attorney Brian Kelly, an Irish-American, referring to gangster James “Whitey” Bulger, who has been found guilty on racketeering and murder charges.

Crossword Clues across

Clues down

1 & 9 across: I say! Bile carries him towards this world-beating liqueur (7,5,5)

1. Dublin painter who brought the meat home? (5)

8 & 29 across: I am a US germ, and yet in a way an Irish trophy (3,7) 10. There have been bikers confused by this town (10)

2 & 17 down: A wet rock, normally known as its country’s product from the lachrymal glands (8,8) 3. Tree in Belmullet (3)

11. One aghast person could not find lough here (5)

4. Former lordly street in Dublin (9)

13. State of water (3)

6. His real name almost literally hides Barry Fitzgerald (7)

15. Takes Kerry to hide this geological feature (5) 16. Spirited northern soccer club? (10) 19. Man in a machine? (3) 20. A woman made from a brain (6)

7. Men’s ad produces compensations (6) 8. A square sort of saint in the middle of Dublin? (7)

23. Short father (3) 24. One merger will allow this answer to come into view (5)

14. You could eat it, but it confusingly belied the fact (6)

26. Dine in confusing fashion with this woman (4)

15. Me and Jane can produce a cliff top nest (5)

28. Singer hidden in Rahalton (4)

17. See 2 down

29. See 8 across

18. OK, Fred. Monday, and we’ll find an Irish leader (7)

31. A ploy, Olaf, can reveal religious leader (6)

10. He’s being tipped to play the part of Nidge in the US remake of Love/ Hate. Who is he?

32. Peer to see aristocrat (4) 33. PS, easterly confused, short saint took went through his paces (5)

7 8

9 10 11

12 13

5. Burns or Keane? (6)

12. Me at an informal dance could lead to native Americans (4)

9. Ormeau Rd, Cromac St, Oxford St, Donegall (sic) Rd – which city?

21. Yeats wrote about a confused Irish marina (6) 22. An offer Gustav used to hide a Brian Moore novel (6) 23. Shannon singer? (3) 25. Article added to jellylike substances to give Celts (5) 27. High time? (4) 30. Anger in Dún Laoghaire (3)

18 19

24 26

28 29

32 33

LAST EDITION’S ANSWERS: Clues across 1, 9 & 10 across: Sheridan Le Fanu. 4. Reagan. 8. Van. 9. see 1 across 10. see 1 across 12. Indians. 13 & 18 across: Great Saltee. 15. Yale. 17. Aga. 18. see 13 across 20. Runes. 21. Thomond. 23. Ally. 25. Orb. 27. Die. 28. Noel. 30. Gases. 33. Inns. 34. Clogh. 35. Ego. 36. Hoofs. 38. Brew. 41. Scattered. 43. Gauchos. 44. Needy. 45. Yeti. 46. William. 47. Bran. Clues down 1. Sally. 2. Rafferty. 3. Dungannon. 4. Rants. 5. End. 6 & 31 down: Grafton Street. 7. Nissen. 8. Via. 11. Urge. 14. East Belfast. 16. Aisling. 19. Armagh. 22. Dee. 23. Adieu. 24. Leno. 26. Rococo. 29. Lost. 32. Saw. 37. O’Shea. 38. Breen (Dan). 39. Eddie. 40. Gull. 42. Enya.

Answers: 1. Duelling Banjos; 2. Bailey’s Irish Cream; 3. Court handball; 4. Dorothea Jordan; 5. The Deserted Village; 6. 480; 7. Cherbourg; 8. Science fiction; 9. Belfast; 10. Colin Farrell

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November 21 – December 4, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

BROUGHT TO YOU BY...

...AND ME

Carol Friel, from Mayo How long have you been in Australia? I arrived in Australia in September 2012, so 14 months now. What brought you here? I left Ireland to travel around China and south-east Asia with the ultimate goal being to arrive in Australia for a year and to see how it went. After spending a month enjoying my friend’s hospitality in Perth, I arrived in Sydney on October 1, 2012, and met up with some friends from college in Ireland, who arrived at the same time. Describe your career path. Before leaving Ireland, I had worked with a company called Mood Media who provide media for the retail and hospitality sector in the form of in-store music, messaging and visuals. When I arrived in Sydney, I decided to get in touch with the Australian office to see if they might have some work. Luckily, with Christmas being the busiest time of year I was

Carol Friel, Mayo

in luck. I began working straight away in messaging and have since become a full-time music programmer. I have been working here for more than a year now and love it.

afford. As someone who loves travelling, the cost of going to the United States or to Europe is a lot more expensive and takes a lot longer than it used to from Dublin.

Best things about living in Australia? I really love the Australian weather. The lifestyle and weather just go hand in hand. Having guaranteed great weather means organising get-togethers with friends can involve more than just meeting in the pub. I love the beaches here in Sydney. I have also become a BBQ convert. Having never used a BBQ in my life before leaving Ireland, I now rarely have an evening meal that doesn’t include the BBQ.

What, if anything, do you miss about Ireland? I miss the company of friends on special occasions. Facebook is fantastic for keeping up to date with what’s going but it cannot compare with a good catch-up. I also miss the little things like real Cadbury’s chocolate. I also really miss Clonakilty sausages ... although I hear they may be making their way to Australia soon, so all hope is not lost.

Worst things about living in Australia? The cost of leaving Australia. A few months ago I had to go home to Ireland unexpectedly for my grandmother’s funeral. Booking a flight on the Friday and leaving on the Sunday was very expensive and not something I might always be able to

Have you ever considered moving back to Ireland? For now, apart from family, I have no reason to go back to Ireland. I’ve been in a relationship with an Australian guy for over a year now and we’re happy with life in Sydney. I have much better work opportunities for what I do here in comparison to Ireland, where the market is a lot smaller.

All Australia And Me participants receive a free hamper from Taste Ireland

ORDER ONLINE AT WWW.TASTEIRELAND.COM.AU

Downton star riding high Dublin-born actor Allen Leech couldn’t back a victor during the Spring Racing Carnival, but he’s certainly onto a winner with the hit drama Downton Abbey and a spate of new movie roles, writes Andrea McCullagh. DOWNTON Abbey star Allen Leech was flown out to celebrate the Melbourne Cup but left the racecourse without backing a winner. Leech plays Tom Branson in the hit show and enjoyed a week in Melbourne and Sydney. “Unfortunately I didn’t (win). I had a couple of places, no wins. I was still up but not up as much as I’d like to be.” Leech is from the Dublin suburb Killiney and started acting professionally at 16. His part on the hugely popular costume drama turned him into a household name. “You always hope a show is going to be liked. People dream of the success Downton has had and it’s been really lovely to be part of that,” he said. “I don’t think anyone ever expected it to take off the way it did.” Leech has just finished filming the movie The Imitation Game with Keira Knightley which is expected

to be released next year. The film is based on the life story of Alan Turing who helped crack the Enigma code during World War II. He plays John Cairncross. The movie has already copped flak from Turing’s biographer for creating a relationship between the two men. Leech enjoyed working on the movie and says the strong script attracted a high-profile cast including Benedict Cumberbatch, Matthew Goode and Charles Dance. He is also looking forward to the release of thriller In Fear – his character Max will be a huge contrast to his work on Downton. “It’s a psychological thriller set in the modern day so you couldn’t really get further away from what I do on Downton, which is nice. “It’s one of the lovely things about this career is you can find yourself doing things that are so, so different. It’s always nice to do different things. I’ve been lucky

enough with Downton I’ve always managed to be able to do other jobs during the break.” The fourth season of Downton Abbey is airing on ITV and Leech doesn’t know if it will return for a fifth. He would be surprised if it didn’t come back. His character is now the estate manager and the new season sees him trying to find his place in the house. “He may have a job but he has no status within the family so he’s still very much an outsider. It’s about trying to find exactly where he fits and whether that’s in Downton or elsewhere.” Leech doesn’t get home to Dublin as often as he would like and admitted his mother “still gives out” to him for not visiting enough. His filming schedule prevents him from making the trip back to Ireland but he’s looking forward to two weeks at home this Christmas. Leech insists nothing much has changed in his life in recent years apart from being spotted a couple of times in London. However, travelling around the world is one of the perks of his high profile and was delighted to come to Australia for the racing event.

“You always hope a show is going to be liked. People dream of the success Downton has had and it’s been really lovely to be part of that. I don’t think anyone ever expected it to take off the way it did.”

“Nothing’s changed apart from the fact they flew me out here,” he joked. “The perks of being in the show obviously are getting to travel with it but in relation to

my everyday life nothing really changes. Same local boozer in London,” he added. Downton Abbey is due to return to Seven in 2014.

November 21 – December 4, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

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Sinn Féin GAC celebrates 60 years Yarraville Club, Victoria Photos: Darryl Kennedy

Packie McBrien and Gráinne O’Neill from Tyrone.

Sinéad McHugh from Tyrone and Carol McGahan from Monaghan.

Julie Delaney, Noreen Burns Fanning and Martina Molloy.

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The Irish Echo, in association with Nine Live, give you the opportunity to win double passes to see Irish music supergroup CELTIC WOMAN. We have DOUBLE PASSES for the group’s January 2014 gigs in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra. Ten lucky runners-up will also receive a copy of Celtic Woman’s Home For Christmas CD/DVD. To enter, visit www.irishecho.com.au and click on the competitions tab.

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November 21 – December 4, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

Whistleblower who plays for keeps Any Dubliner would know that Shamrock Rovers soccer club are known as The Hoops, and while the author of this book was their goalkeeper for six years, The Hoops of the title refers to much more than football. Jimmy Cummins worked in a number of Dublin stockbroking firms and blew the whistle on the shonky practices engaged in by some of their principals. For his troubles, he was “put through the hoops”, blackballed in Ireland and subsequently in Australia, where he had to take his family and where he has now lived for more than 30 years. If you have never dealt in stocks and shares, this book will convince you to stay as far away as you can from those whose job involves trading in such securities on your behalf. Cummins claims his former employers, the firm of Butler & Briscoe, who were stockbrokers for the Irish government, cheated their client – effectively the Irish taxpayer – out of large sums of money. When he went public with his story, he was interviewed by a committee of the Stock Exchange, but they refused to accept documents which showed examples of the kind of dishonesty which he claimed. They found that Butler & Briscoe had no charge to answer and it was not surprising that the affair was quickly forgotten, with only cranky Vincent Browne taking up the matter when he was editor of Magill magazine. Cummins makes the point that such closing of ranks and poor supervision of financial matters by the Stock Exchange, the Central Bank and the Department of Finance was a foretaste of the much more serious irregularities that would result in Ireland joining the queue of begging-bowl nations a quarter of a century later. It seems a perfectly reasonable argument.

