Meeja WAtch

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PERTH RADIO WENT GA-GA FOR ST. PATRICK’S DAY

>There was no mistaking the fact it was St. Patrick’s Day on the ‘wireless’, with many stations joining in for the Irish festivity. Mix 94.5’s breakfast crew Pete, Matt and Kymba broadcast their morning show live from JB O’Reilly’s until 9am, by which stage the craic was already well underway. Talk and news station 6PR certainly gave the occasion a good spread. On his breakfast show Gareth Parker took several calls from people celebrating the day. Amongst them was ‘Dan’ from Durty Nelly’s, who was gave the watering hole a good spruiking as a place to come for something to eat, drink and be entertained. He also told listeners that for the first time its Guinness garden was open for business. About a week earlier Parker put Mark McGowan’s election promise to create a new public holiday if his government was returned to power out to listeners for their feedback. If there’s one thing Aussies love, its a bank holiday weekend and plenty of suggestions flowed through to the talk back show. Caller Barney came up with our favourite (not that we’re biased or anything) idea for a an extra day off for the wider community. He floated the idea of March 17 as a good date for the new holiday. Parker picked up on Barney’s brogue and motivation for the proposal, but said the idea had some ‘merit’. The radio presenter revealed that he had met his wife on St. Patrick’s Day but didn’t divulge too much more about it, so perhaps we will follow up with him to find out more in a future edition of the magazine. As it happens Mr McGowan visited the Irish Club less than a week later on St. Patrick’s Day and judging from the reaction he got, you would be forgiven for thinking he had already declared the day a public holiday for all West Australians (see page 8). Meanwhile, Liam Bartlett, who fronts the station’s Morning programme, also had a good 20 minute segment with Irish

BY LLOYD GORMAN

Above: 6PR’s Liam Bartlett with Irish Scene editor Lloyd Gorman. Right: Cassie from the 6PR front desk in her green dress

Scene editor Lloyd including two trips Gorman in studio by Fiorenza himself and consulate Marty that have helped Kavanagh calling strengthen and in by phone to talk deepen those bonds about the day itself associated with his and the magazine. nanna. Liam’s mum comes So March 17 is a from Cork and the special day for him high profile media personally, but his identity holds wider community is an Irish passport also able to celebrate because of his it in style he added. heritage. “The local Irish club, Following Bartlett’s show, Steve Mills, who until recently Above: The Irish dancers who performed at JB O’Reilly’s where 94.5’s morning radio show was broadcast on the day which has its little headquarters in Wonthella, is always presented the welcoming, let alone breakfast show with now Perth Lord mayor Basil on St Patrick’s Day.” Zempilas, had some great Irish content on ‘Millsy HTTPS://THEWEST.COM.AU/NEWS/GERALDTON-GUARDIAN/ at Midday’, including an interview with Irish Club THESE-IRISH-EYES-ARE-SMILING-FROM-A-FARAWAY-LAND-NGcommittee member Gillian Forde. Special mention B881819170Z should be made for Cassie on the front desk at 6PR who went all out by wearing a lovely green dress CONTINUED ON PAGE 18 specially for the day. Doubtless there were many other spots on 6PR – including with 6PR’s resident UK correspondent and irrepressible Wexford man Enda Brady – and other local stations, but these were the ones Meeja WAtch caught. In a warmly written piece, Geraldton Guardian YOU DON’T journo Peter Fiorenza shared with readers why St. Patrick’s Day has a special place in his heart. HAVE TO BE IRISH His grandmother was Irish and she was a big influence in his life. She passed away some time ago but he says “I could never forget her round, smiling face, her beautiful laugh and her ever so special hugs. Sometimes they were so tight, you lost your breath. Nanna also had a beautiful Irish accent that simply endeared her to everyone she met. Growing up, Nanna was the No.1 babysitter, which meant we grandkids got to spend a lot of time with this wonderful lady, who would tell us endless stories of her time in Australia and back in the north of Ireland. In fact, she inspired me to eventually travel to the Emerald Isle, learn more about my heritage and meet a few rellies along the TO LOVE CLONAKILTY. way.” His grandmother left Ireland in the early 1920’s and it would not be until the late 1980’s that the siblings would have contact with each other. Flowing from that, the Australian branch of the Available at European Foods family visited her home town in Co. Fermanagh,

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‘CRATE ESCAPES’

