The Irish Scene Nov/Dec 2022

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‘Unity, strength and love..for the people of Creeslough and Donegal’

As

the sun trickled down into the Indian Ocean after a beautiful clear day a large group of people from Donegal and the wider Irish community in Perth gathered in support of the vigil on the Scarborough foreshore at 6pm on October 13th.

“On Friday 7th October in Creeslough, a small village in Donegal, Ireland ten people going about their every day lives were tragically taken from this world,” Donegal born Blaithin Murray told the gathering. “We come here today to remember them, and our thoughts and prayers are with their families and friends, the Creeslough community and the survivors still recovering in hospital. We would like to thank the emergency service, first aid responders, fire fighters and the local community that put their lives in danger to try and rescue people from the building. As an Irish community abroad, in times like these, it is always that bit more difficult to be away from Ireland. However, gatherings like today show the unity, strength and love of the Irish and each of us here today send all of that strength and love back to the people of Creeslough and Donegal.”

Leona Russell read out the names of the ten people who lost their life’s. They were James O’Flaherty, (48), Jessica Gallagher (24), Martin McGill (49), Catherine O’ Donnell (39) and her son James Monaghan (13), Hugh Kelly (59), Martina Martin (49), Robert Garwe (50) and his

daughter Shauna Flanagan Garwe (5), Leona Harper (14). A minutes silence was disturbed only by the sound of the breaking surf on the beach and the sea breeze.

The local vigil was organised by Blaithin Murray, Leona Russell, Cathy MacGarvey and Keith Gorrell, all Donegal natives. Vigils were also organised in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney and across Ireland.

There will be another opportunity for reflection and remembrance in early November. The Claddagh Association’s annual Remembrance Service for deceased family and friends in Australia and overseas is due to be held in St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Salvado Road, Subiaco on Sunday November 6 at 3pm.

Keith Gorrell read this poem written by Donegal woman Brid Carr:

In the evening as dark shadows fall

cloak on the coast of Donegal

mourn

Like a

Our tears truly broken and torn As we whisper the names whom we

The waves of the ocean crash ashore The tides of emotion quietly roar Their faces, their voices, their lives We will remember forever with each new sunrise

Letterkenny

ScarboroughScarborough

Tragedy claimed loving Australian father

Sydney

born James O’Flaherty, 48, who lived just ten minutes outside Cresslough was one of the ten people killed in the Applegreen petrol station blast that shook the village and the Irish nation to their core. He is survived by his wife Tracey and his 12 year old son Hamish who parish priest Brian O’Fearraigh said he lived for and loved deeply. “As we gather we do so to celebrate, to remember and to give thanks to God for the beautiful gift of James O Flaherty’s life,” Fr O’Fearraigh said at the bilingual ceremony. “I hope and pray that his wife Tracey and son Hamish, a very brave and courageous young man, find comfort and support, not only from people inside and outside church but also in condolences from people who sent messages of support and lined the roadsides when James passed from Letterkenny, through the Mountain Road, passed Dunlewey to Tracey’s homeplace. Tracey and Hamish and James’ extended family, we are with you. Our hearts are like our mountains, in the hills of Donegal. We have all experienced since Friday afternoon, that grief knows no boundaries. The intensity and awfulness of the Creeslough tragedy has been felt near and fear. The outpouring of support and condolences and offerings of help have been overwhelming.”

Schoolmates of Hamish formed a guard of honour as his remains were brought into

the church. His loving and touching tribute to his dad at the service – attended by Uachtarán na hÉireann Michael D Higgins – met a round of applause from the congregation.

“He was a great man,” Hamish said. “He worked very hard and very long each day. Whether it was around the house or at work. He wore a jacket with a huge paint stain on the side of it everywhere. He managed this by leaning on a wall which was still wet with paint. He wore the jacket everywhere. To the shops, to the movies, to the beach. I would like to say thank you to all of the people who have given and offered so many things. The emergency services too, who were there within 15 minutes and also came to the wake. I would also like to say something I have learnt in the past week or so. We should be grateful. For your families, cherish them, be grateful for they won’t be there forever. Use the time you have wisely. Also, be grateful for your life because that too will not last forever. Be grateful, for you will be able to rest after your hard work.”

Mr O’Flaherty was buried at Magheragallon Cemetery, Co. Donegal.

Melbourne

Donegal

Brisbane

Sydney Scarborough

BY LLOYD GORMAN

Irish pride in Grand Final joy

Two very distinctive flags were unfurled and brandished in the frantic moments after Geelong’s Grand Final win against Sydney in the MCG!

As he went to collect his medal Cat’s player Zach Tuohy whipped out the green and white flag of his native Portlaoise GAA club, emblazoned with the words ‘Come on the town’ and the club’s crest.

It was a major event and special moment for Tuohy. Wrapped in the flag he was chaired off the field by his fellow players for his 250th AFL game (Jim Sytnes’s record is 264) and he – and teammate and fellow Irish man Mark O’Connor – became the only Irish players after Kerryman Tadhg Kennelly to win a Grand Final, with the Swans!

Home was very much on his mind in the build up to the clash with Sydney and in the glorious moments afterwards.

Tuohy had first spotted the Portlaoise flag during the Cat’s preliminary final game shortly before the final. “That was awesome,” Tuohy told Irish Times sports journalist Gordon Manning (‘Zach just has always had a knack’ – Tuohy dreams of flying Portlaoise flag after AFL Grand final success). “I am very proud of where I am from. I am a Portlaoise man, born and bred.”

A local Geelong fan made the flag who had the initiative to contact the club in Ireland to let him know it would be flying again at the GF and that he was welcome to take it afterwards. It was a great moment for many when the local flag was held aloft on the September 24 milestone.

With the cheers and applause and frantic energy of the win still ringing in the air Tuohy also tried to speak to family and friends in his hometown. “I know it (premiership) means

a lot to my family especially, even more than me,” he told Foxsports.com.au. “We talked and it feels a bit like it’s full circle. I’ve got a Portlaoise flag, which is where I started. It hasn’t sunk in. I tried FaceTime-ing in my parents out on the ground and showed them and I couldn’t hear a thing to be honest. Everyone got up and watched. This is honestly as much for them and particularly my parents. You want good values and good people around, I’m just so lucky to have the parents I have, honestly. It was a 5.30am start I think. Everybody got up, all my mates got up, the extended family got up and it would have been a shame to ruin their good night’s sleep for no reason.”

The Irish tricolour – held by O’Connor – was also clearly visible on the oval that was teeming with players, coaches, officials, media and others. The sense of occasion must have been heightened for him. Only a week out from the game he knew his place on the field of play was assured.

“It was all fairytale stuff,” he told a journalist afterwards. “Joel (Selwood) kicking his goal and retiring after having that game as a Premiership-winning captain. If it was in a movie you’d say it is cringy and not true. Zach’s 250th game, him with the Portlaoise flag afterwards. There was so much that went into it.”

Then, just 14 days after that momentous day he was back home in Ireland and back playing with his Dingle team mates, helping them to bring home the Kerry Senior Football County Championships. Joining the winning team was also Brisbane Lions rookie Deividas Uosis.

Irish pride and joy

Cameron Spencer AFL Photos

Dylan Burns AFL Photos

Dylan Burns AFL Photos

MIchael JWillson AFL Photos

MIchael JWillson AFL Photos

Robert Cianfione AFL Photos

Mark O’Connor and Zach Tuohy Picxture AFL Photos

Doing Justice to a proud tradition

Adeep

rooted Irish influence was also evident in the WAFL Grand Final win of West Perth against Claremont on October 1. “It was a great honour this year [July] when West Perth president Neale Fong and the board invited me to hold the number one ticket of the club where my greatgrandfather T. F. Quinlan was the inaugural president in 1891,” said WA Chief Justice Peter Quinlan. “Little did I know that the 2022 WAFL season would end with such a fantastic premiership win for the club. It is not only a testament to the hard work and commitment of Aaron Black, Dean Munns and the whole team, but a credit to the whole club and all of its dedicated

supporters who have brought it back from the brink. The effort of everyone at the club — employees, volunteers and fans — shows that the club motto ‘proud to belong’ is more than just words. It was a special treat that the 2022 premiership was taken out at the club’s former home ground at Leederville Oval, providing a fitting reminder of the past as the team looks upwards into the future.”

Pride in the ‘Falcons’ is something of a family tradition for Mr Quinlan. Certainly his mother Carole Quinlan (nee Waddell) grew up supporting them. But it goes back further than that. Peter Quinlan is the great grandson of the first president of the club when it was officially named West Perth 131 years ago. The BorrisO-Kane, Co. Tipperary born Thomas Quinlan MLA was the local member for the seat of West Perth at the time and was a driving force in the Club’s establishment serving for a term of three years. As a pioneer of the football club he developed the foundations of what is now WA’s oldest football club.

“Having the history our first club president being a direct forebear of the most senior judicial officer in the State, is an honour for our Club, and recognises the great foundations our club has, and the enduring connections it maintains”, said Mr Quinlan’s predecessor, Dr Neale Fong.

The 14th Chief Justice of WA Mr Quinlan also has Irish ancestry on the other side of his family line.

“He’s a fifth generation West Australian, and at the risk of creating controversy, comes with a somewhat

West Perth

colourful past, albeit four generations ago.

It seems that our new Chief Justice is the great, great grandson of a convict,” Justice Rene Lucien Le Miere said at the ceremony to mark his becoming Chief Justice, about three years ago. “There’s certain irony in the fact that this State’s most senior judicial officer is related to a sheep stealer who was transported to Western Australia in 1853. From a convict ancestor to a chief justice, I’m sure Daniel Connor, your great, great grandfather would be very proud of you. And on the other side of your family Michael Quinlan, a much more respectable citizen of the colony and a blacksmith, arrived some 10 years later in 1863. For his part Justice Quinlan finished his

speech for the occasion with reference to his Irish ancestor.

“Justice Le Miere commenced his remarks with a reference to my convict ancestor Daniel Connor who arrived here eight years before the appointment of the first Chief Justice,” he said. “Connor died in 1898, and by that time, he had become a successful business owner in the colony.

His funeral was officiated by Bishop Matthew Gibney who concluded with the following words, which I ask you all to keep in mind in the coming years: Be to his virtues ever kind, and to his faults a trifle blind.”

‘As a teenager I witnessed my first game of Gaelic Football at Leederville Oval in 1968’, writes Jolimont man and footy tragic David Murray. ‘An estimated crowd of 3,000 turned up. The touring Gaelic side played an Australian combined side that was the brainchild of the retired Australia rules umpire-entrepreneur and media personality Harry Beitzel. The team were named ‘The Galahs’. The Galahs were well beaten by the speed and accuracy of the Irish on the day. The Galahs found that the round ball was impossible to kick in a straight line. This brings me to the similarities of todays AFL competition where you find AFL players over the early years have adopted the same approach as the Irish by standing side on and kicking the ball in an arc – also named a banana – which has increased the accurate scoring when standing on or very near the boundary or fence. Another changed rule adopted by the AFL is the extra ten meters the fullback is allowed to use on his or her

kick out from the goal square. This kick into play allows the game to open up and be more spectacular. It was introduced in 2019. Finally the Gaelic throw up instead of the Australian bounce in the centre to start the game or or after a goal has been scored is set to be implemented by the AFL from 2023. The bounce if not perfect allows one side to have an advantage at the starting point of the game if the ball has to be retrieved by a crooked bounce it then comes back for a throw up by the central umpire. This throw up should be executed at the very start. I find the AFL should look closely at other rules of the Gaelic game and implement them into the AFL. If done right it could make Aussie Rules faster and more spectacular. In closing the proposed date of the next series will be on Saturday 3 December 2022. A new concept to make the series even would be for both codes to use their own ball for one half of the game. That would be interesting!’

Gaelic touch could make AFL ‘faster and more spectacular’

Chief Justice

Peter Quinlan

Thomas Quinlan

Jim Stynes Memorial Shield 2022

Ifthe West Perth Football Club – aka The Falcons – can claim an Irish pedigree then it is perhaps fitting their home grounds in Joondalup has been the venue for the Jim Stynes Memorial Shield for some years now, including on a beautiful day on Sunday 9th October.

The final results were girls winners Piara Waters with runner up Carine and boys winners Marist and runners up Junior Academy. Catalpa Rockingham GAA also took part in the annual event, organised by the Gaelic Games Junior Academy of WA. Congratulations to the organisers and everyone involved for another great event involving the Irish and Australian sporting communities.

Jim Stynes Memorial Cup

An Irish antidote to An Australian anecdote

Anthony Albanese’s jobs and skills summit in early September attracted a lot of heavy-weight political figures and media interest across Australia. But there was also a little bit of spoofing about events and developments at the high profile event involving, as it happens, Western Australia and Ireland. Participants had a lot on their plate at the jam-packed two day talk fest in Canberra, which was organised, as we saw in the last edition of Irish Scene,by senior Aussie politician Brendan O’Connor, pictured, whose mum and dad Michael and Philomena O’Connor hail from Tralee and Thurles respectively.

What at first glance looked like quite an interesting story emerged at the jobs pow-wow.

A speech given to at least some of the delegates at the event by a respected economic commentator contained this anecdote: “Around the time our prime minister [Anthony Albanese] was in Fiji talking about recruiting nurses, Western Australia’s premier [Mark McGowan] was trying to recruit nurses in Ireland. The premier sought a meeting with the Irish minister for Health – unsuccessfully, because the minister was in Perth recruiting nurses.”

BY LLOYD GORMAN

The apparently eminent speaker was correct when he said Prime Minister Albanese had been in Fiji. As anyone who read the last edition of Irish Scene will know, he was also right when he said Premier Mark McGowan was in Ireland trying to recruit skilled Irish workers to come to WA, including nurses. But the claim Mr McGowan failed to secure a meeting with the Irish Health Minister Stephen Donnelly – during his trip to Ireland and couldn’t – because Mr Donnelly was in Perth trying to poach nurses back to Ireland is, as they say in Australia, a Furphy, a tall tale, a fable. It sounds like the kind of thing that might have made its way into an otherwise dry speech to be entertaining and to go down well with a largely eastern states audience who couldn’t have known any different or better. But to an observer in Perth it seemed suspicously unlikely that Minister Donnelly – or any member of the Irish government –could have come to town, been out and about trying to pinch local nurses for the Irish health care

sector and to have done all this with the stealth of a ninja. Hard proof – indeed any evidence at all – could not be found to support the claim when I went looking for it. We had been in Ireland ourselves for the whole month of July so there was a small chance in our absence we had missed the Winister’s outing to the west Coast, but if we had missed him, then so too had every other member of the Irish community I asked about it.

Irish Scene went straight to the source of the statement to try and find out more, but didn’t even get a response to our email. Mr McGowan was at the jobs summit but presumably didn’t hear this particular bit of bluff, which he might have been able to nip in the bud at the time if he had. But his office debunked the suggestion the Premier had requested an interview with Health Minister Donnelly. Likewise, Mr Donnelly’s office in Dublin dismissed it out of hand. “Minister Donnelly has not been in Perth, or any part of Australia, since he was appointed Minister for Health in June 2020,” a spokesperson said.

Could it be – and this is a long shotsomebody over East got wind that a member of the Irish parliament was in Perth and got their Irish names badly mixed up? As featured in the September/October edition of Irish Scene Mary started a nationwide tour of Australia in Perth in July and even addressed Irish people living and working including nurses presumably – to think

about coming back to Ireland, which McDonald said was on a path to uniting the country, North and South. Is it possible that someone confused the name Donnelly with McDonald and botched the rest of the details?

Now, none of this will make a blind bit of difference to the average person. But it is a matter of some importance and a rare opportunity for the local Irish community when a government minister visits this far flung part of the world, something which typically happens around St. Patrick’s Day. Flagrant falsehoods launched from a high profile government platform need to be shot down. If they go unchallenged they can cause confusion with the potential to damage the reputation of the Irish community. No sooner had the big fat fib been expressed than it was picked up social media by another industry commentator. Interestingly it seems to be the case that the only bit of the speech that hit a chord was the lie. About a month later it was repeated again by somebody else on social media who was commenting on a story about posting about a record number of nurses quitting the NHS. “WA Premier @ MarkMcGowanMP was in Ireland trying to recruit nurses while Irish Health Minister was in Perth recruiting ours,” the posted message said. “You can’t make this shit up. Planning not piracy please.” Sorry to burst your bubble but that’s exactly what happened in this situation.

Mark McGowan in downtown Dublin.