While the world of stockbroking takes up the second half of the book, it is technical and not easy to follow unless you understand gilts and bonds, puts and calls. By far the best writing and the most interesting part of the story is the author’s account of his childhood and early success in sport. When he attended the College of Commerce in Rathmines, he was a member of the team that won the All-Ireland vocational schools championship in Gaelic football. He also played hurling, but was lured to soccer by legends like Pat Dunne, Paddy Ambrose and Liam Tuohy. Though small for the position, he played in goal for Rovers and represented Ireland at under-23 level and also spent two years playing with Wollongong in the Australian league. This is a self-published book and is badly in need of a friendly editor. The book’s typos, grammar and idiosyncratic use of capital letters would be easily corrected, as would names such as the late Waterford hurler Tom Cheasty, who is here called Mick. There are other things, however, that let the book down. He writes about discord between his parents but leaves the matter hanging; he does not tell how he managed to make a living after moving to Perth or how his family have fared; a biographical note says he has contested a WA election and is a member of the state’s Incorporated Law Society, things about which the reader would like to know more. These faults are forgiven for his account of childhood, which is charming and written with great love and considerable skill. His father would take him to Croke Park whenever Dublin or Meath, the home counties of his parents, were playing. Here he is on Kerry footballer Mick O’Connell: “He would sail into the air with the grace of an eagle,

BOOKS Through The Hoops Jimmy Cummins Original Writing Ltd 123 pp $19

CCCC Bishop’s Move Colm Keena Somerville Press 192 pp €15.99

CCCC Frank O’Shea hang there for what seemed like a minute, clutch the ball with those great ‘talons’ of his and then float back to earth like a doe, barely making contact with the ground.” Anyone who ever watched O’Connell will applaud those words, especially the bit about appearing to hang in the air, something that is common in Australian Rules football, though only with the aid of a piggyback. This is an honest book, the story of a whistleblower who dared to take on the establishment. Sadly, he appears to have lost. As this book opens, Christopher Hegarty has just been consecrated bishop. He is not entirely happy that the reception in his honour is being held in a lavish hotel in the centre of Dublin, paid for by a developer

named Buzzie Hogan. Also attending is financial wheeler-dealer Michael O’Mahoney and Taoiseach Philip Brady. It is at the time when the roar of the tiger was beginning to sound hoarse, but the feeling that the good times would last was still everywhere. Having a bishop as the central character in a novel seems to predict some kind of anti-Catholic tirade, some rehashing of institutional or sexual abuse. But these matters are not mentioned and indeed the book is supportive of the kind of morality that is properly associated with Christianity. That the world of the marketplace and the reality of human passions can be in conflict with ethics and decency is at the core of the story and is treated in a way that avoids either preaching or rabble rousing. The new bishop has little experience of life. He has never worked in a parish, having spent most of his time involved in unspecified tasks as a kind of diocesan troubleshooter. As a bishop, he finds himself thrust into the world of power, the vulgar power of the new political and commercial elite and the quieter but equally real power of the

institutional church. And for the first time, he comes up against the reality of love as it is played out in human relations. Colm Keena is a senior journalist at The Irish Times, more used to writing about politicians like Charlie Haughey, Bertie Ahern and Gerry Adams than creating fiction. Not surprisingly, his characters bear a certain similarity to those mentioned above. Here is his fictional Taoiseach: “Brady roamed the country so as to have literally hundreds of brief chance encounters every week with members of the public who would thereafter speak fondly of him and spread the myth of his ordinariness and good nature.” Ah sure, Bertie was a lovely fella. It would be easy to criticise some parts of the story, the extreme violence towards the end, for example, or his long-winded story of encountering the divine as a young man. But the reader is left with the feeling that what is described is neither outlandish nor impossible. The prose is clear, the characters real and the story satisfies the primary requirement of any book: it will keep your interest to the very end.

The Top 10 Charts from Ireland Singles 1

The Monster

Take Me To Church

Royals

Story Of My Life

5 6 7

Wings

Counting Stars

Hold On, We’re Going Home

DVDs

Eminem feat. Rihanna

Made Of Stone

Stone Roses

How to Fall in Love

Hozier

Springsteen & I

Bruce Springsteen

Demon Dentist

David Walliams Alex Ferguson

Lorde

Live In Maastricht

One Direction

Reaching For The Stars

Move

Little Mix

Marley

Roar

Katy Perry

Glee The Concert Movie

10 Wrecking Ball

Birdy

The Farewell Tour Live At Croke Park

Onerepublic

The Only Way Is Up

Drake feat. Majid Jordan

The Best Of Live

Miley Cyrus

Albums 1

The Marshall Mathers LP 2

James Arthur

You And Me

Where I Come From

Reflektor

Prism

Pure Heroine

Our Version Of Events

10 Word Of Mouth

Books

10 Up All Night The Live Tour Movies

André Rieu

Alex Ferguson

One Direction

Padre Pio: The Scent of Roses

Bob Marley

A Gift to Remember

Glee Cast

Downturn Abbey

Cecelia Ahern

Colm Keane Melissa Hill Ross O’Carroll-Kelly

Westlife

Gone Girl

One Direction

Bridget Jones

Helen Fielding

Andre Rieu

The Rocky Road

Eamon Dunphy

One Direction

10 Autobiography

Gillian Flynn

Morrissey

eBooks

Eminem

Gravity

The Luminaries

James Arthur

Thor: The Dark World

The Cuckoo’s Calling Robert Galbraith

Shane Filan

Philomena

Gone Girl

Christy Moore

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2

Strumpet City

Arcade Fire

Captain Phillips

Dark Places

Katy Perry

Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa

Better Together

Lorde

Turbo

Sharp Objects

Gillian Flynn

Emeli Sandé

Tosca Met Opera 2013 (Opera)

The Guest List

Melissa Hill

Arctic Monkeys

Prisoners

The Run Fat Bitch Run Marathon Plan

Wanted

10 Ender’s Game

10 Things We Never Say

Eleanor Catton Gillian Flynn James Plunkett Gillian Flynn Sheila O’Flanagan

Ruth Field Sheila O’Flanagan

time out

November 21 – December 4, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

chill-seekers A scientist and an artist will spend months in freezing conditions recording the history and beauty of one of the most confronting environments on Earth. Antarctica is their mission and they are excited by the daunting challenges they face, writes Andrea McCullagh. ANTARCTICA is one of the last real frontiers on Earth and two Irishmen are part of the latest wave of hardy expeditioners setting up camp on the icy continent. Artist John Kelly and scientist Dr Mark Curran (pictured below right and far right) are taking on completely different roles this summer with the Australian Antarctic Division. Dr Curran will lead a team of scientists who will drill a 400m ice core in the Aurora Basin to assess climate records for 2000 years. And acclaimed Irish-Australian artist Kelly is spending three months in Antarctica creating paintings of the unique landscape. The two men are following in the footsteps of a long history of Irish explorers in Antarctica. Dr Curran has an impressive 21-year research history in the region. “I started my career in Townsville doing tropical marine chemistry. As a young boy I used to see all the shows on TV with people diving on the Great Barrier Reef and all the colours and the fish and I thought I have to get into that,” he said. “An opportunity came up to go to the Antarctic. As soon as I saw this amazing place I thought this is really where I have to be.” Dr Curran, who moved to Australia from Dublin in 1988 with his family, has been to Antarctica 13 times. Three years of detailed planning have gone into the expedition to the Aurora Basin, which is 550km from the ocean. A team of 28 scientists will be in the field assessing a range of factors in the ice core including volcano activity, pollutants and carbon dioxide levels. The work follows on from his groundbreaking research into reconstructing the sea ice history

“It’s challenging but it’s an amazing challenge to overcome. You come back from the field with all of these ice cores with all of this climate history and you look back and think, ‘How did we get that when it was blowing 80 knots and blizzards around us’ … A lot of people would just be trying to survive.”

of Antarctica through the levels of a sulphur compound produced by algae. His findings were published in the prestigious journal Science. “I plotted the sea ice from the satellite record over 30 years and for the same 30-year period I plotted the sulphur levels in the ice core and the two of them matched perfectly,” he said. “I was then able to publish that in the journal Science and extend the sulphur record back through time 150 years and get a 150-year reconstruction of Antarctic sea ice. That was a really important finding in my career. It brought together my older work on the ocean and my newer work on the ice core.” For Dr Curran the hardest part of his job as an ice core chemist

is being away at Christmas. He finds the cold isn’t that bad with the right clothing and it isn’t that dangerous with proper planning. The scientists must stick to the exact routes mapped out for them because of the danger posed by crevasses and it’s not possible to just drive off anywhere on a Ski-Doo. Blizzards don’t stop them from working as they crawl from tent to tent with the help of a rope. And for Dr Curran the high point is battling the elements to bring back the goods to the lab. “It’s challenging but it’s an amazing challenge to overcome. You come back from the field with all of these ice cores with all of this climate history and you look back on it and think, ‘How did we

get that when it was blowing 80 knots and blizzards around us’. “A lot of people would just be trying to survive the blizzard. We can’t do that, we have to get on and work as well.” Dr Curran has also inspired his sister Clodagh Moy to take up a career in the Antarctic as an oceanographer, which has led to interesting discussions on Sundays at their family home in Tasmania. He has concerns about the future of Antarctica and his previous research has shown the continent has been protected from the effects of global warming because of the ocean that surrounds it. “If there is a delay it means the warming that is there will now start hitting … you can imagine a big chunk of ice you take out of the freezer. It will sit on your bench quite happily for a little while and eventually it will start to melt. “Once it starts melting the rate of melt increases. That’s the worry – it’s been protected for so long and once it starts then it will be a process that could accelerate.” Irish-Australian painter and sculptor John Kelly embarked on his journey to Antarctica in October by boat and his impressions will be recorded on canvas. Kelly lives in the more gentle surrounds of West Cork and is most famous for his sculpture Cow up a Tree, which has been exhibited around the world. As the Australian Antarctic Arts Fellow, he will spend three months creating a series of paintings of the wild environment. “Having been painting off the West Cork coast down near Union Hall I thought it was a natural progression to do something even more challenging weather-wise. “A few of the fishermen gave me

a few tips on how to survive the Southern Ocean. It mainly involved getting seasickness tablets in Skibbereen,” he laughed. Painting in Antarctica is not for the faint-hearted. Soon after taking his first steps on the continent he was sent on a gruelling survival training day and before he was even allowed to travel he underwent a stringent medical. It took three weeks to get to Antarctica because the boat got stuck in sea ice but he managed to paint 20 oil canvasses on the ship and is planning to do one a day during his visit. “It’s got to be the only artists’ residency in the world where the first thing they give you is survival training,” said Kelly. “It was a day out walking across the sea ice and exploring the region around the bay looking at the dangers. It involved digging a pit, getting into your bag and sleeping the night in minus-10 to -15 degrees. How to build a shelter for yourself, how to cook out of emergency rations, basically how to survive in the event you get caught out.” Kelly has already met penguins and compared the base at Mawson to a James Bond set as it comes complete with a Cosmic Ray building. So far he has found the landscape is ever-changing and described incredible mountain ranges that appear and disappear in the distance. The weather will be one of the biggest challenges he faces as he plans to paint all his works ‘en plein air’ with a field easel and oil paint and linen. “How many times people have said to me ‘Have you enough white paint’. There are beautiful subtle changes in it so I can try and capture some of that.”

November 21 – December 4, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

irish australia big-hearted effort reaps funds for michaela foundation

HEARTS OF GOLD: Leanne Cunningham (centre) of Head Office Hair joins Cormac McAnallens committee members to present Tyrone GAA boss Mickey Harte with a cheque for $10,000 in aid of the Michaela Foundation, which was established in honour of the late Irishwoman. From left; Eamon Eastwood, Seán Grogan, William Curtin, Mickey Harte, Leanne Cunningham, Mark Loughran, Orla Cox and Barney Harte.

sydney irish dancer shines in belfast

creatives launch new book

Ceili’s class on show at Championships

Gather around for Irish art

Andrea McCullagh

IRISH dancer Ceili Moore is celebrating another dancing triumph after taking a title at the All-Ireland Championships. Ceili, 19, took part in the competition in Belfast earlier this month and walked away with the top prize for her age category. “It was certainly not expected and she beat the reigning world champion,” said her mum Fiona-Gaye Moore. “I had a phone call with her during the course of the dancing before the result and she said the words ‘I just hope I stay in that top three’.” Ceili subsequently won the award and her mum, who is also her teacher, said it was a huge achievement. The talented dancer recently won a part in the show Heartbeat of Home and Fiona-Gaye was in Dublin for the premiere in October. But she had to return to Australia due to her family commitments. “Just the fact she was over there on her own and I was here in Australia … I couldn’t stay on in Dublin for that for her. It was a really big deal to be there completely on her own, no teacher, no mum, no anything and keep yourself that together that you were able to nail three rounds,” she said. Ceili is due to return home to Sydney for a week this month before she flies out to Beijing in China to tour with Heartbeat of Home. The show has been brought to the stage by Riverdance producers John McColgan and Moya Doherty and after

ART ATTACK : Visual artists Annemarie Murland (left) and Kiera O’Toole. Andrea McCullagh

UNSTOPPABLE: Ceili Moore, 19, celebrates victory in her age discipline at the All-Ireland Irish Dancing Championships in Belfast.

Christmas Ceili travels to Canada and the US with the troupe. “You always hope they are going to enjoy it and find a passion and a flair for it but it never entered my head that they would be getting the opportunities because when I competed and when I stopped there was no Riverdance. “For Ceili to be able to be flying around the world getting to do what she loves, incorporating competition is really remarkable because she’s getting both sides of the coin and having the time of her life because she loves it so much” said Fiona-Gaye.

