Politics

Irish foreign affairs minister defends position on Western Australia

In response to questions asked by LaoisOffaly TD Charlie Flanagan – and inquiries by Irish Scene – Ireland’s minister for foreign affairs Simon Coveney offered the following explanation for why he had decided against a full time consulate general in Perth. His response to Mr Flanagan – himself a former foreign affairs minsiter – came in late May, weeks after the last edition of Irish Scene was published, including the story ‘Mission’ not possible for Perth.

Dear Charlie,

Thank you for your recent email regarding my reply to your recent Parliamentary Question [PQ] on Perth and the further questions you have now received from Mr Lloyd Gorman, publisher/editor of the ‘Irish Scene’ magazine. Mr Gorman is seeking clarification regarding the development of my thinking on this matter over recent months, as expressed at the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence and in my reply to your recent PQ. At the Joint Committee in November, I said we needed to think about Western Australia in the context of enhancing Ireland’s global footprint but I also said that I didn’t want to pre-announce anything. In March, I told the Committee that Perth was being considered as part of a package which was not yet signed off. Following that meeting and prior to my PQ reply, I reviewed the options for enlarging our diplomatic footprint globally, including in Australia. You will appreciate that this was a robust process involving a range of factors, including our national, political and economic priorities, as well as the availability of resources for each potential mission location. The locations of new missions also needs to be considered as part of a balanced package consistent with the ambitions set out in the Global Ireland strategy. The reply to your recent PQ represents my current thinking on this issue based on this latest review of options. Once the Government decides on any new missions to be opened, an appropriate announcement will be made. Our commitment to the Irish community in Western Australia is steadfast. Our Honorary Consul in Perth, Marty Kavanagh, provides excellent consular services to Irish citizens in Western Australia. He is fully engaged with the Irish community and, with the support of the Embassy and State Agencies, he assists in developing trade and economic relations with Western Australia. I understand that our Ambassador will visit Western Australia soon and I have asked him to make every effort to include Perth, when possible, in future high-level visits from Ireland. I am aware that, unfortunately due to thenprevailing restrictions, it was not possible for Minister Naughton to include Perth in her recent St Patrick’s Day visit to Australia. My Department will continue to explore options for further expanding and strengthening our mission network, including in Australia. I wish to assure you and Mr Gorman that I will seek to ensure that Western Australia will benefit, whether directly or indirectly, from any additional resources which we can provide in Australia. Yours sincerely,

Simon Coveney TD

Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence

Julie Bishop – a good friend of Ireland

Charlie Flanagan was Ireland’s minister for foreign affairs (and trade) between 2014 and 2017. Julie Bishop, the member for Curtin from 1998 to 2019, was his Australian counterpart from 2013 to 2018. In February 2017 their paths

officially crossed during a visit to Ireland by Ms Bishop on her one and only trip to Ireland to date. “Julie and I had a close working relationship on Ireland/Australia trade, immigration visas, Irish diaspora,” Mr Flanagan told Irish Scene. “Julie would’ve been a good PM but unfortunately didn’t make it. She was a good friend of Ireland. And she was understanding and supportive of Ireland’s position, post Brexit, in particular our Peace process.” Bishop - who was deputy leader of the Australian Liberal Party between 2007 and 2018 – was badly dudded by her own ministerial colleagues in the leadership race which saw Scott Morrison emerge as the new party leader and PM.