Health minister Stephen Donnelly has never been to Australia

Perth remains popular with young Irish doctors

Around the same time the last edition of Irish Scene – with the feature All Pain No Gain: Painful path leads to Perth for hundreds of Irish doctors – there were two interesting related matters in the local media. According to an item on the Rumour File on 6PR in early September 48 out of a class of 51 new Irish doctors would soon be making their way to Perth and would be here by now.

A piece with the headline ‘Fly-in Fly-out docs’ in the West Australian on September 10 said the WA health system was being propped up by an influx of ‘foreign doctors’. WA accounted for one-quarter of all foreign doctors that entered Australia on temporary work visas during the pandemic. Some 1010 medical officers from Ireland – junior doctors who gain clinical experience in public hospitals – came to WA on skilled worker visas in the three years to June 2022. Only Queensland – with a population twice that of WA – brought in more of them (1400 out of the total of 4100).

Australian Medical Association WA president Mark Duncan-Smith said Perth’s universities produced about 350 medical graduates each year but that ‘the state had traditionally relied on Irish doctors on short-term visas to complement that cohort’.

The AMA boss blamed the McGowan government for what he called the hollowing out of the public health system here and leaving it unprepared and short staffed for when COVID hit.

Health minister Amber Jade Sanderson responded by saying that the fact one-quarter of all resident medical officers brought in during the pandemic came West was an example of how “successful” the government had been in attracting the “scarce resource”.

The issue is still very much in the news back in Ireland, a debate that is closely watched by Irish medics here.

“It used to be that it was a right of passage for people after their intern year working as a doctor here would go abroad to Australia and New Zealand and they would come back here and complete their training and build a life here in Ireland,” said Aisling Finnegan, a junior doctor who took part in the RTE One current affairs programme Monday Night Live Show on October 11. “But I think at the moment the problem is there is much more of an incentive to stay in those countries now because if you line up the pros and the benefits on paper, it doesn’t make any sense to stay. The people who move have much better work life balance and there is a much better attitude towards health care and the people who work in it, it is adequately staffed, it is adequately funded and there are much better resources.”

Sorcha Lynch tweeted a clip of the show, withe comment: “Adding to the 1000’s of reasons to love working in Perth—Irish NCHDs [Non-consultant hospital doctor] (many who never saw a cent of the Pandemic Bonus) along with all staff received an extra $3000 in their paycheck today as compensation for rising cost of living”.

A few days later and it was being debated again, this time on RTE’s flagship current affairs show Prime Time. The programme included the input of a junior doctor who featured in the doctors story in the previous Irish Scene. Padraig Donovan had called into

Junior Irish doctors on Cottlesloe Beach Christmas Day 2019.

Joe Duffy’s Liveline talkback programme in early August, not long after coming to Australia to work as a medic. One of the stories he told about his experience as a young doctor in Ireland and now in Australia was that he had just done an induction course at a hospital with 13 other doctors who were starting there. Twelve of the fourteen doctors were Irish he said, the other two were Australian. At the time Duffy said the caller was from Sydney but it appears now Dr Donovan was speaking from Perth. The young medic told the show that he was contracted to work 39 hours a week in an Irish hospital but routinely did 80 to 85 hours a week. He repeated his experiences at home in Ireland, and here in Western Australia.

“I don’t know how I’d go back to the HSE – and kind of be treated like dirt, essentially,” Dr Donovan said. “I’ve actually only been working 37 hour long weeks so far, so I’ve been working three long days, about 13 hours each, and then I’m off for four days. So it’s fantastic, it’s great. I think I was working in my last job, somewhere between 65 and like 80 hours a week, maybe!

So I worked...between half six and seven in the morning until like, could be eight or nine at night, Monday through Friday and then I’d have plus or minus a 24-hour shift on Saturday mornings and then I’d be back in Monday for, kind of, the same. So that was my big issue and as well, the pay wasn’t as brilliant as it is here. I ended up working, like, essentially, 19 calendar days in a row which got me feeling particularly low. I was just really upset, it was actually...it was just horrific. Obviously I started making, you know like, really silly, silly

mistakes, thank God no one came to harm but at the same time, someone definitely could have. It was feeling really down, and just being really demoralised by the whole situation. Everything was a fight and it was like I’m fighting these nameless people, and this nameless system and its just making me sad and I was like, I just don’t want to have to do this every day.”

The news programme said his experiences were not unique and Irish doctors were following in his footsteps in “increasing numbers... and there are concerns over whether hospitals will have the staff to treat patients this winter,” it warned.

His testimony struck a chord with another ‘local’ Irish medic. “Catching up on this from Perth, where I’m one of 90 Irish doctors who started in my hospital in Sep & work 40h/ week,” tweeted Sinéad Flynn. “In March I was an intern @HSELive and was hoping I’d catch Covid during my rostered 17 days in a row so I would actually get a break from work. #StandingUp4NCHDs.”

Fresh bid to lure Dublin doctors and nurses to Australia

Doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers in Dublin are the target of a new recruitment campaign being run by the Victorian state government. Large billboard posters positioned around the Mater Hospital in the capital are no doubt intended to appeal to hard working medics on their way to work or home from work after another tough day at the coal face of the Irish health system. As well as having relaxed looking personnel and the

kitty to try and get some 2,000 nurses abroad to work for his government. Nurses in WA – who recently went onto an industrial footing to get better being targeted by the campaign, which reminds them there is a nurse to patient ration (of about one to four) in the Eastern

Ireland has neither that kind of clout or workplace standards to offer. Stephen Donnelly the Irish Minister for Health – whose whereabouts we have established did not include Australia – was asked by Prime Time presenter Miriam O’Callaghan what he was going to do to try and encourage junior doctors to stay in the Irish healthcare system. “The first thing I want to do is listen to the NCHD’s themselves and respond to what they want, so that’s what we are doing. We’ve allocated a million Euro so far and there will be more to improve conditions in the hospitals, simple things, like somewhere to lock the bikes, somewhere to put your wallet, somewhere to hang your coat, the ability to get food and water at night, if you are doing an overnight shift.”

Dr Niamh Humphries – a senior lecturer in the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland Graduate School of Healthcare Management – who featured in the last edition as well had something to say about the competing Victorian and Irish governments approaches. “Victoria/Aus are working hard to recruit health workers from Ireland with billboards close to major hospitals,” she tweeted on October 11. “Ireland needs to get *much* better at health worker retention (and quickly!) #DrRetention.”

Royal Flying Doctor

BY LLOYD GORMAN

This Royal Flying Doctor found his wings in Dublin

As a 19 year old visiting Ireland Dr Tim Driscoll – known to some in the Royal Flying Doctor Service as ‘The accidental psychologist’ – got his start in the mental health sector by chance.

“I’d been working on a cattle farm in the United States, then I went to Ireland and there was a job going in a psychiatric hospital as a nurses aid,” he said. “The job was between a butcher and someone who chased cows, so they went for me.”

Tim lived in Ireland for just over a year around 2002-2003 when he got the job at St. Vincent’s Hospital, Fairview, Dublin, a public voluntary psychiatric facility founded in 1857. While travelling outside of Australia Tim took the opportunity to explore his family’s Irish roots. “The Driscoll name is from County Cork, but I have a mixed heritage,” he told Irish Scene. “My great grandparents were Irish on my grandfather’s side, but moved to Leeds in England before he was born. He came out to Australia as an orphan when he was eight years old and didn’t have any contact with his family...until he was in his eighties when he met his half-sister, so I don’t know much about the history. I always wanted to visit Ireland and felt very at home there. I had a fantastic time in Ireland and did manage to explore most of it; it is very much a favourite place, and I have very fond memories of it.”

Dr Driscoll is a born and bred Sandgroper. “I grew up on Warradong Springs, which is between Dongara and Mingenew in the MidWest; it is a sheep and cattle property with a bit of cropping on about five thousand acres. It not far from the coast and you can

see the ocean from parts of the property.” Having discovered his calling in life in Ireland he returned to Australia, studied psychology and has worked hard ever since to improve the mental health needs of Australians, particularly those in remote and outback communities out of reach of traditional clinics. Today he is RFDS (Queensland Section) Manager Central West and Outback Mental Health, Nursing and Clinical Services. The section he leads has been providing mental health services to rural communities for 26 years and in the last financial year alone saw more than 12,000 consultations.

Tim has seen programs expand dramatically during his time with the service and a major shift in society’s attitudes towards his field of expertise. “When we first put on our mental health clinics, we were shocked at just how quickly those services were accessed by the community,” he said. “We were thinking we’d have some quiet clinics, but they filled up really, really quickly. We’ve seen some quite prominent people such as celebrities and sports people talking about their mental health concerns and that’s really opened up the conversation within the community. If people are open to talking about it, then we can get people help. It’s a common thing but a lot of it still goes untreated. So, the more we have that conversation, the more we’re going to be able to deliver our service and really improve people’s lives,” he said.

A version of this story ‘The accidental psychologist’ was first published on the RDFS website in August 2021. Irish Scene contacted Dr Driscoll for additional information.

Gardai fit The Bill as ready to go cops!

Once again members of An Garda Siochana are being targeted by the Western Australia Police Force to join their ranks.

On October 15 October, Police Minister Paul Papalia and Police Commissioner Col Blanch launched the force’s international campaign aimed at existing serving officers in very specific countries.

“Every State in Australia is currently trying to get Labour Agreements signed off to allow for overseas recruitment in a range of sectors, including police,” said Mr Papalia.

“The McGowan Government securing the first of such an agreement gives our State a strong head start to attract the best possible police candidates from the United Kingdom, Ireland and New Zealand. WA is a great place to live and our Western Australian Police Force is a fantastic place to work. Whether you are young and single or have a family, to those overseas officers applying to come and work here in the WA sunshine, you will not regret the move.” Their potential boss Commissioner Blanch said; “Policing styles in the UK, Ireland and New Zealand are quite compatible with ours, and transition programs have previously worked in our favour. My message to officers working in New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Ireland is simple. We want skilled, experienced constables to work on the frontline to help us cover the biggest policing jurisdiction in the world.”

Specifically, they are after Gardai with three years experience, between the ages of 18 and 55, who have a valid driving licence and

BY LLOYD GORMAN

who are not bankrupt! Once accepted they just need to undertake a 13-week transition training course (compared with the normal 28 weeks course) at the WA Police Academy in Joondalup.

Over the next five years these ‘transitional international officers’ can be recruited under the Employer Nominated Scheme (subclass 186) visa, which enables their transition into the WA Police Force and places them on a pathway to citizenship.

It will be interesting to see how the campaign is rolled out in Ireland. Apparently, advertising will be used to try and hook their interest but will there more specific and targeted ways local Gardai will be head-hunted? The online promotional video created for the new campaign only uses existing officers who hail from the UK! Only applicants from these three jurisdictions will be allowed to enter into Australia on this programme and it is worth remembering WA police are the only service in Australia that recognises Garda experience as being “compatible”.

An election promise made by the McGowan government in the run up to the last state election was that it would put an extra 950 cops on the beat. An ambitious target at the best of times, the impact of COVID and the tight squeeze on the labour market has made that even more difficult to achieve.

Just one day after it launched the international search for Irish, UK and

Kiwi cops, the annual open day at the police academy in Joondalup saw thousands of people wander in for a gander around the training facility. Some 120 people applied to sign up on the spot while another 500 filled out ‘expressions of interest’ to join.

On the face of it that is a promising recruitment drive, but many will not follow through, and others will not be suitable. Only a small percentage will filter all the way through the system. “I think we are still looking to recruit another five to six hundred over the next couple of years, it’s a lot of police, that’s why we have gone international, to the UK, to Ireland and to New Zealand,” Commissioner Blanche told ABC 720 Perth radio a few days after the event.

As Peter Conole’s many columns in Irish Scene – and his book ‘Irish lives in the Western Australia Police’– have shown there is a long and colourful tradition of Irish men (and later women) entering the West Australian police force in the former Swan River Colony and later modern-day state.

Ten years ago, in October the Irish Times published an article under the headline: “Scores of Irish police leaving to sign up in Australian police forces”. The main section of the story concerned former Dublin Garda Peter Crosbie who emigrated here. He met his wife Janey on a backpacking trip in 2003 and the couple planned to move to Australia and settle here. They made the move to WA in December 2011. “The Western Australian Police have a walkin recruitment centre in Joondalup in Perth, which is their equivalent of Templemore,” Crosbie told the Irish Times. “I explained I was an ex-garda, and they were very enthusiastic. They know members of the Garda Síochána are well trained,” he said. “I resigned from my career break with the Garda and signed up for a three-month transitional course to join the force here, which I’m halfway through now.I have met at least 20 ex-gardaí working out here in Perth so far who have left the force and emigrated to Australia. Some of them are senior sergeants, from Clondalkin, Crumlin and Tallaght, and they

are all doing very well for themselves.”

About twenty years ago WA police actively went after Irish police on their home turf. Not long after his appointment as WA’s police commissioner in 2004, Karl O’Callaghan made a beeline to Ireland with the intention of meeting and recruiting established Gardai to come and work for him. This opened the doors to successive campaigns, but only Mr O’Callaghan – who retired as WA’s top cop in 2017 – has made a head-hunting trip to Ireland.

By 2013 international recruits accounted for almost 10% of the WA police force, but it was not a perfect solution to the problem. In 2016 Commissioner O’Callaghan gave evidence to a WA parliamentary committee with the heading ‘An investigation for the measures WA police has in place to evaluate management of Personnel’. The police chief admitted there were problems with the Direct Entry Accelerated Training Program. The main issue was that the international recruits were more costly because their starting salary was determined by their level of experience and as such they were paid better than their Australian colleagues who they trained and qualified with. He made the point too that these overseas cops were “ill equipped to work in remote locations”.

The parliamentary committee came to the conclusion that: “Perhaps if WA Police had put as much effort into recruiting culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and Aboriginal applicants as it put into its international recruitment program, the diversity of the agency would now be more substantial.”

Garda Down Under

Between 2005 and 2015, thirty Gardai packed in their jobs in ‘recession hit’ Ireland and packed their bags for Western Australia, according to the producers of Garda Down Under. The then (2014/15) newly commissioned RTE six-part series came to Western Australia to follow the story of seven of those thirty ex-Gardai taking on the challenge of different

roles in ‘the world’s biggest police district’ (30 times the size of Ireland).

“Far from home – and away from extended family networks – we discover what life is like for the Irish ‘transitional officers’, as they get to grips with their new work and lifestyle,” the promo for the programme said. “We also get to see how their partners adapt to life on the other side of the world. From the urban sophistication of Perth to Kununurra, a place so remote police officers do everything from taking forensic evidence to acting as temporary paramedics, it’s a major culture shock for our ex-Gardaí. Set against a backdrop of glorious sunshine and breathtaking beaches, the sheer vastness of the benign looking but harsh landscape can be one of the greatest hindrances in solving crime. With unique and exclusive access to their crime fighting units, this series, narrated by Kathryn Thomas, exposes the danger of crime fighting in a foreign land for many Irish men and women.”

Encore Media said it was a first for Irish television and a dozen or more similar series following the experiences of Irish people abroad followed it. Originally made for the Irish market Australia’s Nine Network also screened it, apparently the first time a major network in Australia acquired Irish content, according to the producers.

Garda Back Over

If living in Australia has somehow made you nostalgic for the kind of interaction you can only get from a Garda, you might want to check out a TV show which aired on 9 Rush (on Free to Air TV) on Wednesday nights during October and might pop up on your goggle box again.

Filmed in 2018 Border Interceptors follows the officers and officials – mainly Garda – who ‘protect Ireland’s borders’ at Irish airports, sea

ports and the nearly 500 km long land-border with Northern Ireland. As you’d expect of a TV show where they know their every move is being filmed these men and women all come across very professionally. But the scenes involving a garda – who obviously doesn’t suffer fools gladly – checking passports at Dublin airport was particularly good fun to watch and it was nice to hear all the different accents and familiar expressions from home.

Before cop shows there was Garda Patrol

Police shows might be commonplace and popular now but that wasn’t always the case. One of the first – and most successful – programmes in this particular format appeared on early Irish TV. Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), the national broadcaster began regular television broadcasts on December 31 1961. Three years later on October 28, 1964, the station broadcast the first episode of ‘Garda Patrol’. For the 21st anniversary of that transmission Sergeant Tommy Burns reminded

Before Fr. Ted Dermott Morgan dressed up as a Gardai.

.viewers of what the show was all about. “The original objectives of our programme were, and still are, firstly to offer advice on how to defeat the criminal and outsmart him in his efforts and secondly to seek your help in bringing offenders to justice,” he said.