Ceili’s brother and sister Johnty (15) and Danae (12) are also talented dancers and they will all be competing at the world championships next year. Fiona-Gaye, who runs a dancing academy in southwest Sydney, explained her children are extremely dedicated. “They work very hard. It takes more than talent. It takes a lot of hard work, dedication and sacrifices. “In 40-degree heat in the summer they will be practising in their class. It’s not something they do easily, they don’t take it lightly. They are ver y passionate about it,” she added.

artists and academics have joined forces to create a book to celebrate The Gathering. Visual artists Kiera O’Toole and Annemarie Murland invited academics from the creative disciplines to participate. The result is The Gathering: Greetings from the Irish in Australia. “I decided to think about what it was to be Irish here and to look at the Irishness here,” O’Toole said. “I invited different types of people on board who would be connected to Ireland in various different ways.” Participants include historian Dr Perry McIntyre, English lecturer Dr Dymphna Lonergan and artist Fiona D o y l e . D u b l i n e r O ’ To o l e w a s extremely impressed by the photographs submitted by Prof Allan Chawner from the University of Newcastle. “Allan only recently discovered he had Irish ancestry and he went back and took photographs,” she said. “I think he captured what Irish is for me really quickly and he felt so at home there. He really connected with the place” she said.

The book is named after one of her own drawings and she felt that it was a fitting title. “I really liked the idea of calling the project Greetings from the Irish in Australia. It insinuates the flippancy of a postcard and of course that’s not the history of Ireland or the history of Irish people here,” she said. She recently finished a two-year research masters at the University of Newcastle and her work focused on what is Irishness from the perspective of a migrant in Australia. She has lived Australia for ten years and is currently based in Gosford, NSW. But she has ambitions to return to live in Ireland. “The real emotive reason why I did the book was I have never considered it (Australia) home. “I really wanted the book to remind the Irish at home we are here and we still feel Irish and not to forget about us. My hope is to go back but under the current economic climate I don’t know if I can. I feel kind of stuck in some ways given the job I have. It’s not exactly first on the list of getting us out of recession.” The book will be available for $75 online at www.kieraotooleartist.com.

time out

November 21 – December 4, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

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

Hung jury in case against doctor A JURY of eight men and four women failed to reach a verdict in the case of a North Cork doctor accused of indecently assaulting a 15-year-old girl during a medical examination shortly before Christmas 1989. Dr Kevin Mulcahy, 55, of Creggane, Lombardstown, Mallow, Co Cork, denied indecently assaulting the complainant. The Irish Examiner reports that after two hours and 40 minutes of trying to arrive at a unanimous verdict, jury members were directed that a 10/2 or 11/1 majority would suffice. Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin said they could have all the time they needed — but moments later they returned to declare that no verdict could be reached. The hung jury was then discharged. The case was put back until the February sessions of Cork Circuit Criminal Court. The complainant, now 38, said she had a chest cold or head cold at the time and that Dr Mulcahy examined her in her bedroom where the alleged sexual assault took place.

Mayor silent on funds for chamber revamp The lord mayor of Cork has refused to comment on an almost €20,000 refurbishment project to the mayoral chambers at a time when the council is strapped for cash. The Irish Examiner reports that Labour Councillor Catherine Clancy insisted she would not be responding to “criticism of the spend” as the council tries to bridge a €4 million shortfall ahead of its December budget. She declined to comment on any aspect of the works contract – which was not advertised or discussed by full council – or on how or why the spend was sanctioned, referring only to a prepared statement issued by Cork City Hall. The statement, prepared by the council’s architect’s office, described the refurbishment contract as “minor upgrade works” to the lord mayor’s chambers. Sinn Féin Councillor Chris O’Leary, who tried to raise the issue during a council meeting, said it was outrageous to be spending money on a new kitchen and bathroom when council tenants may be facing rent hikes because of the council’s constrained financial position. Antrim

Last of McIlveen’s killers admits murder THE LAST of the killers of Ballymena Catholic schoolboy Michael ‘Mickey Bo’ McIlveen has pleaded guilty to his brutal murder over seven years ago. The Ballymena Guardian reports that Jeff Colin Lewis, 24, originally from Rossdale, will now await resentencing for the murder and for a minimum tariff to be fixed on the mandatory life term to be imposed.

The 15-year-old Catholic, known to all as Mickey Bo, died on May 8, 2006, in hospital from head injuries after being bludgeoned with a baseball bat, kicked and punched after he and a friend were chased by drunken Protestant youths. In May 2009, Lewis and three others were jailed for life for their involvement in the murder. They had all admitted being in the alleyway where the attack took place, but denied having anything to do with the schoolboy’s death. All of Lewis’s co-accused have since admitted their guilt in the 2006 murder.

Ballymena’s new claim to fame – empty shops It’s the home town of movie star Liam Neeson, who received the Freedom of the Borough at the start of the year – but now Ballymena is defending its reputation against a less welcome claim to fame. The Belfast Telegraph reports that Ballymena has the highest percentage of empty shops in the North, according to a commercial property report from agents Lisney. Lisney said the Co Antrim town has a shop vacancy rate of 27.2 per cent, up 10 per cent over the past year. Bangor, in Co Down, had the second highest vacancy rate at 25.7 per cent – but the overall vacancy rate in the sample of 15 towns and two cities was 19 per cent, unchanged from last year.

Poots defends stance on gay adoption STORMONT Health Minister Edwin Poots has told the Assembly that parenthood by a man and a woman is “the natural order of things” as he defended his policy on gay adoption and blood donation. UTV reports that during question time in the Assembly, Alliance Party’s Trevor Lunn asked the health minister fo his views. “Does he think that homosexuality is an illness treatable by medical or psychiatric means, or does he indeed think – as it’s been expressed by another member of his party – that it is actually an abomination?” Mr Poots responded: “I don’t think it is an illness in the first instance … When it comes to adoption, I’ve just come from a midwife-led unit in Lagan Valley and all the people giving birth in that unit were woman and all of those women would not have been impregnated by another woman. “So, the natural order, whether one believes in God or evolution, is for a man and a woman to have a child, therefore that has made my views on adoption and raising children very clear,” he added.

Woman committed for trial while in taxi Legal history was made when an alleged fraudster was committed for trial – while seated in the rear of a taxi in the courthouse car park. The Belfast Telegraph reports that District Judge Alan White, his

HAIR-RAISER: Judith Barden, from Sandyford, views ‘The Pleasure of Water’ by artist Ayelet Lalor at the opening of Water Land at the Waterways Ireland Visitor Centre in Dublin. Pic: Brian Lawless/PA

bodyguards, court security staff, administration staff, prison officers and lawyers for the defence and prosecution, yesterday upped sticks from Antrim Magistrates Court and filed out to the car park, where 62-year-old Olga Hadassagh Charlton sat in the rear of a Mercedes taxi driven by a friend. The Belfast Telegraph said the reason for the unconventional location of the hearing was not disclosed. Charlton, from Seacliff Rd in Bangor, is accused of taking out a £40,000 loan on December 11, 2007, by falsely claiming a life-threatening illness for which she needed an operation urgently was to be carried out privately. Judge White committed Charlton for trial at Antrim Crown Court and released her on bail of £300. Louth

Church’s €15,000 bill for rod removal HOLY FAMILY Church authorities in Ballsgrove have been left with a bill of more than €15,000 for the safe removal of a radioactive lightning conductor from the top of the building. The Drogheda Independent reports that parishioners were informed in June that the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland had been in contact with the Church and “the lightning conductor on top of the church contained radioactive material and needed to be removed”. More than €12,000 had to be paid to Rialto Environmental Ltd to safely dispose of the unit, with a further €3,000 spent on costs associated with having the rod removed. So far, donations towards the cost of the work had amounted to €1,500. Derry

City of Culture clash ‘all about use of funds’ SACKED marketing director Garbhan Downey has told an industrial tribunal it was never his intention to embarrass the City of Culture project when he went to the media with his concerns about Derry City Council boss Sharon O’Connor. The Derry Journal reports that Mr Downey was suspended from his post with the Culture Company after making public a letter from

Ms O’Connor to Culture Company chief executive Shona McCarthy in October 2012 about council’s plans to take over the marketing of the project. He was dismissed in March after a disciplinary hearing and failed appeals process. Mr Downey says he went public with the plans by Ms O’Connor because he feared she would use funds earmarked specifically for the City of Culture project to fund a shortfall in Derry City Council’s marketing budget. Mr Downey has taken the Culture Company to an Industrial Tribunal sitting in Belfast, claiming unfair dismissal. The tribunal is ongoing. Kerry

Village’s only defibrillator stolen THE north Kerry village of Moyvane has been left without its only life-saving defibrillator after a bizarre robbery at the local GAA clubhouse. The Kerryman reports that thieves forced their way into the changing rooms of the local GAA club and cracked open the safe, hoping to find money. However, all that was in the safe was a defibrillator. The emergency equipment, which cost the club more than €3,000 to install, is only useful for treating heart attack victims. But the thieves took it anyway. GAA club chairman Johnny Stack said the community was disgusted and sickened by the theft, which could potentially put lives at risk. Wicklow

Former Nazi spy safe house on the market A SHANKILL house which was once a Nazi spy safe house is on the market for just under €1.5 million. The Wicklow People reports that Florencevill, off Shanganagh Road, was a safe house for German military intelligence operative Hermann Goertz. The early 19th century minimansion was owned in the 1940s by IRA explosives expert and Nazi stasher Jim O’Donovan, who let Goertz use the property as a hideout in 1940. Goertz was parachuted into a field in Ballivor, Co Meath, for a plot to invade the North with a dual force of landed Nazis and IRA, but

lost his transmitter and walked to Dublin in Luftwaffe uniform, stopping to ask directions at a garda station. Goertz went into hiding at Florenceville and was eventually discovered in 1947. The two-storey house spans 4,628 sq ft, while the property also includes gardens of 1.25 acres. Mayo

Aid worker attacked in Haitian orphanage Westport-born humanitarian worker Gena Heraty has been viciously assaulted with a hammer during a frenzied attack at her apartment in the orphanage where she works near Port-au-Prince in Haiti. The charity worker managed to escape with her life, but an unarmed security guard, Edward Major, was beaten to death outside her bedroom by burglars. Ms Heraty is the director of Special Needs Programs with the charity Nos Petits Frères et Soeurs (Our Little Brothers and Sisters) in Haiti. She was beaten as she fought to protect the children in her care at Kay Christine, a home for special needs children at the St Helene orphanage. Speaking to The Mayo News, the charity worker, who is in her early 40s, said she was “bruised and sore” but recovering. “It was shocking and tragic. I’m very thankful to be alive. I’m very thankful to Major, who came to our rescue,” she said. Wexford

County leads the way in south-east tourism FAILTÉ Ireland says Wexford is for the first time in more than 10 years leading the south-east region for the highest number of overseas visitor numbers and the amount they spend. The Wexford People reports that the body says the county attracted 229,000 visitors in 2012 and increased its tourism income by more than 50 per cent to €65 million, compared with the 2011 figure of €40 million. Waterford is in second place and Kilkenny third, followed by Tipperary south and Carlow. The region as a whole earned €232 million from tourism in 2012.

Comment

November 21 – December 4, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

Changes afoot for Ireland’s Emigrant Support Programme THE latest round of Emigrant Support Programme (ESP) funding from the Irish government provides some welcome good news for welfare groups across Australia. Given Ireland’s financial difficulties over the past half-decade, it is pleasantly surprising to see the overall allocation for Australia rise to more than €590,822 from the 2012 allocation of €385,581. The 2013 funds, which amount to more than $850,000 when converted into the local currency, have been spread across 15 organisations – but emigrant welfare groups are the key winners. This is as it should be. We know that many of these groups – particularly the Claddagh Association in Perth and the Australian Irish Welfare Bureau in Melbourne – have experienced significant increases in their workload in recent years. High-profile cases and an increase in Irish subscription to the working holiday visa programme have stretched volunteers. It remains to be seen if the recent drop in Irish people taking up the working holiday visa will continue and if that will lead to subsequent falls in the case loads. Overall funding for Australia has risen in stages from €141,824 in 2006 to €590,822 for 2013. The Irish government deserves credit for these financial contributions, given the domestic lure and political expediency of cuts to such schemes in an environment of austerity. The Emigrant Support Programme marks its 30th year in 2014. Throughout this time, it has largely focused on providing frontline services to vulnerable emigrants, particularly older Irish people.