>This may be one of Meeja Watch’s favourite yarns – ever. ‘The crate escape’: Two Irishmen who helped mail friend home from Australia sought’ was published in the Irish Times on April 6. In 1965, Welsh man Brian Robson, then 19, was so homesick and down on his luck that he came up with the idea of mailing himself home inside a wooden crate. Two Irish friends put the lid on the crate and hammered it shut and helped get him from Melbourne to London on a trip which nearly killed him. The trip didn’t go quite to plan and after long delays and difficulties the young Welshman was uncovered in a holding shed in Los Angeles and the story went global. Decades later, Robson appealed to the Irish media to find the pair who made the adventure possible. “I’m 99 per cent sure that they were called Paul and John,” he told the Irish Times. “I couldn’t even tell you their surnames it’s such a long time ago, and I’d only recognise them if I saw photographs of them that were taken at that time. We got on famously… They used to come to my bedsit, or I would go to see them, almost on a daily basis.” As a result of the newspapers coverage, one of the two friends came forward and made contact with Robson, the Irish Times reported on April 17. “Mr Robson said his friend wished to remain anonymous but he was happy to let people know they had made contact,” journalist Alison Healy reported. “The Irish man is trying to establish contact with the second man. “We don’t know 100 per cent where he is, to be honest. He could be anywhere,” Mr Robson said.”

WWW.IRISHTIMES.COM/NEWS/OFFBEAT/MAN-TOMEET-IRISH-FRIEND-WHO-HELPED-AIRMAIL-HIM-FROMAUSTRALIA-1.4539579

While the whole things seems implausible (even impossible) by today’s standards, Healy reminded readers that he was not the first to try the stunt. Only the year before, Australian Reg Spiers had tried the same trip, in reverse. Spiers travelled from Australia to London on his way to Tokyo for the 1964 Olympics where he was to compete on javelin. But he became injured and quickly found himself stranded and penniless in the English capital. His daughter’s birthday was coming up and he wanted to get home in time for her special day. He got a job working with cargo at the airport where he learned how animals were transported by freight. He shipped himself back to Australia in a crate built by his friend and fellow athlete John McSorley, as a cash on delivery order.

WWW.BBC.COM/NEWS/MAGAZINE-31700049

IRISH ANZAC MARTIN O’MEARA HONOURED

>Regular readers of Irish Scene will be very familiar with the WWI story of courage and tragedy personified by Martin O’Meara. Indeed, Tipperary born O’Meara’s service and sacrifice is probably much better known here in WA than it is back in his native Ireland (a lot like John Boyle O’Reilly). The Australian ambassador to Ireland Gary Gray – who was himself born in Yorkshire but has called WA home for most of his life – wrote an outstanding piece about O’Meara for the Irish Times for the occasion of April 25 and ANZAC Day. It is well written and well researched, to which he tips his hat at the efforts of WA author Ian Loftus for his biography of O’Meara, and Australian academic Jeff Kildea who has written extensively about Ireland and the ANZAC’s.

Apart from the obvious discomfort of hiding inside a box and being left to bake in the sun for a few hours at Mumbai airport, the cramped journey went much as expected and three days later the crate arrived at Perth and was put into a storage shed where he heard workers complain about the size of the box and he knew where he was. “The accents - how could you miss?” Spiers told the BBC in a 2015 article. “I’m on the soil. Amazing. Wonderful. I made it. I was grinning from ear to ear, but I wasn’t going to let them know I’m there now - I’ve almost pulled the whole thing off. I knew they would take the box to a bond shed. When they put me in the shed I got out straight away. There were cartons of beer in there. I don't drink but I whipped a beer out and had a drink of that. There was no security. I put on a suit out of my bag so I looked cool, jumped through the window, walked out on to the street and thumbed a ride into town. Simple as that.” He got back in time for his daughter’s birthday. Spiers didn’t let his friend back in London know that he made had it safely back home, so McSorley contacted the media to try and find out more and the story broke, making Spiers an overnight celebrity.

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“Sunday is Anzac Day,” the ambassador states toward the end of his article. “It is not a celebration but a commemoration – a remembering of the O’Mearas, the Faheys, the Morgans and the thousands of others who fought and died. Peace, consolidation and forgiveness must be the cornerstone of modern nations if we are to be successful in building a world that lives in harmony. The mistakes of the 20th century cannot be repeated and the importance of remembering the humanity of those who bore the brunt of war remains eternal.”

WWW.IRISHTIMES.COM/OPINION/ANZAC-DAY-NOT-ACELEBRATION-BUT-COMMEMORATION-1.4545894

TRUE BLUE AUSSIES NOW!