The then Director General of RTÉ Vincent Finn was interviewed for the anniversary show. “It’s not often in television that any programme is able to mark its 21st anniversary,” the DG said. The weekly crime show was watched by 800,000 people – ratings modern day Irish television producers can only dream of. Mr Finn was asked if it was a unique programme and relationship between the state broadcaster and the national police force. “Certainly, it was when it started and for many years after that,” he replied. “On other channels in the UK and elsewhere something similar is done now but I think we can claim credit for being a first in this particular field.” As well as having a big audience, the RTÉ boss

believed it had a massive impact and helped to catch criminals and keep people safe. “Compared with many other countries, ours is still a relatively peaceful place, where the quality of life is good,” Mr Finn said. “It’s our intention with your help to keep it that way.”

Anyone who grew up in Ireland will remember watching episodes of the 15 minute long Garda Patrol. It was hard not to watch it and it gained a cult like status. Comic genius Dermot Morgan – who enjoyed poking fun at authority figures – did a sketch about the very Irish police programme long before his Fr. Ted days. Garda Patrol is no more, it was replaced in the 1990’s by Crimecall, a monthly hour long live TV programme shown on RTÉ and presented by the glamorous Sharon Ní Bheoláin (alas, no more moustached middle aged Gardai in the hot seat). It features dramatic reconstructions of major crimes, CCTV footage of real criminal activity, and public appeals for information concerning live investigations. The programme would also “go on patrol” with various units of An Garda Síochána.

The real Garda Patrol in 1985.

Sharon Ní Bheoláin.

A Christmas Story

A Christmas Miracle in Brooklyn

Itwas a snowy Christmas that year but it seemed like the whole parish attended Midnight Mass in spite of the weather. After the Mass it was Christmas so the after the ceremony Father De Luca, or Father Pete as they used to call him carried the plastered replica of the baby Jesus and placed him in the crib between Mary and Joseph outside in front of the church in a snow covered crib made by one of the local parishioners. However Christmas Day, Jesus was missing from the crib. Word went out. Every Catholic in the parish swore vengeance on the kidnappers. Prayers were said for His return. Candles burned twenty four seven. One woman forgot to out her candle as she left the house. It lit the curtains and the house caught fire. A man thought he saw someone carrying Jesus down the street in his arms so he stopped him, slapped him around only to find it was a doll the man had bought for his kid for Christmas. Unstable people on their knees prayed at the stable outside the church. A mass was said for His return. The local precinct brought in those who had been convicted of kidnapping. Mothers watched their children that Christmas like hawks. Fathers were ordered by their wives to go out and find Him! “But this is Christmas” the husbands pleaded. But the wives stood firm. “How can you celebrate Christmas

BY NOEL O’NEILL

knowing Jesus has been kidnapped?”. The crib outside the church was showered with flowers and more candles. Yet even more prayers were said for this plastered image of the new-born Jesus. Somebody offered a reward of one hundred dollars for His return. Finally the Mafia got involved as they do when it comes to a crime against their religion (because, we know how religious they are...they kidnap and murder people religiously). They put the word out: “We just want youse to know that we had nothin’ to do with this, however we do know who you are and if Jesus is not returned to his crib in twenty four hours we will find you and God help you...P.S. Do you have any idea what his mother is going through right now?.” Miraculously Jesus was returned. Father Pete gave a sermon on how miracles do happen and the parish finally celebrated Christmas.

The Gig Economy

In the name of the Father

A gig at Lyric’s Underground, Maylands on December 4 is shaping up to be a particularly special one for local museo Gavin Healy. Gavin –one of the Healy Brothers – has not been able to play for some time now due to a shoulder injury and this will be his first solo show in quite a while. But the occasion is significant for another good reason. We all have songs that remind us of loved ones and he will be launching a new single ‘Moment’, written about his father. “It really is the moment where my dad died,” Gavin told Irish Scene. “So it brings me straight back to his final moments. We were very fortunate to be in the room with him, Mum, my brothers and my sister. And we happened to be just sitting around playing some songs for him and it literally just happened then, we could see his breathing change. We all just gathered around him and held his hand. He hadn’t opened his eyes in a day or two, but he literally opened up his eyes and looked at each one of us, then looked up towards the top lefthand corner of the room. And that was it. His last breath. That moment has played for me over and over. And I guess this song just pretty much flowed out of me. Ethereal yet tender, Moment is a very personal song that will strike at the heart of anyone who last lost a dearly loved family member as a consequence of cancer.”

Gavin said the family sang two songs by his bedside, ‘Drive by The Cars’ and ‘The End of the Line’ by The Travelling Wilburys. “There are references in Moment to both,” he added. The song started out as a way to help express his grief and emotions and Gavin said he initially had no intention of performing it to an audience but it gathered an energy and direction of its own. “Dad’s always been about music,” he reflected. “He was a gigger and one of the last things he said to me was, ‘don’t stop playing and don’t stop writing’. I feel like in the back of my head, I’ve got him going, ‘come on, do something’. I’m getting the whole family

involved “So there’ll be me fronting it but I’ve got The Healy Family Band playing - I’ve got my brothers joining me, my sister, my sons, my nephews, my niece. Everyone’s gonna be involved in that way and I think Dad would have loved that.”

The last few years have been tough he admits but he wants the show to be a proper celebration. “Most importantly, I want it to be a good time,” he added. “I’m just wrapped to be able to do it and I feel like if I don’t do it now, I never will. So it’s gonna be a great night.”

Fiona Rea and Cormac Healy will be special guests and The Healy Family Band will also make an appearance.

Tickets via oztix.com.au, doors open 5pm.

The Gig Economy

Brothers in arms

Irish folk and trad museo Ciaran O’Sullivan, another veteran of Perth’s live music circuit, recently launched a new record of his own. In what was an amazing night [that reminded me so much of similar musical events in Whelans in Wexford St, Dublin] Ciaran – and his band – introduced his debut solo album ‘Hero’ to a full house in a great venue, the Ellington Jazz Club in Northbridge, on October 13. The range and variety of tracks from the album they performed was refreshing, stunning, moving and engaging – and all sung evocatively. In all the stories and histories conjured up by the songs he sang Ciaran also revealed a heartfelt story of love and loss and its influence over him creatively. Ciaran lost his brother Barry to diabetes and told the audience that he was a big part of his music and inspiration. For the first time he also revealed the new poster for the album – created with Perth based Irish artist David Rooney – that incorporates a picture of the two brothers heading off to play football on the pitch beside their house in Ireland. He has also written another song which looks

likely to be released in March 2023, with all the proceeds going to help tackle diabetes in the Aboriginal community, a story we will revisit in the near future. Colin Smiley was MC on the night and the support act –Chris McMullan from Co. Tyrone on uilleann pipes and whistle and Chris MacDonald from Inverness, Scotland, on guitar (jokingly calling themselves the Corolla Cruisers for the occasion) were a superb warm up act for the main show. Everyone on the stage that night gave an appreciative audience something to remember.

It’d be a sin to miss these Sunday sessions

As well as a vibrant homegrown live music scene we can now look forward to visiting international acts – including a few from Ireland – coming to Western Australia with the almost total relaxation of travel and other COVID restrictions. At the top of the (chronological) queue is the excellent Hermitage Green acoustic folk and rock who are performing at one of Perth’s top music venues, Badlands in Aberdeen Street on Sunday 6th November for their final Aussie tour gig. These guys play with a rawness and energy that is best experienced in the flesh so don’t waste this opportunity. Next up is Gary Og who has been touring professionally now for 25 years – including Australia –and always delivers a great show. Originally from the Gorbals area

in Glasgow, Scotland Og grew up and developed his craft in a strongly Irish immigrant community and carries all that history and heritage into his craft. You can catch him at Lynott’s Lounge at Johnny Fox’s Irish pub in Northbridge on Sunday 20th November.

A week later on November 27 and back at Badlands are Dublin rock band The Coronas who will celebrate 20 years together as an outfit next year. Perth always figures on their Australian tours and they have a strong and loyal local following – for very good reason.

from Gary Gray

AUSTRALIA’S

Stay up to date with what’s happening in the Australian Embassy, Ireland by following:

IN IRELAND

@AusEmbIre

Celebrating Pride 2022 outside the Embassy on St Stephens Green.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Australian Ambassador in Ireland

This time of year always a great opportunity to reflect on the seasons which have passed through the course of the calendar year. As we reflect on the work undertaken by the Embassy in Ireland I think of many activities which have helped to foster links which celebrate our shared history and values.

In March we supported the Dublin Film Festival with Australians in Ireland to see the Irish Premiere of the Australian filmed, directed and produced movie, ‘the Drovers Wife’. Culture is the bedrock of shared identities and it was a privilege to be involved in this cross-community project, the second cultural event we supported in the first thee months of the calendar year. Later in June, the Embassy celebrated PRIDE month by attending PRIDE events in Dublin and supporting the ‘Diplomats for Diversity’ initiative. For the day itself we ensured the strongest message possible by creating colourful t-shirts for all of our staff and splashing PRIDE colours across our social media platforms. The Summer was busy with attendance at key GAA sporting events across Ireland including the Senior GAA Football and Hurling Finals in Croke Park.

In August, we celebrated the return home of a Victoria Cross awarded to Martin O’Meara – a Tipperary native from Lorrha who fought with ANZAC Forces at the Somme. During that fight O’Meara was described by his commanding officer as ‘the most fearless and gallant solider I have ever seen.’ He was credited with having saved the lives of over twentyfive wounded men by carrying them in from No Man’s Land ‘under conditions that are indescribable.’ The loan of his Victoria Cross to Ireland is no small gesture and represents the first time ever an Australian Government owned Victoria Cross has left Australia. Australia’s Protection of Moveable Cultural Heritage Act 1986 dictated that a Victoria Cross medal could not be exported from Australia for any length of time

AMBASSADOR

@ausembire Australian Embassy, Ireland

or for any purpose. The Act was amended in late 2018 to allow the loan of Sergeant O’Meara’s medal to Ireland – a symbolic mark of the deep and enduring relationship between our two countries.

These links are displayed through a number of expressions. For example this year in Waterford, Australian artist Sophie Odling visited Ireland to participate in the ‘Waterford Walls’ initiative, where public buildings, businesses and residential properties sign up to have their building used as canvas for local and international graffiti and visual artists. The Embassy helped organise sponsorship and support for Sophie to come over and contribute to Waterford’s stunning visual landscape.

As this magazine goes to print, we are looking forward to welcoming the Wallabies to Ireland in November, as part of a series of test matches around Europe. This will be an impressive cultural occasion and we are working closely with Rugby Australia to ensure the trip is as successful as possible.

Amid all of this local activity, we are of course operating within the context of broader European challenges with the war in Ukraine and energy shortages. At the Embassy, we fly the Ukrainian flag proudly outside the office on St. Stephen’s Green. It flies alongside the Australian National Flag and acts as a symbol of Australia’s complete dedication to the people of Ukraine. Whilst the gathering of contributions by the Embassy to support those displaced and fighting in Ukraine have been relatively small - we are grateful to businesses like Harvey Norman, Glen Dimplex and Chemist Warehouse who operate in both Ireland and Australia and rose to the challenge when I put the ‘call out’ for necessary supplies.

We are also proud to inform our friends in Ireland of Australia’s contribution to the war in Ukraine. The Australian government has so far spent about 500 million Australian dollars (€320 million) including 388 million Australian dollars ($248 million) in military assistance to Ukraine and has recently announced talks with President Zelensky to provide further support in the form of training for the Ukrainian Army. For Ireland’s part, it has contributed €55 million worth of military aid to Ukraine since the Russia invasion seven

Getting up close with the horses at the Royal Dublin Society Dublin Horse Show.

Enjoying the hurling at Croke Park (above). Embassy Dog Ted and I bump into an Taoiseach Michael Martin whilst at the West Cork History Festival.

months ago. As a neutral country, Ireland’s contribution has been more humanitarian in contrast to Australia’s largely military and training contribution. There are now over 50,000 Ukrainian refugees in Ireland – a large number given Ireland’s small population. The shared endeavour of like-minded democratic nations to support Ukraine highlights important links we share and the need to support democracies in the face of growing authoritarian threats worldwide.

2022 has given everyone in Ireland a degree of respite as the economy re-opened and travel restrictions diminished following the roll out of COVID-19 vaccines. Ireland is such a sociable place, and it’s wonderful to see the country able to re-engage in their local haunts and get back to a relatively normal rhythm of life. As we approach the festive season it is with great relief that people will be able to meet with friends and family to enjoy occasions together once again.

An

Acknowledging

Writing in the condolences book at the Embassy following the passing of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth.

ON THE BEHALF OF PIPPA, MYSELF AND TED THE EMBASSY DOG - WE WISH YOU AND YOUR FAMILY A VERY HAPPY, SAFE AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The Hon Gary Gray AO Australian Ambassador to Ireland

Australian artist Sophie Odling’s beautiful contribution to Waterford Walls (above).

event supporting my diplomatic colleague, the Ukranian Ambassador to Ireland.

Chemist Warehouse who sponsored an Australian themed wall art commission in Dublin.

Ambassador of Ireland’s Christmas message

In many ways, we carry with us the Christmas of our childhood. And I reckon in many households Christmas sees the emergence of dishes or decorations or cushions or candles or other paraphernalia that brings us back to a different time and often to a different place. In some cases it is the annual double edition of the RTE Guide that makes Christmas Christmas.

So for sure, Christmas is a time of looking back and for connecting. Dylan Thomas is fondly remembered for his evocation of a Child’s Christmas in Wales and his cataloguing of the Useful and Useless presents. Naturally the Useless ones were more coveted and comprised:

Bags of moist and many-colored jelly babies and a folded flag and a false nose and a tramconductor’s cap and a machine that punched tickets and rang a bell; never a catapult; once, by a mistake that no one could explain, a little hatchet; and a celluloid duck that made, when you pressed it, a most unducklike sound, a mewing moo that an ambitious cat might make who wished to be a cow; and a painting book in which I could make the grass, the trees, the sea and the animals any colour I please, and still the dazzling sky-blue sheep are grazing in the red field under the rainbow-billed and pea-green birds. For Patrick Kavanagh it was a bit more elegiac. His poem, A Christmas Childhood, reportedly composed while passing a solitary Christmas in Dublin in the 1940s is deeply nostalgic for his rural Monaghan childhood and the early years of the 20th century:

Outside in the cow-house my mother

Made the music of milking; The light of her stable-lamp was a star And the frost of Bethlehem made it twinkle.

A water-hen screeched in the bog, Mass-going feet

Crunched the wafer-ice on the pot-holes, Somebody wistfully twisted the bellows wheel.

Coming more up to date, and only slightly less poetic have been the lyrics of a Fairytale of New York, by now a well-established Christmas relic in its own right. At its most optimistic, it recalls that:

The boys of the NYPD choir Were singing Galway Bay And the bells were ringing out For Christmas day.

For Shane MacGowan in 1988, and for many readers of this magazine in 2022, Christmas is being celebrated far from home and this can heighten the sentiment. This year, more than sentiment is heightened with airfares from Western Australia and elsewhere also reaching the stratosphere. Coming on the back of COVID restrictions, I hope that it is not too much of an impediment to Christmas travel and that those who wish to travel to Ireland for the season will be able to do so.

For those who are remaining in Australia, I hope that the relics from Christmas past, in whatever form, brings you comfort for Christmas and maintains your tangible connection to the real Christmas. Wherever you spend Christmas, I wish you a time of joy and peace and I hope that we all face into 2023 with renewed vigour, determination and optimism.

Let me also not let pass the opportunity to thank everyone in WA who has contributed to the wellbeing of the Irish community during this past year. Whether this is through organising events, supporting others or delivering services, it is fantastic to have such an active community out West. And a particular word of thanks to our Honorary Consul in Perth, Marty Kavanagh who is indefatigable in responding to the needs of Irish people across the state. Now where did I leave that Reindeer Jumper…?

TIM MAWE AMBASSADORE OF IRELAND

Here’s the Scór!

Scór – the GAA competition combining all the colour and rivalry of Gaelic Games with the social and fun element of Ireland’s traditional past-times – is returning to the Irish Club, Subiaco on December 4, after its inaugural event last year. Scór was established by the GAA in 1969 with the aim of promoting these pasttimes and culture while offering club members the chance to meet up, have fun and represent their club during the winter months while Football and Hurling had ceased.