While the bulk of funding each year is set aside for emigrant welfare, it has over the past decade also given funding to projects that foster a sense of Irish community and culture. However, change is seemingly afoot in the programme.

Researchers are investigating the changing shape of the Irish diaspora. Their remit is to identify emerging trends in the destinations, characteristics and needs of these groups in order to map the future profiles of the Irish diaspora. The Department of Foreign Affairs has tasked a team of researchers from University College Dublin to undertake a scoping project on the scheme. Their work has already started, with one member of the team

travelling to Australia earlier this month to meet volunteers and stakeholders in the emigrant welfare environment. It is understood the researchers are investigating the changing shape of the Irish diaspora across the globe, with particular focus on Irish people living in Britain, America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Their remit is to identify emerging trends in the destinations, characteristics and needs of these groups in order to map the future profiles of the Irish diaspora. We are told it is not an audit, and that must be taken on faith for now. The researchers will compile a report for the government, and while we’re told it will not contain any specific recommendations about the ESP, Fine Gael and Labour can respond to it as they wish. Where there is opportunity is in reassessing the overall percentage allocations on a country-by-country basis. Historically, Australia has received well below ten per cent of overall Emigrant Support Programme funding. Britain remains a large beneficiary of such funds. In 2012, for example, more than 100 groups in Britain shared funds of almost €7.6 million. Many of these groups serve Irish communities in the same geographic area. Perhaps the Department of Foreign Affairs’ scoping project will pr ovide answers on how many of these pr ojects ar e experiencing the same workloads or engendering the same connection to Irish people as they were decades ago. For now, we welcome the increased funding for Australia in 2013 and hope it is improved on again in 2014.

editor@irishecho.com.au

Opinion Publisher: Billy Cantwell Editor: Luke O’Neill Subediting: Pagemasters Contributors: Fergal Davis Darryl Kennedy Andrea McCullagh John McQuaid Frank O’Shea Seumas Phelan Malcolm Rogers Cronan Scanlon Design: Diarmaid Collins Telephone: +61 2 9555 9199 Facsimile: +61 2 9555 9186 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 fortnightly by The Irish Exile P/L Printed by Spot Press Distributed by Network Distribution Services

Anti-Semitism rears its ugly head in Limerick, Bondi My fellow Corkonian, and my fellow Jew, former lord mayor Gerald Goldberg was once asked if he had ever experienced prejudice in public life. He paused and replied: “In Dublin, they always have the knife out for the Corkman.” Anti-Semitism has been relatively rare in Ireland and rarer still in Irish politics. In 1934, Eamon de Valera did feel the need to declare in Dáil Éireann that “there is not a drop of Jewish blood in my veins”, but at least he went on to say “I do not mean this as an attack on the Jews, but only to state the facts”. The more usual Irish-Jewish experience is better demonstrated by the treatment of actual Jewish politicians: Goldberg, the Briscoes and Shatters have all enjoyed successful political careers despite being Jewish in a predominantly Catholic country. Indeed, it is often noted that there was only ever one pogrom in Ireland: in Limerick in 1904. On that occasion, Father John Creagh gave a sermon in which he claimed that Jews had come to Limerick “to fasten themselves on us like leeches and to draw our blood”. There were 32 Jews in Limerick at the time. Violence and a boycott of Jewish businesses followed Fr Creagh’s diatribe. Eventually, the Jews of Limerick left the city. It is a disgraceful incident in that city’s history; innocent people were forced out by prejudice, but at least no one was killed and it remained an isolated incident.

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But in the past few weeks anti-Semitism has once again reared its ugly head by the banks of the Shannon. A number of anti-Semitic posters were displayed on the Sugar Hill Bridge echoing the slurs of Fr Creagh. Minister Alan Shatter, an Irish Jew, was singled out: “Shatter has learned from his homeland how to crucify the little people” and “Jewish influence in our dictatorship has brought Palestinian devastation to Ireland”. Such vile claims would be laughable were it not for the fact that violently antiSemitic words frequently lead to acts of physical violence. As an Orthodox Jew living in Britain, I was frequently the victim of abuse and intimidation. I had words shouted at me, fruit thrown at me and cars swerve at me. That is my personal experience. In Bondi recently, a Jewish family walking home from their Friday night Shabbat dinner were subjected to verbal abuse and then physical assault. Thankfully, bouncers at a nearby hotel and passersby intervened. A particularly interesting feature of the Limerick posters is the linking of antiSemitism to the IsraeliPalestinian conflict. Now not all criticism of the government of Israel is antiSemitic. But let’s be frank, the line “Jewish influence in our dictatorship has brought Palestinian devastation to Ireland” is clearly anti-Semitic. Break it down: “Jewish influence”. That line is straight out of the Russian Tsar’s Protocols of the Elders of Zion. It evokes a Jewish cabal controlling things from the shadows. If such a cabal exists in Ireland, it is far more likely to be made up of nonJewish property developers and former

Fergal Davis TDs and councillors. I’d look at the pages of the Moriarty Tribunal Report before pointing a finger at Ireland’s Jews. Second, “Jewish influence in our dictatorship”. Ireland is not a dictatorship and Irish democracy is not controlled by

In Bondi recently, a Jewish family walking home from their Friday night Shabbat dinner were subjected to verbal abuse and then physical assault. Thankfully, bouncers at a nearby hotel and passers-by intervened. the insignificantly small Irish-Jewish population. Best estimates suggest there are between 500 and 2,000 Jews in the whole of Ireland.

Finally, “Palestinian devastation to Ireland”. Now this claim is bizarre. Ireland may be going through bad times but it is not comparable to the West Bank or Gaza Strip. On top of that, the poster implies that minister Shatter (what other Jewish influence could it be referring to?) has brought these policies to Ireland. I think we can lay the blame more squarely with the Troika. And, the poster is seeking to hold Shatter, as a Jew, responsible for policies which it alleges have brought devastation to the Palestinian people. You call that whatever you want. I’m going to call a spade a spade: it is anti-Semitism. In Australia, the commonwealth Attorney-General George Brandis has declared his intention to repeal section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act. Brandis is responding to the 2011 conviction of Andrew Bolt, who used his newspaper column in 2009 to question the Aboriginality of light-skinned indigenous Australians. Under the proposed reforms, being offensive and insulting would no longer amount to racial vilification. The commonwealth Attorney-General suggests such reform would rebalance human rights in favour of free speech. I’m not convinced, and neither is Peter Wertheim of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry. Andrew Bolt’s words were deeply offensive and racist. Limerick’s posters are disgusting and anti-Semitic. We should all lear n from Limerick’s history. There is simply no place for such contemptible words in a civilised society.

Fergal Davis is a Senior Lecturer at the University of New South Wales.

November 21 – December 4, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

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Volume 26 – Number 15

historic law passes

FG Dumps TD Over Abortion Bill Rebellion

page 11

AuS $3.95 (incl GST) NZ $4.95 (incl GST)

celtic club

Members To Vote On Sale Of Premises

page 7

giveaway

Win AFL Passes For Historic GAA Curtain-Raiser

page 35

IRISH ‘Heatwave’

Sun, swimming and bl ue

skies: is it Ireland?

town In SHock

VICTIM: Jeweller Dermo t O’Toole, 64, died during an alleged robbery.

Man killed trying to protect wife during raid

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Luke O’Neill

A MAN on Victor ia’s Morni ngton Penins ula has been charge d with murder over the death of an Irish-born jeweller.

BOTTOMS UP: Young Dubliners jump into the Grand Canal Dock Met Eireann predicts in Dublin city centre the warm dry spell could as temperatures in the last until August. Pic: high 20s were experie Niall Carson/PA nced

employment opp oRtunItIeS tIgH ten

across Ireland.

Construction jobs thin in Queensland slowdo out wn

Susan Butler

my visa I do a lot of contrac in Brisbane t work, but permanent it’s not as easy to find as Australian resident had it was,” he said. lot to a slowdown is becom do with his struggle to ing more and more Mr Barry was out of The construction boom find work evident, with work for in Queensland weeks the number of project before he got his curren six in the Queensland capital. is slowing down and it’s s they are getting having a major he said t job. “The first thing I was asked dramatically it was really frustrating impact on Irish worker was if I decreasing. looking was a residen s. for work in Brisbane. t or not – the minute I told It is estimated the numbe howev r and scale them er, it’s what not “I visa really noticed there were all doom and I was on they weren’t of major construction a lot less interested,” projects in the jobs gloom. he adverti said. sunsh ine state will fall by $7.4 that were sed online. The few jobs Mr Barry said “even in the mines, where billion over the next four advertised, I applied for everyone a job the old-fash he eventually found them thinks there are years, ioned way and is enplenty of jobs – unless ing to the 2013 Major Project accord- but never heard anything back.” joying his time in Queen s you have permanent The latest ANZ statist sland. It found lar ger const Report residency you ics on job don’t stand “After six weeks of a chance.” no work, I developments were expecte r uction adver tiseme nts confir m what decided to just go out Mr d to decline Bar r y Permanent resident or with my CV to has exper ienced , with by around 40 per cent not, due to every place I could by 2017. a the slowdown in the shortage of job listings think of , instead of K e e l a n B a r r y, a 2 coal industr , online and in aren’t y, jobs applying online 4 - y e a r - o l d newspa as plentiful as they once and hoping someone pers. constr uction work were in would get back to er from Co the mining industr y me. Since June last year, the Waterford, believes the in Queensland number slowdown is advert “I decided to take the old-fash ised jobs in Queensland of either. already impacting on ioned non-Australian fallen approach of visiting compa has The Queensland Resour by 34 per cent. residents. nies and ces Council asking for says about $50 billion work, and it paid off.” The ANZ Mr Barry, who is on a worth of coal Now he has a job, he admits second-year were down statistics show job listings projects have been working holiday visa, found put on hold. for the fourth month in there is a huge it difficult row in June. a differe Lower coal prices and to get work in Brisbane. higher costs ployed and nce between being emmean many major compa unemployed in Brisbane however, “In the last six month – nies are he definite s or so, I’ve of advert it’s not just the shortage struggling and ly prefers the former scaling back on their noticed a real differe and nce in the job people ised jobs that affects Irish workforce. would not like to be back looking for work. looking for a market for constr uction. job Because of on a temporary visa. Irish fly-in, Mr Barry believes that not being a Queen sland fly-out workers in Central are report ing that the www.irishecho.com.au | Postal Address JOBlE

Dermot O’Toole, 64, from Galway, died when he came to the wife Bridget during an allegedaid of his at their shop, the Jewel robber y Shed, in hastings, on July 12. Mr O’Toole died after being stabbed at the scene, police allege. his 63-year-old wife was taken to Frankston hospital, but later released on Saturday. Gavin Perry, 26, of Crib been charge d with murdePoint, has robber y and intenti onally r, armed causin g serious injury. Police allege Mr Perry entered the shop on high Street in hasting last Friday, where it is alleged s at 5pm he fatally stabbed Mr O’Toole. Mr Perr y appear ed at before Melbourne Magist a hearin g rates’ Court on July 15, where the court heard investgators have seizeed CCTV footage from inside the shop. The told detectives have seizedcourt was allegedly worn by the accuse clothing d. Mr Perry is scheduled to appear at a commital mention on November 11 and homicide detecti ves have until September 30 to produc e a book of evidence. The couple have thr Christian, Dale, and Trent. ee sons, C h r i s t i a n O ’ To o l e attended Monday’s hearing with his wife. Cards and flowers have been left outside the Jewel Shed, in hastings. The family has thanke d the local community for its suppor t.

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Deportation leaves Irish illegal with $37,000 bill

by Andrea McCullagh

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CUrSEd! Mayo fans around the planet must once again ponder what might have been after losing yet another All Ireland Football Final. dublin, champions just two years ago, edged out the Connacht sharp-shooters by a solitary point in front of a capacity crowd at Croke Park on Sunday. No-one felt the defeat more sharply than the Taoiseach Enda Kenny, who was just five months old the last time Mayo won the coveted Sam Maguire Cup. Much has been said in recent weeks about the famed curse or piseóg that was placed on the Mayo team that year. A priest allegedy cursed the team for over-celebrating in Foxford on the way home from dublin 62 years ago. The priest was angry at the behaviour of the fans while a funeral was taking place, and said Mayo would never again win the All Ireland while the members of the 1951 team were alive. Two of those players – Padraig Carney and Paddy Prendergast – are still alive and well. Mayo’s loss means the superstition lives on too.