Business makes the world go round and round

In late June the Irish Australian Chamber of Commerce organised a five day long ‘business delegation’ to Ireland. “Join us on the delegation to build your networks, gain insights into Irish businesses and meet skilled professionals, ready to make the move,” IACC information about the tour said. “Highlights will include: Your opportunity to engage with best in class businesses in a shared business tour of Ireland - north, south, regional and metropolitan. Discover new customers, suppliers, investment opportunities and team members.” “Time built into each day for your own activities, keeping in touch with your Australian office, interviewing, or something more relaxing. Flagship Event attendance - the Chamber’s Summer BBQ at the Australian Ambassador’s residence in Killiney - where you can engage with hundreds of your fellow members currently based in Ireland. European dimension - engage with the representatives of all the Australianlinked business groups across Europe who will join us during the week. “Talent in focus - we will host a Talent Open Day in Dublin, and possibly another in Belfast, based on demand, as well as our activities in the regions so you’ll have plenty of chances to find your next key hire.” Meanwhile, a group of Irish business owners might well be on their way here it emerged recently. “[Will] a trade and investment mission to Australia will happen later in 2022,” TD Darren O’Rourke asked the minister for enterprise and trade Leo Varadkar at the end of May in the Dail. Mr Varadkar said trade missions organised by Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland and led by a govenrment minister between early 2020 and the third quarter of 2021 had to be done virtually before they could be once again be held physically from the last quarter of last year. “It had been hoped to arrange a trade mission to Australia and New Zealand in Quarter 2 of 2022, however New Zealand’s annual National Agricultural Fielddays has been postponed due to Covid-19 concerns,” Mr Varadkar added. “My Department is currently working closely with its agencies in relation to a trade and investment mission schedule for the second half of 2022 which will maximise opportunities to help Irish companies to access new markets and to increase the levels of foreign direct investment into Ireland.”

Its Home & Away for Sinn Fein

On the subject of inter-country visits one of Ireland’s most high profile politicians will be here soon. Mary Lou McDonald, president and leader of Sinn Fein will be guest of honour at a string of events across Australia hosted by the Irish Australian Chamber of Commerce in midlate July, kicking off in Perth. “Ms McDonald will share her thoughts on the impact of the global pandemic, on the implications of Brexit, and on the role of Ireland in both Europe and the wider world from a business and geopolitical perspective going forward,” the IACC said. “We look forward to being able to bring such a high-profile visitor to Australia to address our members and guests, and look forward to the discussion.” While she is in Perth Mary Lou will also feature at a Cairde Sinn Fein event in the Irish Club, Subiaco, on Sunday July 17, starting at 6pm. The path to Australia for fund raising and awareness generating campaigns is a well worn one for Sinn Fein leaders . Indeed, this will not be her first time here for the Republican party leader. Ms McDonald was here in 2014 (with party colleague Francie Molly MP) and laid out the party’s electoral strategy for the 2016 general election. Reporting on that tour at the time the Irish Independent reported that Ms McDonald boldly claimed the party would not settle for anything less than a 32-county Irish Republic. “Our mission is the Republic and we want all of it - we won’t settle for anything less,” she told Irish-Australians in Perth. “Ms McDonald said the fundraising trip was part of Sinn Fein’s campaign to engage with the Irish diaspora and to “secure a Border poll and the ongoing work towards Irish unity”. Her SF predecessor Gerry Adams was also no stranger to Perth, and the rest of the country. His bid to visit Australia in 1996 was blocked by the Federal Government on the grounds he was ‘not of good character’ but as the situation in the North improved including with the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 which lead to a peace deal he was able and allowed to come in 1999. Meanwhile, Sinn Fein – once branded the politial wing of the IRA – is enjoying growing electoral support back in Ireland, North and South of the border. It is now the largest political party in Northern Ireland after the Assembly election in May. SF won 27 of the 90 seats in the Assembly, putting it ahead of the normally dominant Democractic Unionist Party (DUP) for the first time, which also means it fills the position of First Minister.

The party’s march to government is also well underway south of the border where it is now the main opposition party in the Dail. In the 2020 February election the lions share of votes was split almost equally between the states two biggest political parties Fianna Fail (38) and Fine Gael (35) and Sinn Fein (37). this meant SF were in a position to help form government but were blocked from office by the coupling of old Irish civil war opponents FF and FG, now frenemies in power.

Claire put her Hand up to have a go!

Its highly like there are others but at least one of the 1,624 candidates who put themselves forward in the Federal election in May was from Ireland. Claire Hand – who ran for Clive Palmers United Australia Party – was one of ten people who contested the West Australian seat of Cowan. “Claire was born in Dublin, Ireland and emigrated to Australia when she was three years old,” her election profile stated. “She spent her primary school years within the City of Joondalup before returning to Ireland for a short time. She completed senior high school in Australia. After graduation, she secured a role in the mining sector as a Contracts and Procurement junior officer. She then moved into Information Management and has spent the better part of a decade leading the implementation of document management systems in national and international projects. She has lived in the City of Joondalup for the majority of her life in Australia, and has been an active community volunteer since her early teens, when she was part of the Joondalup Youth Advisory Council. She has since continued to volunteer in the community, and in 2021 she ran as a candidate for the North Ward in the City of Joondalup Local Elections. “I was not motivated by an ambition to become a politician. Instead, I wanted to advocate on behalf of the people of Joondalup. My aim was to ensure that our community’s concerns and interests were being heard and addressed.” she added. “The need for better community outcomes inspired me to become more involved at a local government level. I ran as an independent with the aim of giving the community a greater voice separate to any political agenda.” It was always going to be a long shot for any of the independents or micro-parties to get over the line and in the end encumbent MP Anne Aly was returned, one of four vital Labor MPs from the West who helped give Anthony Albanese a major government.