The Scór competition covers all aspects of Irish culture, such as figure/ Céilí/set dancing, singing as well as Recitation/Scéalaíocht and instrumental performances. Singers, dancers, musicians and members of the Irish community are encouraged to take part. Scór convenor David Dillion can be contacted at 0418918160 or davidadillon@hotmail.com or more information and updates on the Scór facebook page.

Join hundreds of business owners and corporate guests in 2023 to celebrate the past, present and future of Ireland while building relationships and finding new opportunities at our flagship event, the Perth St Patrick's Corporate Lunch. Bookings via our website.

Let’s

start off with some good news by looking at the Irish Rugby team’s achievement to date and the amazing results so far this year. Beating Scotland in Aviva stadium in March and winning the Triple Crown was a big boost for the team. Then followed with an even bigger challenge, after a long flight and an extended stay in the southern hemisphere for some tough games ahead of them. The challenge was, off to New Zealand to take on the might of the All Blacks and the Mauri All Blacks. Ireland had never won the series there and this was going to be a massive challenge for them, especially with several new faces added to the team. This was always going to be a series of blood sweat and fire and so it was. Ireland lost the first two games, making the task of a historical victory harder to achieve. The next three tests would see the tenacity of the true Irish spirit as they climbed their Everest and achieve the unachievable by winning the last three games, Ireland 3 New Zealand 2. This was Irelands first win over the All blacks on their home turf in 66 years. I was fortunate to have been in Ireland and New Zealand to witness both wins. To add some more spice to this Corkman’s love for rugby, Corkman Ronan O” Gara Ex, Cork Constitutions and Munster legend, coached French team La Rochelle and went on to win the Heineken- European Cup. Another triumph for Irish rugby was their emerging Irish team’s clean sheet wins in South Africa. This series was to give the young emerging players an opportunity to play International games before the next World Cup. There is even more joy coming the way of rugby fans, when Ireland face South Africa at Aviva in Dublin on Nov 5th and playing Fiji on Nov 12th.

Oops, has anyone noticed the difference lately? If not, you must still be hiding behind or under a rock from Covid-19. Gee hasn’t the world come a long way from the scary lockdown days and curfew nights. The nightmare news that was fed to us during the pandemic was, that it was either going to kill us or at least affect our health for many years into the future. The bombardment of the doom and gloom forecasting, convinced me to visit the local undertaker to prepay for a six-foot box on my demise. Then I said to myself, think outside the box son, if I’m going to go, I might as well make world headline news of my passing as I didn’t just want to be just a number that gave no credence to me ever having put a foot on this planet. What about a wake, why not? After all what Irishman would ever want to leave this planet without one last ha’ra, certainly not me anyway. If I’m going to

have a wake I might as well have one that would make a combined U2 and a Rolling Stones concert look like it was only fit for kindergarten children. The way to go boy, I kept hearing in my ears as I was getting very excited gathered all the loose change that I had hidden around the house for many years. I even found some of the old Irish currency, pounds, shillings and pence that I brought with me when I migrated in 1974 to add to the treasure chest. Yes Yes, I was going to be going out with a bang and a world record for the biggest wake ever. Then one day out of the blue, I woke up to the news that the pandemic was over and there I was weeping like a deserted bride at the altar. The excitement drained out of my body and the disappointment of the loss of my last big bash became a reality. I then realised how lucky I was, that I hadn’t sent out the invites and holy sh#t look at the damage I might have caused to all those who would have been so excited to see me in a place where the sun doesn’t shine. I was then left with only one other problem of what to do with the prepaid coffin, the undertaker insisted that I take it away or he was going to charge me for storage. Not many bright ideas came to mind immediately. A coffin is not exactly an uplifting subject to be speaking about and trying to sell at a dinner party or wedding. As its still new, I thought I might try eBay, ah, not really as it’s not an item you’d be looking for on eBay anyway. A friend said why don’t you consider putting a for sale sign on it, outside your house. That was a good idea and was working well for the first few days as I had a few enquires, all was going well until a member of the local council called to know if I had a licence to put it outside the house. I told him that I had a driving licence but not one for the coffin and I didn’t know that I needed another one for the coffin, as I was only selling it and wasn’t driving it. I didn’t quite get his drift, until he called me a silly baboon and hoped, I would be seeing my Dominica specialist soon. I then considered making an outside barbecue table for the patio, but my wife put a damper on that. Then I thought I’d sleep on it for a while, I mean the thought, not the coffin.

Waking to a beautiful sunshine morning I sat outside having breakfast facing the lake with its menagerie of feather friends that I had befriended during the many lockdowns. Then like a bolt from the heavens it hit me, I’ll convert the coffin into a boat, that way at least I can have some use of it, maybe take a few friends for a leisurely trip around the lake and later on it can be converted back for its original use when needed on my passing. If anyone has a how to convert a coffin to a small sailing boat plan shelved away for a project in the future, I would like to have a copy please, as I have run out of ideas. If I don’t hear back from anyone, I think I better chop the bloody thing up for firewood and send it on its way without me.

Now that I have visited my Dominica specialists and had the all clear lets get back to the new world as we know it. What a different world we have today with most of the hard restrictions lifted. Our lives were changed dramatically when Covid19 busted down our doors and ran rampant causing unmeasurable damage, The old saying of (after the storm there comes a calm) is ever so true now.

It’s just wonderful to see the world throw away the shackles of CovId-19, I had forgotten how good it was to greeting friends and relatives at the airports

with hugs and kisses no longer a crime. Yesterday I attended an anniversary celebration and a young couple at the next table had their ten-month-old baby with them. Just watching the mom and dad smiling at the little one in her pram and the little one’s response to them was pure gold. O how sad that we were deprived of seeing babies smile as we and they were masked up over the last two years. Hopefully a lot of those nightmares will be washed away with the Christmas spirit coming and just the thought of the seeing smiles on children’s faces when they wake up on Christmas morning to see that SANTA called this year.

On that note I wish you all a Happy and Safe Christmas and I hope 2023 will be the best year of your lives. Untill next time be good to those who love you and Slainte from Melbourne Mike Bowen.

There’s no place like home for Tuohy

to celebrate his phenomenal achievement. Thanks to Portlaoise GAA and Lilly’s Portlaoise for having us down to this special occasion.Well done again Zach, it’s clear you come from good stock in Portlaoise and we wish you all the best for the future.”

AFL Grand Final winner and Laois native Zack Tuohy was given an official homecoming by his club Portlaoise on October 20 at Lily’s Bar. The local community turned out in force and Australian Ambassador Gary Gray gave the 32 year old local sports champ a “rousing reception to honour him for his outstanding achievements.” The family friendly event included a Q&A session and presentations to Zach. “Along with his Geelong Cats teammates Zach won the coveted AFL Grand final in September on his 250th appearance with the club,” said ambassador Gray. “Portlaoise GAA Club couldn’t let that fear go unnoticed so they gave Zach a wonderful homecoming

The ambassador also caught up with another Irish sporting star recently when he met former Connacht assistant Jimmy Duffy who will soon be in Perth. Duffy,46, has been appointed as the Forwards Coach for Western Force for the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Appropriately enough they met at The Bridge 1859 in Ballsbridge, Dublin, which is owned by Irish rugby legend and former Western Force player Rob Kearney.

Mná v Matilda’s

A game against Ireland at Sydney Football Stadium on July 20 2023 marks the start of the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the host team. In what was the first international game in Irish sports after COVID the Matilda’s faced their Irish counterparts The Tigers at a friendly match at Tallaght Stadium in Dublin in September 2021, and lost (2/3) so no doubt they will be out to settle the score and this time will have home-ground advantage. The Irish ladies (Mná) will face a tough time of it for the tournament. Six days after Sydney the Irish ladies will verse Canada here in Perth on Wednesday July 26, at the Perth Rectangular Stadium (which will be the venue for five

FIFA games in total) and then again against Nigeria in Lang Park, Brisbane on Monday July 31, a gruelling itinerary by any stretch, estimated to be about 7,000 air miles. Officials form FAI International have already scouted out all three cities in late October as they make preparations for the upcoming world cup.

International Rules

The international rules – or compromise rules –series for 2022 has been moved from December 2022 to 2023 as a result in changes to the dates for the AFLW season which has impacted ground availability, the Australian Football International (AFI) has announced. No date has yet been announced but the event will be held in Melbourne according to the Australian Football International. Australia and Ireland will meet in a double-header of International Rules, with both men’s and women’s matches for the first time. The women’s game is set for midday (12 noon) to be followed by the mens game at 2pm with both games consisting of 4x20 minute quarters.

Season’s Greetings

Authorised by Jessica Stojkovski MLA, 4/923 Whitfords Ave, Woodvale WA 6026

walabor.org.au

Jessica Stojkovski Member for Kingsley

Alannah MacTiernan Member for South West

Caitlin Collins Member for Hillarys

David Michael Member for Balcatta

Stephen Dawson

Jackie Jarvis Member for South West

Alanna Clohesy Member for East Metropolitan

Margaret Quirk Member for Landsdale

family, particularly those doing it tough. On behalf of the Irish community I would like to thank all of our committee groups who add so much to community- especially the Claddagh, The Irish Club, The GAA , AIHA, soccer, Irish Dancing, Fenians Fremantle and Frank and Gerry for their wonderful radio show.

My thanks to Lynda and Yvonne at the Honorary Consulate Perth

also a big thank you to Ambassador Tim, the team and the ever helpful kind Liz at The embassy.

Guinness and good times flow at Geraldton

Greetings from the Geraldton & Midwest Irish Club. Since our last write up in the Irish Scene in March, we have been busy hosting numerous events and working on many projects in the background to continue to improve our great club. The club has decided, that in addition to our normal operating hours of Friday night 5pm to late and Sunday afternoon midday to 6pm, we will host one Saturday night ticketed event each month. This is proving to be a huge success. May’s Saturday night entertainment was our first ever Irish/Aussie Quiz night. In June, the club hosted Mandurah duo “Leather and Lace”.

In July, the club hosted Perth Irish band “The Deadly Woodbines” trio with Alan Woods, Ken Woods, and Val Cutler. Again, this was another sold out gig with the Woodbines entertaining members with a vast range of Irish songs and instrumentals from Val on the fiddle. The club and its members were extremely impressed with their performance, so we asked them

to play on for an extra hour as the dancing shoes were only just warming up. The Deadly Woodbines have been booked again by the club on Saturday 11 March 2023 to kick off St Patricks day week celebrations.

In September the club once again welcomed back the Broken Pokers who are regular visitors to the club and they again put on a great performance for our members, even staying back to have an informal tune with some of the members who also play instruments.

In other big news, July marked a milestone in the club’s history by Guinness now being served on tap. Prior to this, we have not had any keg products and have been serving Guinness and other drinks in stubbies/cans. The club responded to feedback from its

members and after some investigation and cost analysis, it was decided to implement Guinness on tap. The club is the cheapest location in Geraldton to buy a pint of Guinness at $9.50. At present we are going through at least one and a half kegs per weekends trade. Finally, the club held its Annual General Meeting on Sunday 16 October 2022. The 2022/2023 Executive Committee is as follows: President: Peter Vanderpol Vice President: Adam Wilson Secretary: Mike Kendrick Treasurer: Grace Criddle Committee Members: Simon Miller, Lynette Meehan, Kerry Vanderpol, Linley Meekin, John Regan & Naomi Kearns. The Executive Committee look forward to another busy year ahead. Some of the goals

Guinness and good times

being to continue with building upgrades/ improvements and the planning and preparation for the club to host its very own Fleadh Festival, watch this space. You can keep up to date with our events and the goings on at the Geraldton & Midwest Irish Club by following us on Facebook. Regards Simon

Miller Committee Member

The Midwest Irish Club Incorporated PO Box 346 Geraldton 6530.

Nollaig Shona Duit

A taste of home from our family to yours

The Murder Rule by Dervla McTiernan

An evening with the author, hosted by Alanna Clohessy MLC

Perth writer Dervla McTiernan was back home in Galway when she learned her new thriller The Murder Rule was the No.1 bestselling book in Australia, just a week after it was launched in early May. “We are still on tour, so we celebrated with burgers in the back of the car,” the author from Galway tweeted. A few days later she officially launched the crime novel in Dubray Books in Galway, followed quickly the next day by an event in the store’s Grafton Street shop in Dublin. Each event – indeed every event she takes part in – was a packed out success. People are as keen to hear her talk, read extracts and take part in Q&A sessions as they are to read her writing. Her books literally fly off the shelves and regularly run out of stock. She has now sold more than 525,000 copies of her four novels in Australia alone, her books are literally making her one of the best sellers in the Australia and the global book publishing world. She has also picked up a swag of gongs and accolades for her work. Dervla was in America and later in Ireland during May, June and July – and apart from testing positive to COVID and having to isolate in that time – she appears to have had a good tour of it. She has been back in Perth now for some time and there is an upcoming opportunity to see her in action – but you will need to move fast to secure a seat, if it is not already too late to get a ticket to an incredible free event. Alanna Clohessy, (the first female) president of the upper house of the WA Paraliment will host a discussion with McTiernan on Sunday 20th November at the Irish Club.

An avid reader, especially of books of an Irish interest, Alanna has been a huge fan of the writer since her first book The Ruin in 2018. She used to buy Dervla’s novels in Perth and post them back to friends in Ireland, where they weren’t readily available. It has taken some time to organise the upcoming talk, she explained to Frank Murphy on Celtic Rambles, Radio Fremantle in late October.

“I have met Dervla in my local bookshop, who are supporting this event, Rabble Books and Games and our paths have crossed through a former work-life and we instantly hit it off,” she

said. “But this event has been many years in the making. Going back to 2019, prepandemic, my friend Jessica Stojkovski and I were talking about how we could create an event to support our Irish club, how we could get more things happening for the club. And we are both big fans of Dervla’s writing so this idea came out of that discussion and away I went to try and organise this and of course in the meantime Dervla’s career took off and she was travelling extensively to promote her work and then the pandemic happened and we were limited by the public health measures in what we could do and when we could do it. From 2019 to now the 20th of November a lot has changed, a lot has happened, Dervla has won many international awards as well as winning the praise of many many fans aorund the world, particularly here in Perth where she lives with her family (since 2011).

The reason its a free event, is because like Dervla’s writing, we wanted it to be accessible and we want people in our community to be able to come and meet and listen to a renowned writer and to hear how she goes about doing her writing and what she thinks about when she does her writing and to be accessible to the Irish Club. This is the first opportunity to do it and we are keen to support the Irish Club and what we thought at the time was an emerging writer.”

Indeed the first attempt to hold the event had been organised and set for March 22 2020, the very early days of the pandemic which saw most of the world go into a six week lockdown. The chance of lightning striking twice is probably not something we need to worry about now, but you will need to register to attend. Tickets should be on eventbrite or go to Alanna Clohessy’s MLC facebook page or call her office 92721718.

Dervla McTiernan, left, with Alanna Clohessy.

From the Fields of Athenry to The Dubliners and Beyond

Tuam Herald journalist and Irish Scene contributor Tom Gilmore has done it again, he has just published what you might call his hat-trick book.

Written about Irish singer Paddy Reilly “From the Fields of Athenry to The Dubliners and Beyond” it follows his other two well received books; “Big Tom: The king of Irish Country” and “Larry Cunningham: A Showband Legend”. Paddy Reilly and a host of special guests – such as life long friend and former Dubliners band member John Sheahan and Phil Coulter who wrote his first hit song ‘The Town I Love So Well’ – launched the book in Hodges-Figgis in Dublin in mid October.

As well as being the voice of some of Ireland’s most iconic and important songs Reilly’s life is an incredible collection of amazing stories sure

to entertain and amuse any reader. An ideal present for Christmas or lovers of Irish music it is available in bookstores across Ireland and online or ask your local bookshop if they can order it in for you. Full story in next issue of Irish Scene.

Tom Gilmore, left, with Paddy Reilly.

Another local literary project to have had a false start thanks to COVID was ‘We are Mayo’ by Perth doctor Tom Brett and respected journalist Sean Rice, who hail from Charlestown and Islandeady respectively.

The beautifully written and produced coffee table style book - the brainchild of Dr Brett’s – was officially launched at Castlebar public library back in May, some time later than the authors had originally expected. “It was to have been launched in the spring of 2020, but Covid intervened,” Sean told MayoNews.ie for the launch. “Tom was in lockdown in Australia and we were in lockdown in Mayo. This was the first opportunity we got to baptise it. It was in his frequent travels from Fremantle in Western Australia to his native Charlestown that the seed for ‘We Are Mayo’ was sown and where it sprouted and was nurtured. He was anxious to have the beauty of this county and the grandeur of its people recorded in a publication that truly reflected all those attributes.”