DUBS ABÚ: (Above top) Paddy McCardle celebrates Dublin’s success in Melbourne with his dog, Keano. (Above) Dublin players enjoy their 24th All Ireland success after a thrilling one-point win over Mayo at Croke Park. Pix: Darryl Kennedy, Adrian Melia.

An Irishman who was deported from Australia last week claims he has been slugged with a $37,000 bill for his removal. Ross O’Sullivan (28) says six Australian immigration officials and security guards accompanied him on the long flight to Dublin from Perth. He also claims to have been handcuffed and placed in a cell at Singapore Airport, but says at least two of his escorts stayed two nights in a four-star Dublin hotel before travelling back to Australia by business class. His deportation followed a period of detention in Perth. Immigration of ficials have confirmed that O’Sullivan had earlier escaped from a detention centre and evaded authorities for almost seven months. The 28-year-old told the Irish Echo he broke his way through a skylight, crawled through a suspended ceiling and smashed a plastic dome to make his way onto the roof. He then jumped off a building, which he says was about 25 foot high, and hid in the long term car park of the airport. The Corkman claims he hid in bushland and followed the train tracks to Bayswater after escaping from the Perth Immigration Detention Centre. He says he made the escape with a Dubliner who was found by authorities in less than a month and deported. O’Sullivan says he went on a road trip and visited both Sydney and Brisbane but was tracked down by authorities in the nor thern Per th suburb of Scarborough two weeks ago. O’Sullivan left Perth on Thursday September 19 accompanied by six escor ts – two of ficers from the Depar tment of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) and four security officers. He said he does not intend to pay the $37,000 bill. “I’m not going to pay it … I wouldn’t accept the bill. I said ‘keep it’,” he said. “It’s just overkill. It’s ridiculous.” When he landed in detention in February he says he offered to leave

REMOVAL COSTS: Irish brickie says he will not pay the $37,000 bill for his deportation from Australia.

voluntarily with his own money but his request was refused. O’Sullivan arrived in Australia on a Working Holiday Visa when he was 22 and he explained his 457 visa was cancelled as the company he was with was not established enough. He had overstayed his visa by more than two years when he was placed in detention in early February. He was frustrated by the length of time he was in the centre and at the time was facing a bill of up to $13,000 to be returned to Ireland. “I did what I had to do because they wouldn’t send me home,” he said. O’Sullivan has also been hit with a three-year ban from retur ning to Australia but says he is happy to be home for the first time in six years. He has no regrets about the escape and said he wanted to be caught as the authorities were holding his passport, laptop and luggage. “I had a good time and I sorted out my affairs. I only got caught because I wanted to be,” he said. O’Sullivan works as a bricklayer and is hoping to find work in Canada or Europe, he told the Irish Echo. Print Post No 100007285

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November 21 – December 4, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

recruitment

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jobless rate at 5.7 per cent in october

Unemployment up as online skilled ads fall The national unemployment rate increased 0.1 percentage points to 5.7 per cent in October, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The trend unemployment rate increased by less than 0.1 percentage points to 5.8 per cent. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the number of people unemployed increased by 9,100 people to 709,300 in October. The ABS reported the number of people employed increased by 1,100 to 11,639,200. The ABS attributed the increase in employment to a rise in part-time employment, up 28,900 to 3,544,500, which was offset by decreased full-time employment, down 27,900 people to 8,094,700. The increase in total employment was mainly driven by a rise in male part-time employment, the bureau said. Meanwhile, the latest figures for skilled job advertisements posted online suggests a continuing slide in vacancies. Over the year to September 2013, the Skilled Internet Vacancy Index has fallen by 15.6 per cent, with rises across seven occupational groups. The index is compiled by the Department of Employment. The strongest declines were recorded for science professionals and veterinarians

(down by 73.2 per cent) and engineers (56.4 per cent), while the strongest increases were recorded for education professionals (up by 19.0 per cent) and sales, marketing and PR professionals (6.2 per cent). The index increased by just 0.8 per cent in September. Vacancies rose in 14 occupational groups over the month, with the strongest increases recorded for hairdressers, printing, clothing and wood trades (up by 2.5 per cent), medical practitioners and nurses (1.8 per cent) and engineering, ICT and ccience technicians (1.6 per cent). Jewellers, artists and other trade workers recorded the strongest decrease over the month (down by 1.6 per cent), followed by science professionals and veterinarians (down 0.9 per cent). Over the year to September 2013, the Skilled IVI has fallen by 15.6 per cent. The report also notes a shift in the distribution of vacancies across Australia. “With softening conditions in mining related activities over the past year, vacancies in Western Australia, Queensland and regional South Australia have declined at a faster rate than other regions across Australia,” it states.

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sports :: melbourne cup fiorente fires homes

GLORY FOR GAI: Fiorente storms home to win the 2013 Melbourne Cup. Irish hope Simenon ran a gallant fourth and collected $300,000 in prizemoney. Pic: PA

Irish-bred Fiorente claims the Cup Trainer Gai Waterhouse realised a lifelong dream after Fiorente, ridden by Damien Oliver, prevailed in the Melbourne Cup at Flemington. Fiorente, who was bred in Ireland and raced in England before coming to Australia last year, came from off the pace to become the first horse since Empir e Rose in 1988 to win a Melbourne Cup after running second the previous year. The favourite beat England’s Red Cadeaux, who was also second to Dunaden in 2011. Red Cadeaux’s last run was in the Irish St Leger in September where he finished second to another Melbourne Cup runner Voleuse De Coeurs, who finished tenth. English trainer Luca Cumani had to settle for another placing in Australia’s greatest race with Mount Athos, another Irish bred horse, finishing third. Simenon, the great Irish hope, finished a gallant fourth. It is the second year in a row that the Melbourne Cup winner has been bred in Ireland. It is Sydney trainer Waterhouse’s first triumph in the two-mile classic after three minor placegetters. For Oliver, it adds to his wins on Doriemus in 1995 and the Dermot Weld trained Media Puzzle in 2002. Both have overcome controversial years to achieve Melbour ne Cup success. Waterhouse was embroiled in an ugly dispute with prominent owner John Singleton earlier this year. And Oliver returned for the Spring Carnival after a 10-month ban for putting a

It’s amazing, a dream come true. It’s really hard to believe. I’m so rapt right now that I’ve been part of Gai’s first win – she’s done so much for racing and it’s a great honour for me to help her.

THE WAIT IS OVER: Gai Watherouse (centre) lifts the trainer’s cup aloft, after the Damien Oliver ridden Fiorente won the nation’s most prestigious – and lucrative – horse race. Pic: AP Photo/Mal Fairclough

sizeable bet on a rival horse in a race he was riding in. Oliver was claiming his third Melbour ne Cup win following Doriemus in 1995 and Media Puzzle in 2002 while Waterhouse was saddling her first winner of the famous race.

The victory was a particular highlight for Oliver, who served a lengthy suspension after admitting backing a rival horse in a race in 2010. He said: “It’s amazing, a dream come true. It’s really hard to believe. I’m so rapt right now that I’ve been part of

Gai’s first win – she’s done so much for racing and it’s a great honour for me to help her bring up the first one. “Gai was one of the first people to really get behind me when I came back and I can’t thank her enough for helping me get going again,” he said.

The race was marred by a serious leg injury to European stayer Verema, who fractured a cannon bone at the 2,000m mark and was subsequently put down by a vet. The slick early pace was set by the Lexus Stakes winner Ruscello and Waterhouse’s other import Tres Blue, but the leaders gave in quickly and Red Cadeaux and Simenon charged to the lead on straightening. But Oliver had ridden an excellent ride and got Fiorente into the clear at the 300m mark and he ran quickly to Red Cadeaux. The British horse fought hard, but Fiorente simply had too much power. Simenon’s Irish trainer W illie Mullins said that he might look at coming back next year. “We’d have no problem coming back and we’ll hopefully have another to come back with him. We’ll see how he comes out of this race but we’re looking at the Japan Cup and Hong Kong Vase,” he said. “It looked turning for home we had a real chance and we played all our cards but better horses beat us on the day. Everything went right the whole way,” added Mullins.

38 local sports

November 7 – 20, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

dennis ‘hurricane’ hogan blows competition away

JUBILANT: Kildare native Dennis Hogan jumps for joy after claiming the Australian middleweight title with a ten-round victory over Nathan Carroll in Brisbane. Pic: Mick Richards Photography

Hurricane clinches ‘dream’ title Andrea McCullagh

Boxer Dennis ‘Hurricane’ Hogan is the newly belted Australian middleweight champion after defeating rival Nathan Carroll. The fight lasted the full ten rounds but according to the judges’ scorecards it was a one-sided encounter. “It was a dream come true really to be honest,” Hogan told the Irish Echo. “I’ve been in this country the last two and a half years and it’s been my goal since then. It’s an excellent feeling.” Hogan trained extremely hard for the fight, which took place earlier this month at packed out Eatons Hill Hotel in Brisbane. He said was prepared for everything that happened in the fight and he found that his training paid dividends. “He was ver y tall, rangy. He was looking to get some big shots off from the start. I got my distance right and found where I was early on and I gave him problems. I was able to get my shots off,” he said. “He tried to hold a bit and I was able to work a bit on the inside too.” Hogan has already won two Queensland titles and took a Celtic Nations title in Sydney in September. The Brisbane bout was broadcast on Fox Spor ts and it caused huge excitement in Hogan’s hometown of Kilcullen, Co Kildare. “Even though they couldn’t get a live stream link everyone went to the pub anyway for ten o’clock in the morning and they got the live Twitter updates. “They all went mad there for the weekend. I love being able to provide that for people especially my family and friends. It’s a very good motivation as well,” Hogan said. His father Des and cousin Mark White were both in the crowd on the night cheering him on.

HOGAN’S HEROES: Team Hurricane (above) celebrate the victory over Carroll. Welterweight Paddy Murphy (right) is also making strides in Queensland. Pix: Mick Richards Photography/Gareth Williams

Hogan was nine-months out of the ring after he slipped a disc in his neck and he underwent surgery in January in Ireland. He will defend his title in Per th against the Australian number two Robbie Bryant on December 7. Hogan trains at the Fortitude Boxing Gym in Brisbane and his coach is Steve Dellar. Meanwhile, welter weight Paddy Murphy is hoping he can end his year on a high. The former All-Ireland boxing champion wants to follow up with professional fights in Australia and Ireland next year.

In July, the Newry native drew with Peter McDonagh in a Celtic Nations bout in Dundalk and won the Asia Pacific title in April. “He had a lot more experience than I did so it wasn’t a bad result,” he said. “Hopefully will go back next year and have a rematch with him.” The Newry-man was knocked down against Adrian Campbell last weekend but fought back hard to win an eight-round decision. Murphy trains with coach Gareth Williams at The Boxing Shop in Nathan, south Brisbane.