>As well as ANZAC Day, Australia Day is the other great fixture on the Australian calender. As anyone who has been here for any amount of time knows, Australia Day is a great occasion in its own right, but for some the day is extra special. Every year on January 26 thousands of people from dozens of countries take part in local citizenship ceremonies across WA and the rest of the nation. Joanne and Thomas Crowley and their four children – Sophie, Lily, Cassie and Noel – were amongst 60 people who became citizens on Australia Day at a ceremony staged by Wanneroo Council. Only a month after the Irish family moved to Perth in 2011, they soon found badly needed support from their adopted community. Noel was born three months early and had to stay in hospital for the first four months of his fledgling life. The kindness and support they got from friends, neighbours and hospital staff at that time made a lasting impression on them. “We just had this outpouring of help,” Joanne said. “When you see that come together, you know its a good place to be.” Their story was published in the Joondalup and Wanneroo Times editions of January 21 under the headline ‘Smiling Irish’, and also appeared on the PerthNow website on the same date but with the heading ‘Irish family embrace Australia as second home’. Meanwhile, on January 27 the West Australian published a story ‘Luck of the Irish is finding love 15,000km away’ about a young Irish couple who had just became fully fledged Aussies. The story opens with the curious statement and geographical assumption that even though they grew up “less than two hours apart” it wasn’t until John Gallagher and Aisling MacMahon (below) came to “sunny Perth” that they met and fell in love with each other – and their new home. Anyhow, John told the daily newspaper that becoming citizens at a ceremony in South Perth was a proud moment for pair. “I think having been here for so long now, we hadn’t really realised how much of a big deal this would be, because we always knew this is where we were going to be.” Aisling was of similar mind. “Ireland will always be our home, yes, but this is our home away from home and its where we want to create a new life for ourselves.”

WWW.PERTHNOW.COM.AU/COMMUNITY-NEWS/WANNEROOTIMES/IRISH-FAMILY-EMBRACE-AUSTRALIA-AS-SECONDHOME-C-1964508

CHECKOUT THIS HOTEL QUARANTINE FIASCO

>Up until recently, Michelle O’Dowd and husband Ciaran O’Reilly and their kids Muireann (14), Saoirse (10) and Cadhla (9) called Perth, WA, home for the last five years. Michelle, a native of Easkey, Sligo and family returned to Ireland at the start of April where she was to start work as a nurse in Sligo University Hospital. Their trip home was complicated by the route they took. At the time Australia was not considered to be a ‘high risk’ country with travellers from that country not required to quarantine upon arrival in Ireland. But because they had a 90 minute stop-over in Dubai – with the UAE on the high-risk list – they discovered just two days before they flew out they would need to book hotel accommodation in Dublin, at a cost of $6,000 for a 12 day stint in The Crowne Plaza. During their brief time in an empty Dubai airport and airplane, the family grabbed a McDonalds meal, which was also devoid of customers. Compulsory hotel quarantine for passengers arriving from certain countries started on April 2, the same day they arrived home. While they were shuffled off to a hotel, other passengers from American and Europe were able to walk through the arrival gates, she said. The hotel rooms the family were put into were small and cramped and unsuitable for five people to be in constantly for nearly two weeks. Michelle was able to generate a lot of media interest in their plight and as a result they were moved to better rooms. “I’ve absolutely no problem with hotel mandatory quarantine, I think it should have been implemented a year ago and it should have been implemented for everybody,” she was quoted in the Sligo Champion. “I want to make extremely clear it’s not mandatory quarantine I have an issue with, it has worked extremely well for Australia and as a result we have lived normal lives for the last year. So it does really work.” They were more comfortable in their new lodgings she added. “This morning is a very different morning because we’ve been actually upgraded to suites, we moved up yesterday at 6.30pm. The hotel have been very helpful, but there will be other families arriving going into the rooms that we left yesterday and there will be lots more families coming to this facility. So it’s of massive concern. “The room we were in yesterday, there is absolutely no room for any children to play, which is taking away their basic right as a child, protocols weren’t followed properly from the minute we landed, there was no test on arrival which we believed. There was just a litany of disasters to be honest.”

WWW.RTE.IE/NEWS/CORONAVIRUS/2021/0327/1206518-CORONAVIRUSQUARANTINE-IRELAND/

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CULTURAL COUP!