The two men have been friends since their student days but it took a long time for the book to come together. Sean paid tribute to

his friend and co-author. “His love for Mayo is encapsulated in every chapter, and in the immense efforts he has made in producing a written and photographic record of the county in keeping with its beauty and mores.”

John Melvin from the Connaught Telegraph had a look to say about the book and gave it a favourable review.

John Melvin from the Connaught Telegraph read the book and gave it a favourable review.

“If you ever wondered what makes us Mayo people what we are, it might be worth your while checking out the recently published ‘We Are Mayo’,” he wrote. “Tom Brett...would seem to be a suitable topic himself for a book on its own, such is his fascinating and varied life which saw him and end up in Fremantle, Australia, practicing medicine having graduated from University College Galway (now NUI Galway) in 1979 before moving to Australia in 1984. Clearly he kept in touch with his homeland and maintained his great passion for all things Gaelic, including the landscape and the people it produced, as their stories are woven through a rich fabric which binds so much of this book together.”

“The book opens with a wonderful foreword from Sabina Higgins [who officially launched

Tom Brett, right, with Sabina and Michael D Higgins.

it at the event in Castlebar library]. Her strong Mayo connections, having been born in Ballindine where she attended national school (she also attended Mount St. Michael Convent in Claremorris), places her in the unique position to write about her county and what it was like growing up in the area in what were hard times.”

There are many stunning photos contained

Wolves of the Irish Sea by Connor Brennan

Connor Brennan will be known to many in the Irish Club for several reasons, not least the fact that he is the Quizmaster there for some time now, including during COVID when the quiz was forced to move online. He is also a former boxer, rugby and Gaelic football player (and currently coaches a ladies Rugby Union team) who suffered a neck injury in 2019 that cramped his style on the field but the unfortunate incident at least gave him the time and space to pursue another passion project, to write an epic story around the formative period in Irish history shaped by the Vikings.

“I sat down to write this on one rainy Sunday evening in Perth and six months later I had 230,000 words,” said Connor. “Growing up on the famous Hill of Tara, I have always been a fan of Irish history, in particular Ireland’s Viking heritage. Indeed it was on this hill that one of the main characters, Flann Sinna, sat as High King of Ireland. Wolves of the Irish Sea offers a new angle to the period explored in Bernard Cornwell’s “The Last Kingdom” and the “Vikings” TV show (both of which I thoroughly enjoyed). It is just as exciting and frankly, unexplored by authors and screen writers to this point.” Helped at

in the book and the cover photo has an interesting and personal connection to Tom himself. The image is of the original Mayo jersey worn by his brother Eamonn Brett for his All Ireland minor final debut in 1974.

‘We are Mayo’ retails in Ireland at €25 but Tom has imported a limited supply which are available for $40 each. He can be contacted tom.brett@nd.edu.au

every step of the way by his loving partner Gillian – who is a well known face in the Irish community in her own right – the book was launched on 22-10-22. There has been a strong appetite for the new title with every copy of the first books delivered to him selling out recently at the Irish Club. One of the many clever ways he helped finance its publication was by selling the naming rights to a limited number of characters to investors, an idea that was taken up with great gusto by some backers. As well as being a rip-roaring and crafted story about five feuding warlords and kings – set in Dublin, Meath, Scotland and Norway – with plenty of battle action and violent intrigue the book contains professionally produced and original artwork and maps, including the front cover. Wolves of the Irish Sea ‘Ascent to Power’ is Volume 1 of the story, with volume two already written and waiting to go.

Connor, Gillian and their beautiful baby girl Demi are currently in Ireland enjoying a long overdue and well deserved holiday with family and friends. No doubt mum and dad will be taking little Demi to some of the many local historical sites featured in Connor’s new book. He has already written three books (one about gambling and two quiz compilations) as preparation for this major project.

Queen’s Gaelic greeting turns up in Fremantle

BY LLOYD GORMAN

The late monarch kicked off the Irish visit with a speech at a Gala Dinner in her honour at Dublin Castle – the former seat of power of English rule in Ireland for hundreds of years. In this symbolic place everything she said and did was significant.

She stood to speak and opened with the unexpected greeting: “A Uachtaráin, agus a chairde” (president and friends). This simple but powerful gesture astonished everyone in the room – including the then President Mary McAleese who had a hand in helping to make it happen. It was her idea in the first place that the Queen might say something in Irish to: “set to rest so much historic angst and resentment around the dire treatment of the language by the British when they were in power in Dublin Castle”.

Avital fragment of modern Irish history that played an incredible part in advancing and improving the long and often strained relationship between Ireland and England has ended up in Fremantle. But it could have so easily ended up in the bin.

In 2011 the late Queen Elizabeth II spent three days in Ireland on an official tour, the first time anything like it had happened in a hundred years. Her successor to the throne King Philip said it had been a life-long wish of his mother to visit Ireland and that the short trip – one of a huge number of overseas engagements in her long reign – was one she always remembered with affection. Three years later she returned the gesture and Michael D Higgins accepted an invitation to come to London as Uachtarán na hÉireann, the President of Ireland.

Mary McAleese, a native of Ardoyne, north Belfast, was the President of Ireland from November 1997 until November 2011, and it was she who invited the reigning British monarch – who she had got to know as the Pro-Vice Chancellor of Queen’s University of Belfast – to come to Ireland.

Back in November 2020 McAleese was being interviewed about her new book ‘Here’s the story’ and told RTE presenter Ray Darcy about the response her idea got from British officials. “I was told it was unlikely precisely because they would be the first words and because... the relationship with Britain had been so bad in the past... if she got anything wrong and if it all went wrong it would be terrible,” she said. “I understood that and I said I’m not going to push it and then she sent me an emissary, Sir Edward Young, her personal secretary and I explained to him that I thought these five words were important. On the same occasion I also asked would she consider going to

Queen Elizabeth visits Dublin

Croke Park and I explained why. He came back to me and said she’d love to go to Croke Park, she understood the significance of it obviously – she was very well read on Ireland – but he said ‘about the Irish language thing, we are just terrified if she got it wrong it would seem like an insult’. I immediately said to him, ‘forget it, I’m not going to push it, it was only an idea...we’ll leave it at that’. But then as happens any day of the week in a house in Ireland the British High Commissioner of Islamabad landed at our house, as you do, on his way from Islamabad to London. He said to me ‘Edward Young is a friend of mine and he said you have five words in the Irish language’ and I said to him ‘Don’t you be raising that now’, he’s an old friend of mine, ‘because that subject is closed’. And he said ‘Edward just wants the five words written out so that he’ll have it for the record’, so he took a scrappy envelope from a pocket, I kid you not – which he still has incidentally now in Perth – he gave it to me and I wrote the five words out ‘A Uachtaráin, agus a chairde’ [as well as phonetically and in English] and that was the last I heard of that until I was sitting there on the night and she got up. I still can’t believe how they played me, because my own staff was in on it, and they were all waiting for the moment she would speak Irish and I would have a heart attack. In fact, earlier that day I had given her – as a gift – a replica of a little book that was prepared for Queen Elizabeth I when she met Gráinne Mhaol.* “It was a primer in Irish and that was the gift we had given her so when she sat down I said to her you were a quick learner. She was very delighted that she was able to you know play a bit of devilment, but also play a good part, she put a lot of effort into getting the pronunciation absolutely right. She put a lot of effort into the decision to use the language as she did with Croke Park, she knew exactly those things would matter, how deep they would go.”

The “old friend” who turned up at her door and produced the scrap of paper is another Northern Ireland native, Francis Campbell from Co. Down, who had an interesting career as a diplomat and advisor to the UK government (including as an advisor to Tony Blair when he was PM) before switching into the world of higher education in which he is currently the Vice-Chancellor of Notre Dame University in Fremantle. Irish Scene requested an interview with Mr Campbell but unfortunately he was not available so I have had to rely on an article in the Irish Times in September, written by Ronan McGreevy.

At the time of his social call to President McAleese’s home Campbell was busily preparing to take up his new post in Pakistan the following week. Using the scrap of paper as a ‘rough work note’ he prepared a diplomatic document about the Irish president’s suggested wording. “That could have easily have been thrown in the bin,” Campbell said. “It’s the professional document, not the handwritten note, that was important.” Some time ago he was approached by journalist Flor MacCarthy who asked to include it in the book she was writing ‘The Presidents’ Letters: An Unexpected History of Ireland’ (which was published in hardback in October 2021 and as a paperback in September 2022).

“I hadn’t given it much thought until Flor contacted me following her chat with Mary,” added Campbell.”I couldn’t quite remember where it was. It just so happens that for some reason it got caught up in all my notes and that is where I found it. Sometimes you are living through history and you don’t know it. The note has taken on a greater significance, let me put it to you that way.”

Prof. Francis Campbell.

Sowing a seed!

The Queens visit to Dublin was one of the things several MPs in Canberra referred too in their tributes to the late monarch.

“The Queen stood out and became the first British monarch to visit the Irish Republic and to set foot in Ireland since 1911,” Victorian Senator Bridget McKenzie said in the parliament in late September. “She continued to approach every engagement with vigour and spirit, fulfilling her duty with dedication and dignity.”

For his part, Peter Dutton, Member for Dickson said the Queen had known a great many leaders in her time but it was the likes of Winston Churchill, Ronald Reagan, Barrack Obama and Nelson Mandela who “left a lasting impression” on her.

“Of the latter [Mandela]’ she said the most gracious of men has shown us all how to ‘accept the facts of the past without bitterness.’ Her historic trip to the Republic of Ireland in 2011 exemplified that spirit of reconciliation,” the opposition Liberal leader said.

Keith Wolohan, the member for Menzies, had the most to say about her historic trip to Dublin – and good reason for saying it.

“From 1952 to 2022, Her Majesty was served by sixteen Australian prime ministers,” Mr Wolohan – a former special forces commando – said. “I stand here representing a seat named after her first, and perhaps most devoted: Sir Robert Menzies. To those who engage in generalities, it may be of significance that almost two-thirds of the families in my electorate are first or second-generation migrants. Some may fairly ask, ‘Why would the Crown matter to families who do not

come from the United Kingdom?’. This is the problem with generalities: they turn a blind eye to the virtue and value of tradition in any culture. Migrants come here with eyes and hearts wide open. They come here recognising the role tradition plays in binding us to those who have come before and those who will come after. There is, perhaps, no better example of this than Her Majesty’s historic visit to the Republic of Ireland in 2011, the first by a reigning monarch in a century, and in the country of my birth. [Wolohan was born in Dublin and his family emigrated to Australia when he was ten years old] By any measure, it was perhaps one of the toughest audiences that she could have faced. Yet, after Her Majesty spoke at Dublin Castle, the newspaper Irish Independent recounted the reception as follows: “It was a moving speech delivered in her clear cut crystal voice and after the toast the room stood and applauded. Not just polite applause but sustained heartfelt appreciation of the bridge that the Queen herself had built”. The gift and genius of Her Majesty’s reign was the lightness of her touch,” he added.

Bunbury based Nola Marino (MP for Forrestt) was also full of praise and admiration for the Queen but her recollection of the events of the Queens time in Ireland appears to be slightly muddled. “I think, from memory, she is the last head of state who lived through World War II,” Ms Marino said in parliament. “She had a very profound effect in her visit to Northern Ireland in 2011. What courage that took.”

I would suggest that one of the greatest tributes to the Queen and her Dublin visit was made by Irish singer songwriter Luka Bloom when he penned his 2013 song ‘A seed was sown’ which can easily be found online. Like the words uttered by the late Queen it is a simple and powerful expression of admiration and affection.

Nola Marino MP.

Keith Wolohan: Dublin born and bred.

*When an Irish Pirate Queen and Queen Elizabeth I met!

Gráinne Mhaol was the nickname (meaning Bald Grace) for the historic Pirate Queen of Mayo, Grace O’Malley who was born and raised at Belcare Castle, near Westport circa 1530.

The O’Malley’s were a powerful clan of Chieftains who are said to have plundered and profited from the high seas. The legend goes that when she was a child Grace wanted to go on a sea voyage with her father but that she couldn’t go as her long locks would get snarled up in the ship’s ropes. In retaliation she cut off most of her hair and hence the nickname and her place on on his ship. As well as being fierce she was also smart and was well educated and fluent in Latin and possibly several other languages such as French and Spanish. The formidable figure is deserving of a full article in her own right on another occasion. She is said to have led her crew to fight off an attempt to capture her ship by other pirates just one hour after giving birth to a baby on board the vessel. But she is of interest here because she forcefully resisted the English magistrates enforcing Queen Elizabeth’s divide and conquer policy in Ireland. One of those Lords –Sir Richard Bingham the English governor for Ireland – killed her son Owen and imprisoned two others and her half brother and an order was put out for her arrest. Certain her family would not get justice from the Queen’s representative O’Malley went direct to Elizabeth I herself in 1593. There is much that is not known about their encounter

the meeting was said to have lasted for some time. O’Malley pleaded her case to the monarch who gave her a fair hearing. The Irish warrior woman must have impressed the throne because Elizabeth I ordered her Privy Council to seek answers from the Lord who persecuted the O’Malleys. Elizabeth would write to Bingham and ordered the release of O’Malley’s sons and for their lands to be returned to them and to ‘protect them to live in peace to enjoy their livelihoods’. O’Malley rebuilt her life and her fleet and she is said to have sent ships and men to support Elizabeth’s attempts to ‘keep the peace’ when there was unrest by another chieftain. Both women died in 1603 AD but their relationship and apparent admiration for each other is one of the most remarkable stories in the history of Ireland and England.

The meeting of Grace O’Malley and Queen Elizabeth I (a later illustration from Anthologia Hibernica, vol. 11, 1793)

A bronze statue and exhibition about O’Malley can be found at Westport House, Co. Mayo. Built in 1730 on the ruins of an O’Malley castle the property is still home to descendants of the pirate queen and a place where visitors are

Westport House.

Irish Film Festival

Summer holidays to Ireland

Perth was never far behind on our summer holidays to Ireland

BY LLOYD GORMAN

Some 968,490 travellers abandoned Australian and flew abroad in July! Our little family of five were amongst their number and the many thousands of other Irish people bound finally for Ireland that month. Thanks to Covid and hard borders it had, for most people, been at least two years since they boarded a plane and even longer again since many had last returned home to visit family and friends. But now we were all past that point of no return and free to journey as we wished for the first time in years. Waiting at the gates to board our flight there were more than a few Irish accents (and GAA tops) around the place. There was a collective sense of homecoming in the air but first there was the blur of seventeen hours in the air, several time zone changes and unappetising airplane meals, all packed into a long metal tube without an unoccupied seat in sight. Dublin airport was a hive of hecticness. More than three million people passed through it in July, up by 2.4 million compared with 12 months ago. Both sides of our family sent loved ones to the wait for us to emerge through the sliding doors of the arrival gates for an emotional embrace. It was great to be back but Perth and Australia never felt far away, starting with our friendly and talkative maxi-taxi driver from the Curragh who has a brother in law in Perth for several years now so there was some discussion about that. We arrived back at the start of July to beautiful weather having just missed weeks of downpours. In the entire month we were back in the country we had just one day of rain, something you could expect more from a Perth summer than an Irish one. After gathering ourselves – including my two brothers and their families - at my parents place in Brownstown, Co. Kildare our first excursion took us to the Lullymore Heritage

Park, a former working bog that is now being preserved to tell the story of this part of Ireland and the people who lived here, including some of those transported to Australia for their part in failed rebellions.

WA Premier Mark McGowan arrived in Dublin around the same time as us for a few days and despite a request to his office to interview him on Irish soil it didn’t happen. Our paths didn’t cross but he did meet Taoiseach Michael Martin and the President of Ireland Michael D Higgins at Áras an Uachtaráin, nearly five years after president Higgins’s official tour of Australian and New Zealand kicked off in Perth. That state visit came just months after McGowan swept to power and included an historic joint address to both houses of state parliament by Mr Higgins, the first time an overseas dignitary has ever done so. While the politicians are

Lullymore bog.

CY O’Connor.

Summer holidays to Ireland

Perth vigils

Perth’s Irish community – like many others in Australia and across he world – came together to hold a vigil in the wake of the shocking murder of 23 year old Tullamore teacher Aisling Murphy while she was jogging in broad daylight in her home town of Tullamore, Co. Offaly in January.