November 21 – December 4, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

local sports young forward to join zach tuohy and ciarán byrne

Cork forward Sheehan signs rookie deal with Carlton Blues Luke O’Neill CORK forward Ciarán Sheehan will join fellow countrymen Zach Tuohy and Ciarán Byrne at Carlton after signing a two-year deal with the AFL club. The 22-year-old from Ovens, Co Cork, impressed in the recent International Rules Series against the Indigenous All-Stars. Sheehan trained with Carlton back in 2009, being invited to the club with Laoisman Zach Tuohy. While Tuohy stayed, Sheehan, then just 18, became homesick and decided to return to Ireland. Sheehan recently told the club he would like to give AFL another go. “Since coming to Carlton back in 2009, Ciarán has continued playing good Gaelic footy and was one of the best in the recent International Rules Series in Ireland,” Carlton’s general manager of football operations Andrew McKay said. “When he first came over he was very skilful with both feet, very balanced and a very powerful runner,

It’s a great opportunity that I didn’t want to turn down. Leaving home is very tough and not playing for Cork or Éire Óg is a difficult thing to take. But this is something I wanted to do, so I’m going to go for it. – Ciarán Sheehan

so he has all the attributes to play Australian rules football. Hopefully we can develop his skills next year and get a few games into him, with bigger and better things to come,” McKay said. Sheehan told the Irish Times he spent some time considering his move back to Australia. “I thought a lot about it and didn’t take the decision lightly. It’s a great opportunity that I didn’t want to turn down. Leaving home is very tough and not playing for Cork or Éire Óg is a difficult thing to take. But this is something I wanted to do, so I’m going to go for it.” There were mixed reactions to

super 15 rugby

Rebels lure IRFU coach THE RaboDirect Rebels have appointed Irishman Eoin Toolan as head performance analyst ahead of the 2014 Super Rugby season. Toolan will head to Melbourne after being employed since 2006 with the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), working closely with the highlyrespected Mervyn Murphy in his role as assistant national per formance analyst. New Rebels head coach Tony McGahan enjoyed a successful stint with Irish powerhouse Munster, and Toolan admits that contact from McGahan helped convince he and wife Sinéad that the time was right to move to Australia. “I’m hugely excited to be joining the Rebels; I was delighted to get the call from Tony, as he is held in extremely high regard here in Ireland from his time with Munster,” Toolan said. “He has assembled what looks to be a tremendously exciting team at the Rebels – both on and off the field, which I look forward to contributing towards over the coming seasons. “While working for Ireland I have seen first-hand the qualities of some of the current Rebels players, including internationals Tamati Ellison, Scott Higginbotham and Luke Burgess. It’s gratifying to be coming into a set-up with such talent, and I’m looking forward to familiarising myself with the rest of what is an exciting roster for the 2014 season,” he said. Toolan moves out from Ireland following a highly successful few years for Irish Rugby, including, of course, the topping of Pool C (including Australia) at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. “I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the IRFU, from Irish Schools, U19s and U20s right the way up to the senior side,” he said. “It was a privilege to work alongside

COME ON DOWN: Eoin Toolan is heading for Melbourne.

the likes of Declan Kidney, Les Kiss, Alan Gaffney, Joe Schmidt, Gert Smal and Mervyn Murphy, not to mention a golden generation of Irish r ugby players. There were many highs along the way, most notably Ireland’s first Grand Slam in 61 years (in 2009).” “I am looking for ward to undertaking an exciting new challenge in Melbourne, and I intend to play my part in developing a winning culture at the Rebels in the coming months and years,” Toolan said. “Eoin has made a huge contribution to Irish Rugby over the past seven years and has been an invaluable member of the Irish management team,” Ireland team manager Michael Kearney said. “Although we are sad to see him go, we wish him well in Melbourne. The Rebels are getting a top class performance analyst.” Toolan will arrive in Australia at the beginning of December, after the conclusion of Ireland’s autumn test matches.

Sheehan’s move on Twitter, with several inter-county players tweeting their reactions. “Best of luck to Ciarán. Born to be a Pro. Hope it works out for him this time! I’ll miss playing beside him, always could rely on him,” tweeted Cork teammate Brian Hurley. Daniel Goulding tweeted: “Congrats to @gussyman90 [Sheehan’s user name], unbelievable opportunity. Really going to miss taking the field with him for Éire Óg and Cork. A great player and friend.” Others noted another high profile loss within Cork ranks. “Massive loss for Cork no doubt but best of luck Down Under @gussyman90. Bit of a gang of ye gathering below now,” tweeted Galway’s Danny Cummins. Mayo’s Lee Keegan added: “Huge loss to Cork but definitely not for us defenders, all the best to @gussyman90 Down Under.” Fellow Corkman Michael Shields tweeted: “The news is out about Ciarán. Massive loss with Ciarán now going to AFL club Carlton. Hope it goes well for him.”

NEW BLUE: Ciarán Sheehan (right) and former Cork teammate Daniel Goulding with the Sam Maguire in 2010. Pic: Adrian Melia

oz tag summer league

Sydney Irish welcome all to tag along

TAG TEAM: The Wombats are one of eight teams from Sydney Irish taking part in the OzTag Summer League. Sydney Irish RFC has turned its attention to the Oz Tag Summer League. This is the second year Sydney Irish have entered teams in this mixed competition and with eight teams competing this year, there are almost 100 players turning out every Thursday in a Sydney Irish jersey. “We are delighted with the number of teams entered this year,” said Lorna Savage, Sydney Irish Tag director.

“The interest has been huge and we are still getting inquiries every week from people that want to get involved. “We have lots of very experienced players but also have many that have never played before – this league is designed for players of all levels so it’s perfect for us. “There are 16 teams playing on a Thursday night. The Irish teams are sponsored by the Australian Youth Hotel

To join: www.sydneyirishrfc.com

Oz Tag Results

MIXED DIVISION ONE Team Syd Irish Beetle Screaming Goats Syd Irish Renegrades Syd Irish Rams Syd Irish Honey Bad Jalapeno Hotties Titans Syd Irish Wombats

and we encourage players to go there after each match,” she added. For anyone interested in playing, Sydney Irish hosts a social game every Sunday morning at McKay Fields, Centennial Park. There is no need to register, just turn up. Beginners are welcome and tags and belts are provided.

W 2 2 2 1 1 1 0 0

L 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 2

F 27 27 24 22 17 19 19 12

A 13 15 16 14 14 22 32 25

Pts 6 6 6 4 4 4 2 2

Agg 14 12 8 8 3 -3 -13 -13

Round Two Syd Beetle

15 10

Titans

Syd Dingoes

9 3

Durex

Syd Rams

14 3

Syd Wombats

Syd Renegades 13 8 Jalapeno Hotties Syd Badgers

6 10 Screaming Goats

Syd Bulls

8 13

Shammies

Syd Koalas

Big Booty

November 21 – December 4, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

sports :: international soccer manager o’neill laments keeper’s mistake

Carroll error adds to long list of woes Rory Dollard Michael O’Neill was left to bemoan another moment of misfortune after Roy Carroll’s error condemned Northern Ireland to a 1-0 friendly defeat in Turkey. O’Neill’s tenure has been marked by several unlikely incidents – own-goals, deflected winners and soft penalties – that have contributed to a troubling record of one victory in 15 matches as manager. Carroll added to that list in first-half injury-time in Adana, calling to claim a Bilal Kisa chip, only to leave himself stranded as Mevlut Erdinc poked home the only goal of the game. At the time Chris Baird also appeared culpable, but O’Neill confirmed the Reading defender acted on Carroll’s orders. “Roy held his hands up. He knows himself he made the wrong decision and he’s disappointed in that,” O’Neill said. “Roy called for the ball and Chris left it for him. The centre forward just continued his run and got a toe to it. “Chris did the right thing in thinking

Northern Ireland

Turkey

Roy was coming to take it but that wasn’t the case. “This team has suffered quite a few injustices in terms of not getting what they deserve from games and this was probably another example of that. “We’ve come out on the wrong end of a sequence of bad decisions, bad goals, deflections.” Picking the ball out of the net was Carroll’s last contribution to the match and he made way for St Johnstone’s Alan Mannus in a pre-planned half-time change. The timing was terrible but O’Neill does not believe Carroll was guilty of considering his day’s work done. “It’s basically the last kick of the half. Roy knew he was coming off at half-time but I don’t think he was thinking about having a shower at that moment. He thought it was his ball. People make decisions and Roy made a bad one.”

TURKISH DELIGHT : Oliver Norwood of Northern Ireland (left) and Turkey’s Oguzhan Ozyakup fight for the ball during their friendly soccer match in Adana, Turkey. Pic: AP Photo

kenny wants regular joust to help sick children

Taoiseach calls for All-Ireland team Sinn Féin Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said he would like to see a football team representing all the people of Ireland. “The proposal is something that would be supported. I said (to the Taoiseach), ‘Is there any chance I could play in goals?’,” he joked. Mr Kenny suggested he and his deputy, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore, could join Mr Robinson and Mr

Michael McHugh

An all-Ireland soccer team should take on England every two years to raise money for children, Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said. The games could be played at Wembley in London or stadiums in Dublin or Belfast, and could help fund research and developments at specialist hospitals in Belfast and Dublin. New hospitals for youngsters are planned in the two cities and are expected to cost more than €717 million. The Taoiseach’s proposal during a meeting in Armagh received support from political leaders north and south of the border, although the head of Northern Ireland’s governing Irish Football Association said it was a “difficult proposition”. “We could take on the might of England entirely for charity, for the children’s hospitals (of Belfast and Dublin), for the children of the island, for research and development of what can impact on their little lives,” Mr Kenny said. “It would be a gesture from the sports people that would have a profound impact.” In 1973, an all-Ireland team billed as Shamrock Rovers XI played Brazil at Dublin’s Lansdowne Road stadium. It included incoming Irish manager Mar tin O’Neill, Pat Jennings and Johnny Giles. Brazil won 4-3 in a match played at the height of the conflict in Northern Ireland, intended as a gesture of friendship. Forty years later Mr Kenny attended a conference on sport boosting reconciliation in Northern Ireland, organised by the codes of rugby, soccer and Gaelic Games. He said a soccer game against England could be held at Belfast’s W indsor Park or Dublin’s Aviva

The proposal is something that would be supported. I said (to the Taoiseach), ‘Is there any chance I could play in the goals?’ UNITED?: Republic of Ireland assistant manager Roy Keane celebrates an Irish goal against Latvia last weekend. Pic: PA

Stadium. The Taoiseach earlier mooted Croke Park, the Dublin home of the Gaelic Athletic Association, as a possible venue. Later, at a meeting of ministers from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, Stor mont’s Democratic Unionist First Minister Peter Robinson said the idea was a matter for the gover ning bodies of soccer to explore. “As long as I am not the referee I don’t mind being there,” he said. “It doesn’t threaten the autonomy or authority of either organisation for a charity match to be held for what would be a very good cause for young children in terms of hospitals both in Northern Ireland and in the south,” he said.

McGuinness in attending a variety of sports events in Belfast and Dublin to demonstrate their support. IFA president Jim Shaw said an England game could be achieved if the desire was there. “There is no objection to it. It would be very difficult to organise it, to get these sort of players from the two associations.” Ireland’s new children’s hospital is being built at St James’s, Dublin, at a cost of more than €484 million and is planned to open as late as spring 2018. A total of €200 million from the sale of the national lottery licence will partly fund the long-awaited development. Conditions at the existing children’s hospital in Northern Ireland, at the Royal in west Belfast, have been described as shocking. It is to be replaced by a state-of-theart facility. The UK Department of Health believes the final bill will be £250 million.

managers feuding

Di Canio blasts O’Neill’s approach to player fitness Damian Spellman

Martin O’Neill has hit back at Paolo Di Canio, with the spat between the two former Sunderland managers showing little sign of abating. The Ulsterman, who was replaced by the Italian after his own sacking by the Black Cats in March, described his successor as a “managerial charlatan” following a sustained attack on his regime during his stint at the Stadium of Light. Di Canio responded in a television interview, instead accusing O’Neill of being the charlatan and decrying his transfer dealings in particular. “At the end of the day, it’s hardly worth it. You would have to go and check, but I don’t think Sunderland would concur with his £40 million for a start. Even Sunderland wouldn’t do that,” the new Republic of Ireland manager said after his side’s 3-0 friendly victory over Latvia. “Seriously, one of those people he’s talking about (Steven Fletcher) actually, his goals helped Sunderland stay in the league, and Mignolet they got £10 million for. “I think they owe a debt of gratitude to (Ireland goalkeeping coach) old Seamus McDonagh, who was out there tonight, McDonagh who I think Simon Mignolet – who is playing brilliantly for Liverpool – would say he had a major influence in his career development.” Di Canio, who led Sunderland to Barclays Premier League survival last season before being sacked after five games of the current campaign, had told Sky Sports news: “I don’t know if he knows the meaning of this word charlatan. Probably I can teach him, even if I am not English. “I respect the opinion of manager Martin O’Neill but the fact that he spoke after six months, not straight away, that proves what kind of level he is. He is not very big. “A charlatan is a manager who spends £40 million to be a top 10 club

STOUSH: Paolo Di Canio has hit back at Martin O’Neill, claiming he’s not the charlatan, O’Neill is.

and then sees the club sink into the relegation zone.” Di Canio stood by his claim the Black Cats players were not in peak condition when he arrived on Wearside. “The fitness levels were pathetic,” he said. “I had players who told me they had cramps from driving the car. “I had three players with injuries in the calf after 20 minutes of a game. Six different players with problems means they were not fit.” Di Canio was dismissed after a 3-0 defeat at West Brom, reportedly followed a day later by a training ground bust-up with senior players which led them to ask the board to take action. Di Canio said no argument took place. “It never happened. There was a typical meeting, as there was after every game to see the clips and analyse the game. Maybe there was opinion but this happens in ever y good family.”