Fáilte Ambassador Kennedy

It had been on the cards for a while but the appointment of Caroline Kennedy as America’s ambassador to Australia was confirmed in May. The daughter of the late US president John F Kennedy (pictured together) she is a heavyweight in her own right, including as a former ambassador to Japan, making her an ideal pick of diplomat fro the Indo-Pacific region (which is very much in Australia’s neck of the woods), particularly at a time when tensions and relations in the region are mounting and worsening.

Like her dad, she has a strong affinity for Ireland and was there in 2013 for a special ceremony for an eternal flame to him in Dunganistan, Co. Wexford, to mark the 50th anniversary of his epic trip to the country in 1963.

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Premier’s premier Dublin visit

Premier Mark McGowan ticked off an item off his bucket list recently, one he shared with a packed Irish Club on St. Patrick’s Day last year. “I don’t know if realise but my last name is Irish....my heritage on both sides are all Irish… and one of my life ambitions actually is to go back to Ireland – I’ve never been there”, he said to a big reaction from the welcoming crowd! However, that changed recently for Mr McGowan when he jetted off to Europe in late June. But his visit to Dublin was not as a tourist or in search of his Irish roots. Flying out on June 25 the trip was more FIFO than Family Fortune. He headed up a trade and tradies mission to try and lure investment and skilled workers from Ireland. He is using the start of the direct Perth to Rome Qantas flight as a launching pad for a wider offensive. After a busy round of meetings and talks in Rome and he set course for the UK and Ireland. “In his capacity as Treasurer, financial industry engagements will be a focus of events in London and Dublin with banks and investors, as part of the mission led by the Western Australian Treasury Corporation to help deliver better outcomes for WA’s borrowing program,” the press release added. “In a first, the Premier will visit Dublin on a range of economic and skilled workforce matters with the aim of attracting more skilled workers from Ireland to WA to take up jobs in residential construction, healthcare, hospitality, tourism and the mining sector. “This builds on the McGowan Government’s efforts to attract more skilled workers to WA, including the $195 million Reconnect WA package which includes initiatives to attract international workers, skilled workers for key industries, backpackers for hospitality, agriculture and students to WA, and the dedicated ‘Belong’ advertising and recruitment campaign to attract healthcare workers. “The State Government will also expand its marketing of the ‘Build a Life in WA’ campaign [originally aimed at other Australian states] to attract construction and trade workers from Ireland and European markets.” Also wearing his hat as state treasurer Mr McGowan pledged to promote WA as a safe and incredible place to live, study, visit and do business on the Reconnect WA mission. On the last day of parliament before he flew out Mr McGowan explained what he would be up too. “I will be going to Ireland to promote opportunities to move to Western Australia to undertake work in our state, particularly in construction, mining, health care, hospitality and tourism,” he told the Legislative Assembly on June 23. “We have a record number of jobs available. As we know, it is a very tight labour market, and a lot of businesses, and indeed hospitals, are looking for additional staff. Ireland has always been a ready-made location for people who want to come and live in Western Australia and fill some of those positions. Whilst in Ireland, I will be having a meeting with the President of Ireland, Michael Higgins, who came out here a few years ago. He was re-elected to that role, and I look forward to seeing President Higgins again. I will be having a meeting with the Prime Minister of Ireland, Hon Micheál Martin, as well. This will be a very productive set of events to promote Western Australia and ensure that we continue on the pathway of being the strongest economy in Australia and probably the world.” With a hectic schedule like that it is highly unlikely he got a chance to do anything for himself personally, but who knows his brief time there might even have inspired Mr McGowan to return for a holiday and to track down his Irish ancestors.