Hundreds of Irish people – including families with young children, took part in an evening time vigil and walk at the Flame of Remembrance in Kings Park on January 19, organised by the Claddagh Association and supported

by

and sporting group

Irish run businesses in Perth. Organisers of the event called her murder, “a dark day for the Irish community and women all over the world”.

freshwater pipeline between Mundaring and the Goldfields. Lisa is an engineer herself – if you have been into most of the 50 Aldi store in WA chances are good she was the project manager for its construction during her time in Perth – and is no doubt proud of the local connection with Western Australia. She also points out that a second ‘local’ figure is one of the Irish to have had a major and lasting impact on the west coast of Australia. John Boyle O’Reilly was born in 1844 at Dowth Castle, near Drogheda.

doing their own thing we catch up with old friends of ours from Perth, Raymond and Lisa Lynch and their kids Doireann and Fionn who have grown in the few years since they left Perth and developed a bit of a local accent. It is fantastic to see them again and as well as having a beautiful home and grounds near Donaghpatrick, just outside Kells that is big enough to accommodate us for a couple of nights they are exceptional hosts. In the brief time we are there Lisa has organised for us to visit Gravelmount House in Painestown, Castletown Kilpatrick, Co. Meath the birthplace of Charles Yelverton (CY) O’Connor (18431903), the genius engineer who designed and built Fremantle Harbour, much of WA’s rail-lines and of course the incredible 560km of

A group of musicians played traditional Irish airs and a flute and fiddle as well as a top with her county’s colours were amongst the tributes laid out for the young Irish woman who was in adition to being a promising and popular educator was also heavily involved with her local GAA club and a musician in her own right. Elaine O’ Grady who attended the vigil tweeted: “The beautiful song of the kookaburra who sang along to the stunning traditional Irish music at the vigil tonight for #AshlingMurphy in Perth,”. Similar events were staged across Australia, including one at the Amphitheatre at Kangaroo Point, Brisbane “to remember her and all who have died by genderbased violence”, organised by the Irish Australian Support Association Queensland. A piece written for her.ie by Anna Rourke described a sunrise

Returning to Gravelmount House briefly, the O’Connor family lost the house because CY’s father had tried to help tenants on the estate during the Famine. Despite the fact it has been a long time since then and the current owners have no direct claim to CY O’Connor they are very conscious they are its custodians and very obliging to visitors from Western Australia and elsewhere who want to visit O’Connor’s birthplace. I

vigil in Sydney attended by dozens of people on the hill above Bronte Beach and spoke to the emotions felt by all who were touched by her death.

“In front of the crowd on the grass, a row of candles illuminates a framed photo of smiling young woman,” she wrote. Sunrise-watching at beaches across the city our families, to see friends. But is by far the biggest I’ve ever seen at Bronte... The primary school teacher’s murder has deeply shaken many of us in Sydney. The mood among those gathered with their candles on the hill this morning is of sadness – and utter disbelief.”

Summer holidays to Ireland

just so happens to be back home in the North as well while we are there, including staging a concert in the Voodoo Lounge Belfast on August 6. Ireland being a small place, my wife’s brother in law Keith Horan, a DJ, knows Jonny and has worked with him in the past. Jonny is well and truly back in Perth and gigging locally again, including the recent Mandurah Country Music Festival in late October and as support for Hermitage Green in Badlands Bar early November.

intend to revisit the story of Gravelmount House – which they are renovating – in a separate story in an upcoming edition.

On our second day in Meath we all fit in a day trip to Tayto Park in Ashbourne, Co. Meath, something that has been on our ‘to do list’ for several years now. We get there about a week after its farmer turned entrepreneur founder local man Ray Coyle has died. In keeping with the spirit of what he wanted to do with the park it stays open. A million packs of Tayto are sold a week in Ireland and every one of them features Tayto Park on the back. More than five million people have visited the theme park since it opened in 2000 and having been there I can understand why it is such became such an Irish institution. This is the last year it will be known as Tayto Park and from January 1 2023 it will rebrand as Emerald Park. While we are there we spot another family on holidays from Perth and we narrowly missed by a couple of days Debbie Cashman and her family who are also home now after living in WA for a long time. It is a pity, it would have been lovely to run into the Cashmans and shared the fun with them. About a week after our time with the Lynch’s other friends of ours and theirs (Ian and Tamar Jordon and their kids Saoirse and Ronan) also visit and stay with them to catch up.

Next we cross the border into Northern Ireland which has its own version of Tayto Park, Tayto Castle in Tandragee but we don’t get down that way. Instead we drive (and boat it) to Portaferry to stay with my wife’s sister and her husband and kids. On our first night there I have to message Tom Quinn from the Claddagh Association and he tells me I’m in Jonny Reid’s neck of the woods. Jonny is Perth’s best known Irish country singer and

We drove into Belfast city in part to visit the Titanic Quarter and on the way drive through strongly Unionist areas with their unbelievably big bonfires, mountains of wooden crates and flags ready to be torched for the 12th of July. After the museum, while delivering copies of Irish Scene to local magazine Rushlight we end up in The Falls Road, awash with murals and flags significant to the Catholic Nationalistic community who live there. Later that night we watch an episode of Derry Girls, which just so happens to be the episode where the Quinn family are rushing to get out of Derry before the Orange Order march starts, only to end up driving into its path and getting stuck in the middle of the provocative parade. The comedy writers treat this scene with their usual deftness and insight and I couldn’t just help laugh at the fact that the character of dad played by Tommy Tiernan tries to put off hostile marchers by pretending to be an Australian tourist. Very funny in any case, but espcially so in the context.

At our next stop in Ballinasloe visiting my brother in law Fred Flannery and his family we also see our neighbours and friends from Perth, Ian and Tamar Jordon, originally from Galway. I tested postive for COVID the day after Ballinsloe, which put paid to our plans to catch up with another returned couple from Perth, Brendan and Anne Geraghty in Galway.

Waiting for us in Limerick is another familiar

Derry Girls.

Aussie BBQ at Ambassadors Residence.

Summer holidays to Ireland

morning when Cork born Gill Kenny who now calls Perth home was interviewed on RTE radio about her life story, including her traumatic relationship with alcohol. I know Gill and she speaks well but I couldn’t have predicted I’d be listening to her speaking on Irish radio.

As happens with every holiday home time runs out quicker than expected and this trip was no different.

On the bog.

In Dublin I caught up briefly with Danny Cusack, originally from Perth but who has called Ireland home for many years now. Danny has written for Irish Scene in the past and it has been some time since we last met each other. On this fleeting visit through the coastal Blackrock, Co. Dublin village we go for a drink in the Blackrock markets where I used to work as a student and we discover that the exact same apartment I lived in in the mid 1990’s is where he has been staying in Dublin. What are the chances? Danny kindly offers to take me onto my next destination, Abbeylea House in Killiney, the official residence of the Australian ambassador in Ireland. The current ambassador Gary Gray and his partner Pippa McIntosh warmly opened up the heritage listed 1909 built property and gardens to the Ireland Australia Association for their Big Aussie BBQ on July 23 to which I was invited. Abbey Lea is a beautiful place with incredible sea views and on the day the sky were filled with airplanes rehearsing for the big air show in Bray the next day. It felt very familiar to see so many ex-pats (Aussies) with their families and friends gather to celebrate their community just as we do here in Perth and across Australia, a mirror image if you like. It was a great event generously hosted by the ambassador and Pippa and the IAA bash also raised money for a great cause, the Peter McVerry Trust which helps homeless people. My appreciation for the invite and hospitality. Another unexpected reminder of Perth came from the radio one

Like me, the Victoria Cross medal awarded to West Australian WWI soldier Martin O’Meara, originally from Tipperary, would shortly be on its way back to back to Perth. The medal had been in the care of the National Museum of Ireland since July 2019. Australian law had to be changed to allow it to leave the country (it was (and is again) displayed at the Army Museum in Fremantle) and the loan was only anticipated to last 12 months. Six months later COVID struck and scuppered that plan. Knowing O’Meara’s VC would almost certainly never return to Ireland I wanted to see it in situ before its impending return to Fremantle. Before we get onto the plane at Dublin airport we run into another Irish couple who live just around the corner from us in Hillarys. Like us Darren and Angela McDonald (from Armagh and Fermanagh) and their kids had a great trip but now faced the daunting long haul home back to reality.

face, my wife Imelda’s uncle Bob O’Connor who lives in Padbury but is also back in Ireland.

BY LLOYD GORMAN

Trade office for Perth doesn’t add up

Violet–Anne Wynne a TD for Clare on the west coast of Ireland asked a question about the west coast of Australia to the Irish government in early September. She asked Leo Varadkar,Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment: “if Enterprise Ireland [EI] plans to open an office in Perth, Australia.”

The minister quashed the question. “Enterprise Ireland has confirmed that it currently has no plans to open an office in Perth, Australia,” he replied. “All Irish company activity for Australia is managed through two existing EI offices in Sydney and Melbourne. There are full teams in both locations and a network of pathfinders in Australia who service additional company needs as required.”

Irish Scene reached out to Deputy Wynne to find out why she posed the puzzler to the minister. She told us: “EI already have an office in Sydney and most of the key markets EI are targeting in Western Australia are based in Perth and as such if EI had an office located there, it would give them a vital indicator to seek additional employment in Ireland from companies based in Western Australia.”

Back in November 2020 Kildare North TD Catherine Murphy enquired about exactly the same issue of minister Varadkar but on that occasion his response was more elaborate, even if the end result was the same. “Enterprise Ireland’s primary remit is the development and growth of Irish enterprises in world markets,” Mr Varadkar told her at the time. “Working in partnership with client companies through a national network of 10 offices and 40 overseas offices, the agency

assists Irish enterprise to start, grow, innovate and win export sales in global markets. Enterprise Ireland has two physical presences in Australia. The agency’s headquarters is located in Sydney, with a secondary office in Melbourne. The EI Melbourne office opened in March 2019. Collectively, the agency has eight staff located across these two offices. Enterprise Ireland’s Market Advisors in Sydney and Melbourne manage specific industry sectors for the entirety of Australia and New Zealand. There are no current plans to open an office in Perth. The state agency previously had an office in Perth from June 2014-March 2016. This office was closed due to a lack of client activity. Enterprise Ireland will continue to work with clients and network locally to adapt to customer demand.”

Over the last twelve months we have also seen another TD – former foreign affairs minister Charlie Flanagan – pursue the current foreign affairs minister Simon Coveney about the possibility of a consulate general being established in Perth, an idea which at first Mr Coveney seemed to support but later dismissed out of hand (Its Mission not Possible for Perth, Irish Scene, May/ June 2022 (Issue 3).

Violet-Anne Wynne TD.

Catherine Murphy TD.

’I

Dr Brian Walker must have one of the most interesting and colourful life stories of any of his colleagues in the upper house of the WA Parliament, and not just for his political convictions. The Legalise Cannabis MP has previously told the house that he lived in China and the Soviet Union and on October 18 during debate about the Emergency Management Amendment (Temporary COVID-19 Provisions) Bill 2022 he revealed a list of other exotic locations, including Northern Ireland.

“When it comes to emergencies, I have lived through a few,” Dr Walker, an MP for East Metropolitan said. “The Malayan emergency was another name for a war. It was spread by insurgents or terrorists. They managed to kill my father’s manager before they tried to kill my father. His side was ripped open by a shotgun as he dived to the side to avoid being ripped in two. I have very vivid memories of him being brought back by the Gurkha troops, a bloodstained bed, a very ill looking father and a very worried looking mother. We were all targets—the military and civilian men, women and children. That was my early life. I also experienced the Iranian revolution. At that time, I was married to a lady from Iran and my relatives were at risk of mob murder. Indeed, my parents-in-law were killed. I assisted one sister-in-law who was 16 years old to escape. I suggested to the UK authorities at a consulate in Germany that they might be better to let her continue her escape into England. It was not easy trying to persuade bureaucrats to allow a 16-year-old unsupported woman to have asylum in a safe country. I also trained for emergencies as a reserve soldier. I learnt how to deal with terrorist strikes in Northern Ireland, events that may strike a chord with other members in this chamber. It is amusing now, but at the time I vividly recall the time a car backfired and our whole platoon suddenly took up positions in the shopfront doorways, holding our imaginary 7.62 millimetre selfloading rifles at the ready. That was our training. None of that matters, however, as I oppose this bill because it is plainly wrong.”

Dr Brian Walker MLC with a facsimile of Premier Mark McGowan.

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The pull of the Pilbara

Duringa debate to recognise the role of women in rural WA there was a lot to say about the subject. Stephen Dawson is one of six MLC’s (MPs) for the massive (2,205,281 km2 (851,463.8 sq mi) Mining and Pastoral Region, one of the biggest seats in the world and home to just nearly 70,000 voters. “I was not going to speak, but while sitting here listening to the previous speakers, I thought about the many amazing women doing extraordinary things in my electorate,” Mr Dawson told the house. “This motion gives me an opportunity to acknowledge the great work that they do…I will start with the Port Hedland Chamber of Commerce and Industry. This group really does drive industry and industry participation. It is the voice of industry in the Port Hedland region and has helped build the economic strength of the region. The Port Hedland Chamber of Commerce and Industry is an all-female team led by the CEO, Claire Boyce. She is an amazing compatriot of mine from Ireland.”

he question. “Enterprise Ireland has confirmed that it currently has no plans to open an office in Perth, Australia,” he replied. “All Irish company activity for Australia is managed through two existing EI offices in Sydney and Melbourne. There are full teams in both locations and a network of pathfinders in Australia who service additional company needs as required.”

Irish Scene reached out to Deputy Wynne to find out why she posed the puzzler to the minister. She told us: “EI already have an office in Sydney and most of the

key markets EI are targeting in Western Australia are based in Perth and as such if EI had an office located there, it would give them a vital indicator to seek additional employment in Ireland from companies based in Western Australia.”

Back in November 2020 Kildare North TD Catherine Murphy enquired about exactly the same issue of minister Varadkar but on that occasion his response was more elaborate, even if the end result was the same.

“Enterprise Ireland’s primary remit is the development and growth of Irish enterprises in world markets,” Mr Varadkar told her at the time. “Working in partnership with client companies through a national network of 10 offices and 40 overseas offices, the agency assists Irish enterprise to start, grow, innovate and win export sales in global markets. Enterprise Ireland has two physical presences in Australia. The agency’s headquarters is located in Sydney, with a secondary office in Melbourne. The

EI Melbourne office opened in March 2019. Collectively, the agency has eight staff located across these two offices. Enterprise Ireland’s Market Advisors in Sydney and Melbourne manage specific industry sectors for the entirety of Australia and New Zealand. There are no current plans to open an office in Perth. The state agency previously had an office in Perth from June 2014-March 2016. This office was closed due to a lack of client activity. Enterprise Ireland will continue to work with clients and network locally to adapt to customer demand.”

Over the last twelve months we have also seen another TD – former foreign affairs minister Charlie Flanagan – pursue the current foreign affairs minister Simon Coveney about the possibility of a consulate general being established in Perth, an idea which at first Mr Coveney seemed to support but later dismissed out of hand (Its Mission not Possible for Perth, Irish Scene, May/June 2022 (Issue 3).

Irish Race Day

THE FOURTH TUESDAY BOOK CLUB

THE FOURTH TUESDAY BOOK CLUB

Meets fourth Tuesday of the month, with exception of December. At 7.30pm May 24 ‘Phosphorescence’ by Julia Baird, to be presented by Trish Dooey June 28 TBA to be presented by Cecilia Bray

Venue Irish Club Committee Room, 61 Townshend Road, Subiaco

Admission Free. All welcome. Light refreshments provided. Tea and coffee from the Bar $2 Contact Convener Mary Purcell, m.purcell@telstra.com

Meets fourth Tuesday of the month, with exception of December. At 7.30pm Nov 28 ‘The Wolves of the Irish Sea’, newly published by local writer Conor Brennan presented by Tony Bray Venue Irish Club Committee Room, 61 Townshend Road, Subiaco Admission Free. All welcome. Light refreshments provided. Tea and coffee from the Bar $2 Contact Convener Mary Purcell, m.purcell@telstra.com

BLOOMSDAY - James Joyce Literary Competition presentations

Coming Up

Afternoon of Reflections with John O’Donohue - Irish Mystic and Poet. Presented by Heather Deighan, Geraldine Taylor and Coleen Wallace. Featuring the life and works of the late John O’Donohue, 1956-2008, with music and illustrations. Event has been deferred to August 2023 due to issues beyond control of the presenters.