November 21 – December 4, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

sports :: international soccer midfielder impresses new republic of Ireland setup with rare goal

Robbie says ‘relax’: striker tips McGeady to build on goal tally Damian Spellman

GAME-CHANGER: Republic of Ireland’s Aiden McGeady (right) and Latvia’s Vialijs Maksimenko during the International Friendly at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin. Pic: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

Doyle relishes chance to wear green shirt again Damian Spellman

Kevin Doyle insists he never gave up on his Republic of Ireland career despite being discarded by Giovanni Trapattoni as he slid down the divisions. The Italian, who once described Doyle as one of the best strikers in England, if not Europe, during the early years of his reign, decided to dispense with his ser vices after he suffered successive relegations with club Wolves. However, the 30-year-old was recalled by interim manager Noel King last month and was retained when the Under-21s manager named the squad for new management duo Mar tin O’Neill and Roy Keane to lead into the 3-0 friendly victory over Latvia. Doyle was handed his 56th senior cap as a late substitute against the Latvians, as he attempts to further

culties and a lack of form for his country took their toll and where once he had been the first-choice partner for skipper Robbie Keane, he slipped out of the team and then out of the squad. The former Reading frontman said: “It was tough, it was very tough. Four of us from Wolves went to the Euros and three or four months later, none of us were in the Ireland squad. “The manager, Giovanni, told us at the time he felt with the morale at Wolves, it wouldn’t have been good for us to come into the squad and I accepted that, I had no problems.” Doyle’s return to the international set-up came with his fortunes having improved dramatically at club level, too – a 1-0 win at Notts Country sent them to the top of Sky Bet League One – and he is hoping promotion, if not a title charge, will help to cement his place in O’Neill’s long-term plans. Asked if he was confident of doing

It was tough, it was very tough. Four of us from Wolves went to the Euros and three or four months later, none of us were in the Ireland squad. – Kevin Doyle

resurrect his international career. Asked if he ever feared his days in a green shirt were over, he said: “No, not at all. You just put your head down, go again and get on with it, don’t moan and try to get picked again. I did it in the last squad and this time, so I will try to do the same. “I was out for seven or eight months and it’s a nice opportunity to be back involved again. “I missed it, especially when the games were on, big games against Sweden and Austria in qualifiers. “It makes you really want to come back and be involved again.” Doyle’s fall from grace was little short of spectacular – Trapattoni’s rave reviews during the summer of 2010 coincided with speculation linking him with a series of clubs including Arsenal. However, Wolves’ subsequent diffi-

that while playing his football in England’s third tier, he said: “It makes it a bit more difficult, obviously, but I don’t think of it that way. I just get on with it and see if I can impress. “I am enjoying playing at Wolves and hoping to win something – and if not, get automatic promotion – so we will see what it brings with Ireland then. “It’s been fantastic, to be honest. It doesn’t matter what division you are in when you are winning games. “Yesterday we won and we went top of the league – I’m disappointed they went top without me, but it’s just nice to be around the place and everyone is smiling, everyone is happy and we are up and challenging to get promoted. “It’s not been easy, though. Actually, it’s been ver y difficult. We haven’t walked away with any games, but it’s been enjoyable to be part of it.”

Robbie Keane has urged Aiden McGeady to relax to become a matchwinner for new Republic of Ireland manager Martin O’Neill. The Spartak Moscow winger emerged as a genuine talent under O’Neill during his time in charge at Celtic and turned in one of his more impressive performances for his country in the 61-year-old’s first game in charge of the national team, a 3-0 victory over Latvia. Indeed, McGeady marked his 62nd senior appearance for Ireland with just his third goal, a skidding low drive from distance, and skipper Keane insists the midfielder has the ability to become a key player for the Republic. “Aiden is a game-changer. He can create anything out of nothing – you see his goal,” the LA Galaxy frontman said after the game at Aviva Stadium. “He knows himself he probably should score more goals. He is probably killing himself too much about that rather than just relaxing and enjoying himself and just playing with a bit more freedom.

“I think you will probably see now he has a manager he has worked under before. It was a great goal and hopefully he can continue that now and score a lot more goals, because he is a player who can do that.” Keane, too, found the back of the net – in his case for the 62nd time in an Ireland shirt – to give the Republic a 22nd-minute lead, and McGeady struck with 68 minutes gone before substitute Shane Long completed the perfect night for O’Neill as he launched his spell in charge. The Latvians provided little resistance but Keane was delighted with the way they were able to build on the positive atmosphere created by the appointment of the new manager and his assistant, Roy Keane. “It’s been a great buzz for the last couple of weeks. Everybody is fairly excited about the changes that have happened, and when you have got two big characters like Roy and Martin involved in the set-up – in any set-up – it’s going to create a massive buzz,” he said. “We are lucky they are here and we look forward to working with them. This was a stepping-stone in the right direction.

“Winning is a habit, so it’s important. If we had lost the game, everybody is down in the dumps again, so it’s important to give the whole country a lift and we did that. “There’s no competitive game for 10 months, but I’m sure the manager in that 10 months will be looking at a lot of players and seeing what he feels is best for him and for the team. “I’m sure he will be doing a lot of homework,” the striker added. Keane will now head off on a well-earned break with the Major League Soccer season over. The 33-year-old scored 16 goals in 23 regular season appearances for his club, but was unable to help them retain their title as they bowed out of the play-offs at the hands of Real Salt Lake earlier this month. Asked if the season had been one of his best, the striker, who has verbally agreed a new contract with the Galaxy, replied: “I won the championship last year; we got knocked out in the playoffs this year, so probably not. “Personally for me, it’s been a very, very good season, but it’s not about individuals,” he said.

o’neill rapt with first victory

Greek win secures Euro seeding boost Republic of Ireland

Latvia

Martin O’Neill was thrilled to launch his Republic of Ireland reign with a convincing victory as his side turned on the style against Latvia. The Republic cruised to a 3-0 friendly victor y at the Aviva Stadium to delight O’Neill and assistant manager Roy Keane. “I am absolutely delighted, delighted with the performance and delighted with the result, obviously,” O’Neill said. “I accept the fact there will be sterner tests ahead, of course, but it was nice to win, it was nice to play well, it was nice to get a few goals and I thought some of our play was terrific,” he added. “I was concerned about the game beforehand, of course, but just getting that first goal was ver y important for us. “Overall, I was delighted with the team, delighted with their attitude and delighted with the crowd’s response.” O’Neill’s evening was improved further by Greece’s first leg play-off victory over Romania, which means Ireland should be among the second seeds for the Euro 2016 qualifying draw. “If you tell me that’s good news for us, I’ll accept it. I’m obviously happy with that if that’s the case, but I think there will be a lot of teams in the third seeds who will be every bit as strong as we will be. But every bit of good news is fine.” If it was goals from striker Keane, Aiden McGeady and substitute Shane Long which ultimately won the day, it was the performance of the team, and in particular some of the key individuals in it, that pleased O’Neill most. James McClean burst on to the Barclays Premier League scene during

LEAP OF JOY: Robbie Keane celebrates scoring his side’s first goal against Latvia at the Aviva Stadium. Pic: Brian Lawless/PA

the early weeks of his fellow Ulsterman’s reign at Sunderland, and he showed something like that form in a green shirt after a frustrating spell on the international stage. McGeady, too, who thrived under O’Neill at Celtic but has often flattered to deceive for his country, was penetrative and capped a fine individual display with a deserved goal. “McClean’s performance was excellent. He was given man of the match and I don’t think anybody would have disagreed with that,” O’Neill said. “He was rejuvenated, played with a bit of confidence, but I think he knows I have a bit of confidence in him. “Of course, there will be once or twice when he will not play the right

ball, but his desire to go and attack them tonight was ver y evident. I thought he deserved that.” As so often in the past, it was Keane who set the ball rolling when, having earlier passed up a golden opportunity, he stabbed home from close range after McClean had helped on McGeady’s 22nd-minute corner. Ireland dominated throughout, but had to wait until the 68th minute for McGeady, who had already had a couple of sighters, to beat keeper Andris Vanins with a searing right-foot shot from distance. Substitute Long wrapped up the win with 11 minutes remaining, with a tap-in at the far post to complete a good night’s work in Dublin.

November 21 – December 4, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

sports :: rugby league australians show off code’s merits at thomond park

Finn gets shirty as Wolfhounds muzzled in Limerick Wayne Gardiner The difference between Ireland and Australia was clear on the field in Limerick, but there was no disparity in the ego stakes as Wolfhounds captain Liam Finn enjoyed a special moment in his career. Finn is a journeyman professional who, while excelling for Featherstone in the Championship, has never played in England’s top flight and works full-time as an electrician. The 30-year-old was powerless to stop Australia beating his side but was surprised when opposite number Cooper Cronk asked him for his shirt. Cronk is rated as one of the world’s best half-backs and it would have been expected that Finn would have been the one doing any asking, but the latter thinks the turn of events shows how much the Australians care about the state of the game in Ireland. “The camaraderie between the players and the things after the game have been fantastic,” Finn said.

“To put it in perspective, Cooper Cronk asked me to swap shirts after the game and I play second division rugby league in England and he’s the best half-back in the world; he wants to swap shirts with me. They are the type of players you get in rugby league. “He’s aspiring to be just like me - let’s see if he can get a game in the Championship next season! When people like that want to talk to you, you do. The message we get from the NRL players is they want the game to develop and they’re secure enough in that knowledge to want to pass it on.” For his part Cronk was more than happy to take Finn’s shirt as a keepsake, saying: “This is the first time I have been to Limerick and I have had the chance to experience a powerhouse of rugby union in Munster. I’m just as proud to represent my country as the captain of Ireland is who plays second division.” The fruits of Ireland’s trek into union heartland may not be immediate but Mark Aston is hopeful they will come.

The crowd of 5,021 was a record for the sport in Ireland and while a 50-point flogging to mark Ireland’s exit from the competition may not have been the best advert, the skill of Australia was at least something to behold. Aston has previously voiced frustrations at how the game is run in Ireland. “It (his appetite) has been challenged. But when you come into camp and you get this group of people it (enthusiasm) comes flooding back. I will speak to the players and I fancy doing this again. “We’ve started something. I wish we had done this three years ago when I first started. We know where we are now, and people who have been in the camp say they have enjoyed it. We’ve worked them hard but we’ve had a good time. “We’re giving people opportunities, and not just the players, the backroom staff too, who are working 14 hours a day for these players. The desire is there, the backroom staff are up for it and as long as they don’t sack us, we will probably go round again.”

FORMIDABLE: Ireland’s Liam Finn tries to contain Jarryd Hayne during a rampant Australian display at Thomond Park. Pic: PA

Australia in league of their own as ireland suffer thrashing in limerick

Richards is good enough for Australia, says Furner Wayne Gardiner

BATTLEFIELD: Ireland’s Rory Kostjasyn and Australia’s Jarryd Hayne tustle for possession at Thomond Park, in Limerick, during the Wolfhounds’ final game of the World Cup. Pic: PA

Kangaroos hop past poor Irish Ireland’s big night at Thomond Park fell victim of a ruthlessly on-song Australia side who were in no mood to hand out any favours and wrapped up their World Cup Group A campaign with a 50-0 win. Mark Aston’s Wolfhounds headed into the heart of rugby union country when they walked out at Munster’s famous arena. But although winning was never likely to be on the cards, Ireland would have hoped to have at least put on a competitive show and sow the seed for any future generations who may have been watching in a promising crowd of 5,021. It was not to be. The Kangaroos ran in nine tries in total on a night when the difference between the game’s haves and have-nots was highlighted, with Australia doing their damage without the likes of the rested Darius Boyd, Greg Inglis, Matt Scott and Johnathan Thurston. It all made for a tough evening for the Irish, whose coach had told them on the eve of the fixture that now was the time to live their dream.