>As well as pulling off an amazing cross cultural festival, Kidogo artistic director Joanne Roberts also succeeded in generating a good deal of media interest in the event. The Irish Examiner ran with the story: ‘Singer-songwriters Luka Bloom, Daoiri Farrell, SON (Susan O’Neill) and Steve Cooney and poet Tony Curtis are part of the Irish line-up, working remotely from Ireland and projected onto one of the venue’s walls. Aboriginal performers include blues singer Olive Knight Kankawa Nagarra, The Yabu Band, Dave Milroy & The Wilarra Band and double Grammy Award winner Lucky Oceans. As well as music there were also books, exhibitions, dance and an AFL/GAA football match on Bathers Beach.’ “This is a celebration of two cultures that has never been done before,” Joanne was quoted by the Irish Examiner. “There are long familial and friendship connections between the local aboriginal community and the Irish people that arrived in Australia. This festival is an opportunity to recognise them and create new and exciting creative collaborations.” The festival also scored an article on arts and entertainment website Scenestr, ABC News Perth and RTRFM.

WWW.IRISHEXAMINER.COM/LIFESTYLE/ARTSANDCULTURE/ARID-40244615.HTML?FBCLID=IWAR14K2WYCG3B3BXFW2ARGT_ W7ZKG4BVT6UIFRSZIRI4JXRAQ2BXIGR2103G

From the pages of the past!

WHO WAS McCLEMENT?

On August 5th 1922, the Albany Advertiser carried this short short article under the headline: “V.C.’s Experience Driven out of Ireland” – Perth, Friday. “Sapper George Jospeh McClement, V.C, arrived at Fremantle by the S.S. Hobsan’s Bay this morning. He says he was driven out of Ireland. His house was raided on three occasions, and once he was seized by masked men and marched along a road for two miles and told he would be shot for “his despicable act in risking his life fighting for England during the war”. Service men decorated with a VC were – and still are – considered to be figures of public interest, who upon return to Australia were normally sought out by journalists for a story. The same thing happened to Martin O’Meara when he came back from service in Europe, where he had won his VC a few years earlier. Quarantine restrictions in place at the time for the deadly Spanish Flu meant that O’Meara and his fellow soldiers had to remain in isolation at Woodman Point, Perth. It was during this period (November 8, 1918) that a reporter for the West Australian newspaper was able to interview him over by telephone. That interview – which quoted him extensively talking about his life – is one of the best personal and first hand accounts we have of him. It was timely too, a few days later he suffered a major mental breakdown that would see him spend the rest of his life in mental asylums in Perth. So there is nothing strange about a VC soldier being named in the press arriving into Fremantle, but there is something odd about this story. It is the type of incident that could easily have happened at the

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time, with the Irish War of Independence’ raging at the time (January 1919 – July 1921). Any soldier dressed in British/Commonwealth uniforms would have been seen as legitimate targets, so that bit too is highly plausible. The problem with this story is that there is very little evidence of who McClement was, or that he even existed. As we have already seen, VC winners were high profile people in their lifetime and having been awarded the highest decoration for bravery and courage in the face of the enemy, who as such form a small and elite group within the armed services, who are well documented by military historians with accounts of their lives easy to find. Despite several attempts, Irish Scene could not find any VC winner by that name (in any army) or even a shred of evidence of who he was or that he even walked the earth. If anyone reading this can shed some light on his story please get in touch, there is a bigger story here that would be worth telling no doubt.

TROVE.NLA.GOV.AU/NEWSPAPER/ARTICLE/70179338?SEARCHTERM=IRELAND%20PERTH

WEST AUSTRALIAN IRISH STRUGGLE TO WIN HORSE

>If the story of the unusual hijack attempt of an Aer Lingus plane in 1981 made you reminiscent for a different era, then here’s another flashback to the same year with an Irish and WA connection. On April 23, the Sydney Morning Herald reprinted an ‘archives’ story it had published on the same date in April 1981. It concerned a battle between one of WA’s richest men, one of Australian’s greatest Melbourne Cup trainers and an Irish bloodstock agent to buy a horse at the Easter yearling sales. In a high stakes bidding war multi-millionaire Robert Holmes à Court from the West, Bart Cummings – 12 time Melbourne Cup winner of Irish heritage – and amateur rider turned bloodstock agent legend Patrick ‘PP’ Hogan slogged it out to buy the chestnut colt Luskin Star-Visit. Bragging rights eventually went to Holmes à Court for the princely sum of $825,000 – a massive sum by the standard of the day but even more remarkable because the horse would not have to win a single race to merit the eye watering price tag. “I don’t believe any racehorse is worth more than $100,000 purely on the score of his racing ability,” the cigar puffing WA tycoon was quoted by the newspaper. “If he does well on the racetrack that’s well and good, but the idea is to breed from him more than anything else.”

WWW.SMH.COM.AU/SPORT/RACING/FROM-THE-ARCHIVES1981-825-000-AND-HE-NEEDN-T-WIN-A-RACE-20210415P57JGK.HTML

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