Gala Irish Community Event - The Australian Irish Heritage Association will celebrate our 30th anniversary in 2023. We think it’s an opportune moment to call all Irish associations in Western Australia to come together as the Irish Diaspora and present a Gala event that will celebrate everything Irish. Exploratory meetings have been held with community groups on August 24 and October 26. If you are interested in being involved contact us via secretary@irishheritage.com.au

To mark the 100th anniversary of the publication of Ulysses, the AIHA will hold a celebratory event on June 16th , officially known world wide as Bloomsday, after Leopold Bloom in Ulysses. At the event, the shortlisted entries from our competition will be staged as readings, drama, music and visual presentations by solo or groups The overall winner will be chosen by popular vote on the night and will receive a cash prize.

We thank our adjudicators Frank Murphy and Frances Devlin Glass

Date Thursday June 16 at 7.30pm

Venue Irish Club Theatre, 61 Townshend Road, Subiaco (to be confirmed)

Admission AIHA members $20, Non members $25, includes light refreshments Prizes Best Edwardian dressed male or female. Plus special Irish raffle Bookings https://www.trybooking.com/BZAVU

Brendan Award 2022 – expected to be announced late November with details of presentation venue and time. The Brendan Award was introduced in 1997 to recognise persons who have made an outstanding contribution to Australia’s Irish Heritage. The first recipient of this annual award was President Mary Robinson in 1997. An honour Board of recipients is on display at the Irish Club of WA.

AIHA Website

AIHA Website

Check our website https://irishheritage.com.au/news blog/ for a selection of exclusive interviews conducted by committee member Gill Kenny and other articles of note. If you click on the interview with Aine Tyrrell you will arrive at our YouTube channel. Aine is really interesting - victim of domestic violence, successful singer, living in a bus and rearing 3 children. She has great perspectives on life and had a real Irish chat with Gill. Easter Monday Annual Catalpa Commemoration was professionally videod this year. The link will be on our website as soon as available.

We thank Gill and Patricia Bratton for this new member feature.

Check our website https://irishheritage.com.au/news-blog/ for a selection of exclusive interviews conducted by committee member Gill Kenny and other articles of note. You can view this year’s Easter Monday Annual Catalpa Commemoration. Check out our Irish Heritage Trail under About/Heritage Trail. It is split into North and South of the Swan river. You can identify the location of 18 sites on the maps and by clicking the arrows on the bottom left of the maps you can read a summary of the relevance and importance of each site.

The JOURNAL

Expressions of Interest sought to Edit our quarterly ‘Journal’

Members of AIHA receive 4 editions of the Journal each year. Latest edition for March 2022, Vol 31, No 1 is available. We now have a library of 30 years of Journal and are compiling an index of every article title, author and subject detail to be made available on our website from May this year. We anticipate almost 2,000 titles in the index.

Our current editor Julie Breathnach-Banwait has had to step down due to her family moving interstate. Her latest Spring edition was mailed to members in September. Julie introduced a colourful cover to the magazine with the current edition featuring art by Cat Cronin. She also promoted the Gaelic language as a regular feature. In our 29 year publication history we have had 6 editors – the late Joe O’Sullivan and Ormonde Waters, Brenda Cheeseman, Dr Ian Chambers, Denis Bratton and Julie Breathnach-Banwait.

Contributors can email editor Julie Breathnach Banwait on journal@irishheritage.com.au Non members can purchase copies at $10

Coming Up

Annual Mary Durack lecture to be delivered by Patsy Millet, daughter of Dame Mary Durack, AC DBE Australian author and historian, (1913 - 1994) Date is subject to confirmation by Irish Club in July or August

If you are interested in the role of editor please email our secretary. Assistance will be provided by former Editor, AIHA president and honorary life member Denis Bratton. Latest Spring edition features articles on a United Ireland; The House of Conroy in the early Victorian era; an introduction to Tracing your Irish Ancestors; Community Gatherings in Ireland Old and New, Fairs, Festivals; Interview with Ashok Parekh; Poetry by Anne Casey, Julie Breathnach-Banwait (bi-lingual) and Liam Blackford; “The Irish Partners”, annual AIHA Mary Durack Lecture by Patsy Millett; ‘Michael Collins – his assassination and its effect on Ireland’; Martin O’Meara commemoration in Tipperary; Book Review on ‘The Irish Diaspora’. Contributors can email editor on journal@irishheritage.com.au

Heather Deighan

– Patricia Bratton Secretary – Tony Bray Committee

Peter Conole, Gayle Lannon, Diana MacTiernan

Australia’s Irish Heritage.

WE ARE BACK IN THE REHEARSAL SPACE AGAIN PREPARING FOR OUR APRIL PRODUCTION “THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT” UNDER THE WATCHFUL EYES OF AWARD WINNING DIRECTOR BRENDAN ELLIS.

WE ARE BACK IN THE REHEARSAL SPACE AGAIN PREPARING FOR OUR APRIL PRODUCTION “THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT” UNDER THE WATCHFUL EYES OF AWARD WINNING DIRECTOR BRENDAN ELLIS.

Snow White

The Last Days of Judas Iscariot is a hilarious, poignant, thought-provoking work by Pulitzer-prize winning playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis. Boasting a large, zany cast of characters, the play asks one of the most plaguing questions in the Christian ideology: What happened to Judas Iscariot? The facts (we think!) we know are these: Judas was the disciple of Jesus who betrayed his friend and teacher

(The Off-White Version)

The Last Days of Judas Iscariot is a hilarious, poignant, thought-provoking work by Pulitzer-prize winning playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis. Boasting a large, zany cast of characters, the play asks one of the most plaguing questions in the Christian ideology: What happened to Judas Iscariot? The facts (we think!) we know are these: Judas was the disciple of Jesus who betrayed his friend and teacher

The Irish Theatre Players are back in rehearsals again, this time for our Christmas Panto, “Snow White (The Off-White Version)’, at the Irish Club of WA in Subiaco.

to the authorities. He is seen as the man responsible for Jesus’s death; afterwards, Judas fell into despair and hung himself from an olive tree; since then, he has been suffering for his deeds deep in Hell and will continue to do so for all eternity. Is that really fair? Was Judas the duplicitous master of his own fate, a much-suffering pawn used for Jesus’s ends, or just a man who made a mistake? Set in a courtroom in Purgatory, The Last Days puts Judas’ case to a hilarious, riotous, piercing trial, the results of which are sure to make the inhabitants of Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory — and the audience — reconsider what each thought they knew about forgiveness, faith, and the human inside one of history’s most infamous figures.

to the authorities. He is seen as the man responsible for Jesus’s death; afterwards, Judas fell into despair and hung himself from an olive tree; since then, he has been suffering for his deeds deep in Hell and will continue to do so for all eternity. Is that really fair? Was Judas the duplicitous master of his own fate, a much-suffering pawn used for Jesus’s ends, or just a man who made a mistake? Set in a courtroom in Purgatory, The Last Days puts Judas’ case to a hilarious, riotous, piercing trial, the results of which are sure to make the inhabitants of Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory — and the audience — reconsider what each thought they knew about forgiveness, faith, and the human inside one of history’s most infamous figures.

SHOW TIMES ARE 7.30PM.SUNDAY MATINEE 24TH AT 2.00PM THEN 28TH, 29TH & 30TH AT 7.30PM.

SHOW TIMES ARE 7.30PM.SUNDAY MATINEE 24TH AT 2.00PM THEN 28TH, 29TH & 30TH AT 7.30PM.

THANKS SO MUCH TO ALL OUR MEMBERS WHO ATTENDED OUR AGM ON THURSDAY 17TH FEBRUARY AT THE IRISH CLUB OF WA. FOR THOSE WHO MISSED IT, HERE’S OUR REVIEW OF OUR YEAR 2021.

THANKS SO MUCH TO ALL OUR MEMBERS WHO ATTENDED OUR AGM ON THURSDAY 17TH FEBRUARY AT THE IRISH CLUB OF WA. FOR THOSE WHO MISSED IT, HERE’S OUR REVIEW OF OUR YEAR 2021. Also, membership for 2022 now available;

Written by Yvette Wall and directed by Peter Neaves and Virginia MoorePrice, this promises to be fun filled entertainment for all the family.

“Snow White (The Off-White Version)’ is a fractured fairytale, fun pantomime, where the tale of Snow White takes an unexpected and hilarious turn. She ends up in an episode of ‘I’m A Fairytale Character Get Me Out Of Here’ with Red Riding Hood and Prince Charming on board, but the dwarves are nowhere to be seen! Meanwhile the Wicked Queen has her own problems with the melancholy Magic Mirror and Snow White’s dead parents keep on turning up. Add to the mix a royal nanny (Nanny Nice), a royal French chef (Pierre Paté), Forest Creatures

Also, membership for 2022 now available; irishtheatreplayers.com.au

who protest and a couple of Talking Trees and you have a very modern pantomime, with singing and dancing, that everyone will love. Lots of laughs are guaranteed.

Evening performances will be on December 8, 9,15 and 16 @ 7.00pm. Matinee performances will be on December 10, 11, 17 and 18 @ 1.00pm. The Christmas pantomime is always popular with our patrons, so book early to avoid disappointment.

A Christmas to forget

A Christmas to forget and thank God for this Christmas

December 25 2021 was a beautiful hot (42C) summers day and perfect for those celebrating the occasion in true Aussie style by going down to the beach. Keith McLoughlin, from Castlebar, Mayo was amongst the throngs enjoying themselves at Scarborough Beach on Christmas morning. Keith – aka Badger – went for a dip in the water and dived in. “I hit my head off a sandbar and lost all power in my legs,” he said. “I knew straight away it was serious and was gonna be a struggle to get to shore. I was close to drowning but luckily I had enough upper body strength to fight and get myself onto shore. I didn’t know what damage was done but I knew it was serious.”

X-rays revealed three factured verterbrae in his neck and that Christmas night he spent six hours on the operating table. “Two days after surgery my legs slowly started coming back and as each day passed they got stronger and stronger,” Keith added. “After five nights in ICU I managed to get myself out of bed and started getting my legs back on the ground and started

the walking process. It took two weeks for me to walk unaided, but I got there.”

After two and a half weeks in Royal Perth Hospital he was transferred to Fiona Stanley Hospital for rehab. “Surprisingly I did just under two weeks rehab and I think everyone including the doctors, nurses and physios were shocked by how quickly my recovery went and I was discharged from the Fiona Stanely rehabilition unit. I was shocked to say the least but glad to recover so well. What had started off as a bad situation ended in a good result.”

By the end of January he was able to walk again and wore a brace for a couple of months just to help the healing process along. “After everything that happened and thinking I was going to be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life things didn’t turn out too bad.”

at the Woody

Keith thanked everyone who helped and supported him through the traumatic episode. He went back to the lifeguards who were the first on the scene and got him into the ambulance. He recongised the work and care of untold numbers of nurses, doctors, surgeons and physio’s at Royal Perth and Fiona Stanley hospitals.

There was tremendous support from his colleagues at Cast Civil [Heather Lupton/John Heffernan/John Phelan and Donal Kelly] and work mates in Binduli (Kalgoorlie) who set up and contributed to a Go Fund Me page which saw donations come in from family and friends across Australia and Ireland. The donations and messages that flooded in were vital to him being able to keep positive about his mental health.

Keith paid special recognition to Orla Donaghey and Michaela Canny who were by his side throughout and a source of constant help and support. “As my granny used to say, “Better to be born lucky than born rich”.

Keith is planning to return to the beach again for Christmas morning and while he won’t be diving into the water he will be giving thanks for being alive and able to enjoy another Australian Christmas.

Timeless Wonder

Molana Abbey spans over 1500 years of history.

Ashort distance outside Youghal in County Cork, on the scenic Glendine road, lie the now ruinous remains of Molana Abbey.

This Abbey, now a silent monument defying the hand of time, was once a thriving and religious institution, having associations with many of the major historical forces which were to shape our country.

In order to fully appreciate this story of Molana, I intend to set the scene before the arrival of Christianity, analyze why the Monks may have decided to build at this particular location, and then go on to discuss the historical and archaeological features with a brief look at the Abbey as it is today.

Pre – Christianity

Dairinis (oak island), in which Molana Abbey is located, was once a stronghold of the Druids –the Abbey lies in the heart of their sacred grove. The Druids were the priesthood of the Celtic people, almost as powerful as the aristocracy and with the authority to excommunicate and sentence people to death. They taught belief in an after – life and held groves and bogs to be sacred, of particular importance were oak woods and the mistletoe from oak trees.

The building of the Abbey in this location is something of a strange phenomenon as there was a strong reluctance to construct early Church structures on sites of former pagan activity. However, Dairinis can be viewed as a good example of the cultural and spiritual continuation from Celtic paganism to Celtic Christianity.

An Island Location

Dairinis was an island until 1806 when the Smyths of Ballinatray reclaimed the surrounding marshland, joining the site of Molana Abbey to the mainland. The location is ideal with wooded

hills all around and the only opening being the valley of the Blackwater to the north.

Why construct on an isolated island location when a site nearer Youghal may have offered greater political and economic benefits? Christian monasticism seems to have begun when the persecutions ended and Christianity became the accepted religion of the Roman Empire. It can also be seen as a reaction against the established Church that they felt was moving away from the institution that God had intended it to be.

These early enthusiasts sought out places of solitude away from the centres of population where they devoted their lives to hardship and prayer in order to achieve a closer communion with God.

The Abbey of Dairinis was founded by Molana and his followers in 501 AD, quite early on in the history of the Irish Church. The located on the navigable Blackwater River in a position which afforded excellent views in the Youghal and Glendine directions.

Due to its construction on an island, a large amount of building stones had to be ferried from the mainland. This was a slow and often difficult undertaking when one considers the type of boat in use during this period.

From an economic viewpoint the river would have been an important source of fish supplies and which would have formed the main part of their daily diet.

Molana Abbey was connected with a famous series of papers called ‘Collectio Hibernenses’ which appeared on the mainland of Europe during the 8th century. One of the main contributors to these documents was Rubin Mac Connadh, known as the ‘Scribe of Munster’, who died in 725. These writings held some important theology and canon law, and were to act as guidelines in European Church doctrine for over 400 years.

The Abbey’s History

It is not known whether the Abbey was raided during the Viking period but the nearby monastery at Clashmore was definitely plundered and burned. It is likely that Molana was desecrated as it was in a very visible position and much more wealthy. We know that the Vikings were in the immediate district as the Battle of Glendine was fought in 946 between rival groups of them. Also, the names ‘Temple Michael’ and ‘Raven’s Rock’ are suggestive of a Viking association.

The monastery may have been in decay during the 11th century as the conquering Normans transformed the native Irish foundation into a priory of Augustinian Canons Regular. The Abbey at this period was also associated with Raymond Le Gros Fitzgerald, one of the leading Norman overlords, and there are suggestions that his remains may be interred within the monastery walls.

Molana had various lands at Temple Michael, Kilcockan, Dunmoon and townland of Dysert near Ardmore, rectories at Temple Michael and Rhinecrew, and churches at Tallow, Kilwatermoy and Kilcockan. These were confiscated b the English Crown when Henry V111 initiated his policy of closing down the monasteries.

Molana Abbey, now deprived of its religious functions and merely being looked upon as an item of property was granted to the Earl of Desmond in 1550 and from here it was to pass in turn to John Thickpenny, Walter Raleigh and finally to Richard Boyle, the Earl of Cork. The property was eventually passed to Boyle’s nephew, Sir Percy Smyth of Ballynatray, where it is associated to the present day.

The Buildings

There are some very interesting archaeological features in Molana Abbey, especially the Church to the east which is separated into a nave and a choir. This is an almost perfect example of early Irish Church architecture, with the choir section exhibiting some fine examples of large and spacious windows.

To the north of the monastery facing the river are the two-storey Prior’s quarters. This building contains two fine rooms which are connected by a winding stone staircase, which may have been

constructed during the period of the worst Viking raids as it has a good commanding view of traffic movement on the River Blackwater. The refectory, or communal dining room, is now in a bad state of repair and a curious feature here is that there is no direct access to the kitchen.

Another feature of the refectory is the presence of the reader’s pulpit, a large, round, arched window displaying elaborate decoration, with the main function being to allow light into the dining room while lessons were being recited during meals.

Interesting aspects of the kitchen area to the west of the building include the mechanics for hanging the heavy external door, the opening in the wall close by the doorway for the transportation of water into the kitchen and the circular shaped monastic well on the outside.