Ireland Australia

0 50

The reality was they found themselves trapped in a nightmare inside the opening 120 seconds as Jarryd Hayne went in at the corner for Australia after fine centre play from Brent Tate. They then coughed up a drop-out and four penalties in quick succession, with the last of them giving Cooper Cronk the position he needed to make a run for the line. Club team-mate Cameron Smith slotted the conversion. Ireland managed a period of relative calm after that but as the clock approached 30 they let in a third try, with errors at the root of it. They should have been on the attack after a Pat Richards intercept got them going, but Tyrone McCarthy knocked on in the next play and Australia quickly went in through Greg Bird. It would be the first half of a triplewhammy before the break too.

Three minutes later Brett Morris was able to glide in untouched as Daly Cherry-Evans tipped a Smith kick in his direction. Then, on the stroke of the hooter, Billy Slater slipped in for his 20th international try. The start of the second half brought out some Irish resistance and every foray forward was greeted heartily. Their effort lacked an end product, though, which was something Australia were not short of, as Cronk displayed when he finished off a move with a scything run through the posts. With Smith taking a breather, Corey Parker goaled from bang in front to move his side 32-0 ahead. The Irish must have wished to have been playing a weaker team, especially when substitute prop Andrew Fifita barreled over, with Parker again on the money with the extras. Hayne then helped himself to another in the corner, with his effort adding some symmetry to an easy night’s work for Australia.

Ireland winger Pat Richards is a player of such quality that he could have easily represented Australia, according to Kangaroos assistant coach David Furner. Richards lined up against the country of his birth in Limerick. Last month, he brought down the curtain on seven glorious years with Wigan, having left the NRL in 2006 in search of a different challenge. Doing so ruled him out of selection for the Australian team, and he subsequently explored his Irish heritage. And Furner is convinced Richards could have made it in the green and gold. “I have no doubt; he can play wing and centre and picked up a Man of Steel. That’s a tremendous effort,” Tim Sheens’ right-hand man said. “He obviously made an impact there and the Super League competition is a very good one because we see players who come and then go back to the NRL so that just shows you the standard.” Furner is a former Wigan player, and while well thought of by those in cherry and white, knows his compatriot has made a far greater impression in Lancashire. The 31-year-old signed out with 2,468 points as he helped Wigan win the Grand Final against Warrington, with a return to old club Wests Tigers ahead of him. “We had a training session at Wigan’s training ground at Orrell and they have named a room after him, the video room, and that tells me he made a massive impact in the competition here,” Furner said. “I’ve been fortunate enough to play for Wigan, and the Super League is a tremendous comp. He’s come over and dominated that and played some good football. “Patty Richards is going back to the NRL, a ver y class player and his kicking is going to be very dangerous,” he added. Meanwhile, Brett Morris and Jarryd Hayne both scored four tries as Australia stormed into the semi-finals of the World Cup last weekend by ruthlessly ending the challenge of the USA with a 62-0 victory at the Glyndwr

ADMIRED: Winger Pat Richards left the NRL in 2006 Pic: PA

University Racecourse Ground. The tournament favourites were expected to comfortably see off the challenge of the Tomahawks in Wrexham, but they sent a clear warning to their rivals – if it were needed – that they really mean business, turning in a 12-tr y performance. Mor ris and Hayne scored four apiece as they ran rampant down the right wing, Greg Inglis registered a double, while there were also further scores for Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk, with Johnathan Thurston scoring 14 points with his boot. Australia, with big guns Inglis and Thurston two of four changes to the side that thrashed Ireland 50-0 in Limerick, dominated from the off to establish a 38-point half-time lead, which set up a last-four meeting with Fiji at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, November 23. The sides Holders New Zealand and England will face off in the other semi-final on the same day, with the winners of both ties contesting the World Cup final at Old T raf ford in Manchester on November 30.

November 21 – December 4, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

sports :: rugby union o’connell says side too slow grasping new coach’s methods

Ireland ‘on learning curve’ Nick Purewal

DEJECTED: Paul O’Connell after losing to Australia in the Guinness Series. Pic: Brian Lawless/PA

Captain Paul O’Connell admits Ireland have been far too slow to adapt to Joe Schmidt’s coaching methods. The 34-year-old lock also believes new head coach Schmidt’s emphasis on technical know-how has been tough to master. Munster talisman O’Connell is famed for his mental ferocity, but conceded the Ireland side failed to deliver any emotional intensity in the recent 32-15 Dublin defeat to Australia. Schmidt’s highly-successful Leinster tenure centred around supreme accuracy, while Munster typically build their game on passion and fire. O’Connell knows Ireland have yet to strike a healthy balance between the two approaches under Schmidt. “Joe talks about the inches in rugby matches, and I think Australia won a lot of them,” he said. “They got a few scrum turnovers,

and a few at the breakdown too. You could see how high their emotion was in comparison to ours when we got our turnovers, and that was disappointing from our point of view. “I suppose for a few of us we’ve a little bit to learn under Joe, there’s a lot of technical stuff we need to get right. “But you can’t lose track of that intensity and that aggression that’s required at Test rugby as well. “A lot of the stuf f is quickly rectifiable, defending mauls close to your line, you just can’t concede tries there, and that’s a really disappointing aspect for us. The two tries they scored in the first half, they went width to width and it was disappointing how tight we got there,” he said. “It was something we discussed in the week that we needed to hold width if we were going to take line speed. “So I think some things are easily rectifiable.” O’Connell believes Australia are far more developed under

new head coach Ewen McKenzie than Ireland are under Schmidt. But he will not accept that as an excuse for a lack of precision. “The accuracy we talked about … it wasn’t there,” he said. “We can put pressure on teams by just keeping the ball and staying in their half, and unfortunately we didn’t do that. And that’s an area we’ve worked on quite a bit. They probably learned a lot more about themselves in the last few months than we have. “You read Leinster players talking about accuracy over the last few years, in every interview they do. The way we started the game wasn’t accurate, and that was disappointing from our point of view. We need to be accurate if we want to deliver what we intend. “That was disappointing from our point of view to see a lot of what they were doing, at the scrum, the line-out and at the breakdown: they were very accurate and very hard at what they were doing,” he said.

wallabies expose irish shortcomings

‘I could have played for Ireland’ Nick Purewal

Australia hooker Stephen Moore admits he rejected the chance to explore an international career with Ireland. The 86-cap front-rower (below) revealed Ireland inquired about his services when he was 19. Born in Saudi Arabia to Irish parents, Moore and family moved to Galway before settling in Australia. The 30-year-old admitted interest from Ireland swayed his teenage mind for a second – until he thought more seriously about the prospect. “That was a long time ago, very early on in my career, only 19 or 20, so I wasn’t really thinking about playing internationally at that stage. I was only playing Under19s rugby in Brisbane,” Australia’s most-capped hooker said. “But, yeah, there was a bit of interest there, obviously with my background, but I think at the time my head was spinning about everything. “But I’ve been in Australia since I was five, I’ve grown up in Australia and I consider myself a proud Australian. “So I’m very glad I’ve had the opportunity to play for Australia so many times, it’s very special to me. “But in saying that, I’m very proud of my heritage over here, too. We’ve got plenty of guys like that in the team though, guys who have backgrounds in other countries around the world. “And I guess that’s one of the unique things about Australia. When it came down to it, it wasn’t a difficult decision. “I had always grown up following Australia and wanting to play for the Wallabies. My dad’s from Galway and my mum from Mayo, so there’s always a lot of talk about their football team. “All my cousins over here still support Ireland, so I have to understand that!”

in brief

All Blacks stop all in their tracks Duncan Bech

New Zealand ar rived in Dublin looking to become the first Test team to complete a perfect calendar year. The All Blacks dispatched England 30-22 at Twickenham to secure their 13th successive victor y and have Ireland in their sights at the Aviva Stadium. Wing Julian Savea finished man of the match in London after running in two tries to lift his tally to 18 in 19 Tests. It was an epic contest decided by Savea’s 64th-minute try as he capitalised on a moment of genius from centre Ma’a Nonu. “There were moments when we dominated and moments when they dominated. We knew it would be a fight to the end and the boys really stepped up,” Savea said. “Under pressure we made the right decisions. We kicked well, we chased well and put the pressure back on them. We’re happy we’ve got the win. “England are very dangerous. They have some big boys who carry well. We respected them and they really took it to us.” Savea sat out the victor y against France with a lung infection, but earned an instant recall to the All Blacks’ starting XV. “Missing an opportunity in France motivated me. Just that black jersey, it means a lot,” he said. “There’s obviously competition and we’re all striving to be better.”

Schmidt points to ‘disconnect’ ALL WRAPPED UP: Ireland’s Fergus McFadden (right) is tackled by Australia’s Michael Hooper during the Guinness Series match at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin. Pic: Brian Lawless/PA

Sexton injury adds salt to wound Nick Purewal Jonathan Sexton limped out of Ireland’s frustrating four-try, 32-15 defeat to Australia, suffering a hamstring injury scare. The distraught Racing Metro fly-half buried his face in his hands as he left the Aviva Stadium field at half-time. Livewire Australia fulcrum Quade Cooper claimed a try to pass 100 international points, Michael Hooper grabbing a brace and Nick Cummins completing the scoring. Despite crossing the line twice, Joe Schmidt’s Ireland were unable to conjure a try and will be furious with the defensive lapses that led to Hooper’s first score and Cooper’s soft finish. Cooper opened the scoring with a ninth-minute penalty, before Sexton levelled from the tee after a strong Ireland rolling maul. Queensland Reds fly-half Cooper then fluffed a straightforward penalty, but the Wallabies struck quickly. Australia’s most-capped hooker Stephen Moore revealed in the week how he could have ended up representing Ireland.

Australia

Ireland

The 87-cap front-rower rejected Irish Rugby Football Union advances as a 19-year-old, stemming from his Irish parents. Not even a stint living in Ireland as a toddler before moving to Australia could convince him to consider representing his parents’ homeland. But Schmidt and Ireland would have happily had him in green when he bisected their midfield, before producing a scoring pass even Brian O’Driscoll himself would have savoured. Cummins received Moore’s pass, cut in off his left wing and outfoxed the remaining cover to notch his third Wallabies try. New head coach Joe Schmidt spent all week telling his players just how foolish it would be to kick away a cheap ball to the Wallabies. So he would have been spitting feathers when Tommy Bowe cleared loosely from his own 22 and straight into Australian clutches.

Cooper’s whipped pass sent Folau to the line, Australia worked the ball back left and Fardy’s back-handed offload ripped Ireland apart. Cooper landed his second penalty after Rob Kearney’s uncharacteristic high-ball spill. Ireland’s scrum power then brought a penalty that Madigan duly converted. Ireland punted a kickable penalty to the corner to launch the final quarter, only to knock on at the line-out when Australia sacked their maul at source. The Wallabies took that cue to wrestle back control and quickly scored through a line-out drive of their own. Flanker Hooper rose from the pile of bodies with the ball, to confirm his second try of the night. Tevita Kuridrani was then sent off for a dangerous tackle on flanker O’Mahony. The Australia centre flipped the Munster back-rower and planted him on his head. Replacement Conor Murray thought he had scored from a penalty snipe, but referee Chris Pollock brought back the play, refusing to allow the quick tap. While Ireland produced several promising sections, the visitors more than merited victory.

IReland manager Joe Schmidt has admitted Jonathan Sexton’s hamstring injury will leave him a big doubt for Ireland’s final Guinness Series autumn international against New Zealand. Fr ustrated head coach Schmidt conceded Ireland made no progress from their Samoa victory in their 32-15, four-try defeat to Australia. The former Leinster head coach was angr y with his side for gifting Australia’s back-three too many counter-attacking opportunities, leading directly to tries for Michael Hooper and Nick Cummins. Admitting Ireland are still a “work in progress”, Schmidt confirmed 28-yearold Sexton’s hamstring problem was disappointing. “We’d given Jonny a weekend off and a refresher and we thought we’d get two big weeks out of him, so it’s really disappointing,” Schmidt said. “Rob Kearney’s not too bad after his knock, someone just landed on his rib and he was sore from something he picked up.” Schmidt found no argument with the loss, citing a “disconnect” between his off-kilter players. “I’ll put a few fingers in a few different spots to be honest,” he said. “I thought there was a fair bit of defensive naivety, but I did think we came back into the match extremely well. “It was very hard to get them off the ball, and that made it extremely difficult to get on to the front foot. One of the things that would account for that, Jonny Sexton hadn’t trained a lot.”

November 21 – December 4, 2013 I www.irishecho.com.au

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