The Abbey Today

Molana Abbey as it stands today is quite a popular and important attraction for overseas visitors and Irish people alike. It is a monument worth preserving for the benefit of future generations as it shows a continuation of over 2,000 years of our history at this secluded and peaceful spot, a few miles from where the majestic Blackwater embraces the sea at Youghal.

From our own perspective, the Church and graveyard at Kilcockan, who were under the control of the Abbey, are very old. People from our parish as well as monks have been buried here for the best part of 1500 years. Many of our relations, including my own, lie in unmarked graves or graves with hand-made crosses, designated by little stones or under the shelter of the trees. If you are ever in the vicinity please remember them with a little silent prayer as they quietly repose in this most ancient of resting places.

Irish Families in Perth

Irish Mams NOR (North of the River)

BY SORCHA McANDREW

Irish Mams playgroup runs from Padbury Playgroup in the Northern suburbs.

Over the last several years we have seen a massive increase in numbers and we now have 8 sessions running throughout the week from Mon-Friday.

We have 2 newborn groups which have proved extremely popular and have given new mams who are largely raising their children away from their extended family, a huge source of support and community within the large Irish expat community here in Perth.

We are 100% volunteer lead and organise many different day/nights out for the Mams to all meet each other and socialise outside playgroup. We advertise our playgroup through our linked Facebook Page, Irish Mams Perth (NOR. All groups Mon-Fri are currently at capacity. With over 90 Irish Families attending throughout the week!!!!

100% Volunteer run it is an outstanding achievement.

Thanks to Irish Families in Perth for sponsoring us. Thanks to our wonderful Group Leaders Sinéad Kennedy Ó Reilly, Corinna Connelly, Jenni Godkin, Leanne Halliday, Aveen Keating Emma Lavery, Lynsey Staunton, Zoë Coughlan for all their support. We will most definitely have spaces coming up in Feb 2023.

Irish families in Perth is a voluntary non profit organisation with over 19,000 members on our social media group. We provide Irish emigrants with advice on how to best assimilate into the Western Australian culture and lifestyle. We communicate with our subscribers through social media where topics such as long lost relatives, housing, jobs and social events are covered. It is a vibrant active forum that provides a wealth of knowledge to young families and singles emigrating to Western Australia.

IFIP contributes to a cohesive Irish Community by working together with many of the wonderful groups in Perth that support Irish culture and heritage.

IFIP aims to

· Coordinate Irish family events and help sponsor 8 weekly playgroups.

· Develop Irish Culture & heritage.

· Help Irish people with any problems that might arise and provide a link to Australian and Irish support services.

Thanks to our sponsors Mason Transport, Dublin and Walshe Clancy O’Neill Group for all their support this year. You can find us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/ irishfamiliesinperth/ or our website https://www.irishfamiliesinperth.com Nollaig Shona agus Athbhliain faoi mhaise daoibh uilig

DEPUTY HEAD OF MISSION FROM THE EMBASSY OF IRELAND IN CANBERRA VISITS PERTH

On 30th September 2022 Mr Daniel Lowe, Deputy Head of Mission from the Embassy of Ireland, in Canberra and Mrs Jessica Stojkovski MLA enjoyed morning tea at The Claddagh office. We would not be able to continue the work we do for the Irish community without the support and work that the embassy staff in Canberra do for Claddagh. It was certainly a busy morning at the office as Daniel and Jessica were also joined by the Hon.Alanna Clohesy MLC who presented the Claddagh committee with a brand-new defibrillator.

The Claddagh Association were very pleased to accept this generous donation which will make a significant difference to the health and well being of all our members. The Claddagh Association were amazed by the outpouring of community support when a call out was made for a donation of a much-needed defibrillator, a huge thanks to all those who reached out privately to support us. Committee members and Claddagh volunteers are looking forward to the upcoming training facilitated by St Johns Ambulance, if you want to be in attendance, please reach out to us in the office.

SEPTEMBER WAS WELCOMED WITH A BUS TRIP AND VISIT TO ARALUEN BOTANIC PARK

The rain and cold did not dampen the spirits of our seniors who enjoyed their annual picnic to the Araluen Botanic Park. After a jaunt out on the bus ,it was an enjoyable day stretching the legs and meandering amongst the beautiful flowers. A delicious picnic was organised by our volunteers, and this was a wonderful opportunity for our seniors to relax, engage in some conversation and catch up with friends old and new. Thanks to our fabulous volunteers who made all the arrangements for the outing.

AUGUST WAS A TASTY LUNCH AT THE GREENWOOD TAVERN

On a wintery day the Claddagh seniors were delighted to have an outing to the Greenwood Tavern, where they were able to enjoy a delicious lunch followed by a short game of Irish Bingo die fun.

Thank you to The Greenwood for hosting and to the Senior Committee for organising a lovely day out.

Thank you to our Senior Committee members who make sure our seniors are stimulated and entertained.

OUR SENIORS ARE BECOMING TECH SAVVY!

On Saturday 27th August 2022, a group of Seniors attended our second computer class of the year and became more savvy with QR Codes and Australian Government services such as MYGOV Accounts. Everyone left with the MYGOV app installed on their phones, knowing how to access the services and show their Covid-19 certificates. This session was followed by a third Workshop on Saturday 17 September 2022.

In the third workshop we taught our seniors about the importance of Cyber Security and what to look out for in terms of scams and cyber threats. Though a scary topic for some seniors it was good to share stories, and all left the workshop with more confidence.

If you would like to book into the next Workshop, call 08 9249 9213 or click ‘Going’ on our Facebook Event.

WORKSHOP 4: Saturday 22 October 10am - 1pm

INTRODUCTION TO SMART PHONES

WORKSHOP 5: Saturday 5 November 10am - 1pm

5 WAYS TO USE SMART TECHNOLOGY

The Seniors Digital Training Project is sponsored by the Emigrant Support Program Grant. These workshops were designed to educate seniors in modern methods of communication so that they could keep in touch with family and friends both here in Australia and Ireland.

THE CLADDAGH ASSOCIATION

- THERE WHEN YOU NEED US

The mission of the Claddagh Association is to provide help and support to members of the Irish community who find themselves in difficult circumstances.

To support these needs of both individuals and families Claddagh must fundraise throughout the year.

If you would like to support Claddagh’s work in 2022/2023 you can donate at our website: https://claddagh.org.au/support-our-work/make-adonation/-, alternatively for $10 you can become a member. Increasing our membership allows us to access additional funding and support through other avenues. See our Website for full details.

Don’t forget, if you or someone you know needs Claddagh’s support, please contact the Claddagh office via admin@claddagh.org.au/08 9249 9213. If your need is urgent, you can call Claddagh’s Crisis Line on 0403 972 265.

Perth and Belfast

...best

BY DAVID MACCONNELL

Although I have lived in London, Madrid, Sydney, and Malaga for a reasonably length of time, the two cities I know best are Perth and Belfast. Both cities have progressed hugely over the last fifteen years or so. When I arrived in Perth at the same time as the America’s Cup Challenge, various friends in Swanbourne thought that any place above Scarborough was ‘Out in the sticks!’ The freeway North ended at Whitfords and there were no marinas North of Perth city. You all know how much the CBD has changed; mostly for the good I hope although a few of us might differ on that point.

So, what are the big changes in Belfast? With the aid of some research, I have found some images which show the changing face of Belfast over the last fifteen to twenty years. The images below show the dramatic alterations to the skyline taken at the same locations in 2005 and 2020.

Over the decade-and-a-half, the industrial and shipbuilding legacy that once dominated the space within the city centre has gradually been stripped away, as commercial and tourism industries shape the planning and development of the city.

While some of the most dramatic changes over the years have been the development of the docks, there have also been significant alterations to the Cathedral Quarter, Victoria Square, and the Ulster University site among others.

It appears that the pace of change in such a short period of time can be traced to several factors including the de-industrialisation of the city and the legacy and problems of the period 1965 to 2005. In the last fifteen years and since the Good Friday Agreement, there has been huge changes in the city, and in the urban environment in general.

The city centre has become a shared space and now looks more like a city centre of any modern city.

The regeneration of the Cathedral Quarter changed what was previously a very local area into a vibrant part of the city. What can happen with those larger scale developments is that they have great potential to act as a catalyst in the community.

While bright new buildings and hotels have popped up, there exists a cautionary note about the importance of adequate connection and ensuring Belfast meets future challenges, particularly around climate change. Of course, this is happening in most parts of the world. Going forward, it seems they should have an eye on how to ensure the city is “sustainable” by careful city planning to make sure the infrastructure is in place and focusing on building a connected city. That is one that is accessible, particularly by walking and cycling routes.

To be honest, I would have thought that would have been the goal years ago but of course there were other major problems to deal with. One thing which could be exciting for Belfast is Stormont declaring a climate emergency, which creates a focus on what is good for the city. I have always believed that Belfast could be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Certainly, there is a long history to explore and explain. It is a perfect size in

terms of the many historical buildings being within walking distance. The hop on bus event I went on some ten years ago was a real treat especially with the Ulster humour thrown in. I remember the two Japanese sitting in the front seats upper deck laughing relentlessly. It must have been at the tone of the commentator as his language was real colloquial Ulster!

Recently I was sent a promotion from the Province listing all the sites to see and things to do. Much like the one we get promoting Melbourne.

It was the time of the year for the Belfast International Arts Festival which is the city’s longest-running international arts event. Originally established in 1962, it was hosted by Queen’s University until 2015, after which a new independent organisation (a company limited by guarantee and registered as a charity) was formed with the support of all stakeholders to deliver a new artistic vision for the event. From 1965 - 70, I was very much a part of it when I had to ‘entertain’ many famous artists being the dogsbody of the entire festival. The event nowadays covers theatre, dance, classical and roots music, visual, film and digital arts and literature accompanied by outreach and education events.

What are some the attractions around the town? The image below shows a recent sculpture which sits on the banks of the River Lagan. With typical Ulster humour I was told that she has many nicknames. My favourite three are The Doll on the Ball, The Thing with the Ring and The Nuala with the Hula Maybe not so impressive as our own Bell Tower but arguably with a much greater importance for the inhabitants.

It appears that if you have not been to Belfast (or indeed Ulster) you should be tempted

to go. If you have been or if you lived there, it looks like a visit in the foreseeable future would be well worthwhile and should be added to your bucket list if you have such a thing.

I checked out the consequences of Brexit

on the Province. Unfortunately, by intelligence was not up to it. Not something we learned about in the Chemistry labs of the University where I was able to persuade them to give

me a B.Sc. From the various writings I explored however, I discovered I was not alone in this. If anyone reading this article can explain the socioeconomics of this event, as far as Ulster is concerned, I would be more than pleased to listen or read your views. May I wish all readers (and everyone else for that matter) an enjoyable Christmas. May your presents be meaningful and appropriate and as always may your God go with you.

Book Reviews

Books reviewed by John Hagan

RIGGED

BY MURRAY & FRIJTERS / ALLEN & UNWIN $32.99

RIGGED is based around ‘mateship’ and what mates do – they look after each other. Especially mates in high places. Maybe we didn’t need a book to tell us this, as reports such as that issued by the Grattan Institute (July 2022) underline the point. This report reveals one in five lucrative and powerful federal government board positions were handed to politically connected individuals. The Morrison Government, during its death throes, turned jobs-for-the-boys into an art form by stacking public boards, such as the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (which is designed to act as a crucial and independent check on government), with Liberal party apparatchiks. According to eminent academics Murray and Frijters, Australia is rapidly lurching from an egalitarian nation to become one of the most unequal societies in the Western world. They reveal how networks of mates have come to dominate business, public bodies and government, and in doing so, fleece ordinary Australians. ‘For every hour you work, thirty minutes of it goes to line the mates’ pockets rather than your own’, contend the authors. Such a damming conclusion is derived from examining many aspects of Australian life and society. The authors focus their forensic beam on such topics as property development, mining, banking and taxation asserting that, ‘You pay higher interest rates on your mortgage, higher transport costs and higher medical costs because --- Mates take a cut’. Superannuation is another ‘game’ where Murray and Frijters demonstrate ‘how players at the top of unions now increasingly behave like participants in a Game of Mates, seemingly putting their own feuds above the interests of workers and their retirements’, and how much superannuation money (in union and commercial funds) is siphoned off to the benefit of a few. RIGGED uncovers a covert pattern of political favours, grey gifts and information sharing which have become endemic over the past 20-30 years, and which present a clear and present danger to the health of Australian democracy. It’s certainly not good news, but we need to know it.

52 WAYS TO WALK

BY ANNABEL STREETS /

BLOOMSBURY $29.99

I’ve always enjoyed walking, no doubt a passion developed from an early age when I had to stroll the two miles from home to primary school each day of term. While walking is undoubtly Australia’s favourite leisure pursuit, however, until reading Streets’ fine book I must admit I haven’t given much consideration to the full range of benefits which walking confers. Of course there are the obvious exercise and social benefits, but Streets delves deeper revealing the scientific and psychological advantages such as anxiety reduction, memory improvement, mood enhancement, vision expansion and muscle building which arise from a saunter at any time of the day (or night). Who would have surmised that brisk walking in cold weather keeps our cells healthy and bodies trim, maintains our brains in good working order and reduces feelings of stress. One study has found that ‘two hours of exposure to moderate cold triggered the conversion of (bad) white fat (particularly in our stomachs and thighs) into (good) brown fat’ which helps regulate appetite, combat congestive heart failure and coronary heart disease. Walking in the rain awakens our sense of smell, washes away vestiges of pollution as the air is always cleaner during and immediately after a downpour, and of course there is always that cocktail of fragrances (even those stored in concrete and stone) which rain releases’. The latest science suggests that ‘a well-paced walk before breakfast – while our body is still in fasting mode – burns more fat ---- and cuts our risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease’. Streets introduces the reader to the joys (and benefits) of walking in mud, in the wind, rain, sunshine and by moonlight while exploring a variety of environments such as the beach, the forest and the hills. She outlines possible improvements to our gait, and how walking backwards might enhance balance and stability while increasing hamstring flexibility. This book is an absolute joy. In 52 punchy, well researched, inspirational and easily readable chapters, the reader is guided through a year of walks which will undoubtly assist in rediscovering the delights, mystery and exhilaration of taking a constitutional, at

all times of the day and in all sorts of environments. Backed by science and illustrated with real-life anecdotes, Streets demonstrates how we can get more out of life – one step at a time.

DON’T TRUST YOUR GUT

BY SETH STEPHENSDAVIDOWITZ / BLOOMSBURY $29.99

Why wouldn’t you trust your gut? We all do – to a greater or lesser extent. Faced with a problem or an important decision, we might confer with friends, scroll the internet or consult self-help books for guidance. But in the end we principally make decisions that ‘feel right’ at the time without giving them too much thoughtful analysis. Buying that new mattress, asking someone on a date, deciding on university subjects, selecting a place to live – these are part of everyday life and yet we generally roll along on ‘gut instinct’ and learn to live with the consequences – good and bad. As an eminent economist and former Google data scientist, Seth Stephens-Davidowitz argues that our gut is not actually all that reliable in the decision making process and he expounds his reasons to ‘prove’ this. His thesis is based on large banks of data sets – ‘big data analytics’. He tackles topics such as what makes a good parent, what are the odds on becoming a celebrity, what predicts a happy marriage and what makes people happy. Hundreds of thousands of dating profiles reveal the most successful strategies to score a date; data from millions of US tax records reveal the best cities in which to raise children; information from millions of career paths reveal reasons why some rise to the top - and make a fortune. Much, though not all, of his unrefined analyses rely on the most basic element of statistics – common averages. Stephens-Davidowitz implies that big data findings equal universal truths that apply to everyone. Unfortunately, being able to explain and apply past data is a bit different from being able to predict the future. Regrettably all Stephens-Davidowitz’s research and data are based on statistics collected in, and applied to, the United States environment. They may not accurately reflect the Australian milieu. Nevertheless, the book is packed with fresh, entertaining insights, some intriguing results, and is narrated in an entertaining, self- depreciating style. It offers cannon fodder to exercise the reader’s critical thinking. Me? I’m not convinced. Being a dyed-in-the wool troglodyte, I still think I’ll continue to listen to my innerds.

THE UNBELIEVED

BY VIKKI PETRAITIS / ALLEN & UNWIN

$32.99

Allen & Unwin’s inaugural crime fiction competition attracted 340 submissions with Vikki Petraitis manuscript declared the winner. Though vastly experienced in writing true crime (The Frankston Murders, The Philip Island Murder) this is Petraitis’ first foray into the genre. She admits, ‘fiction was a whole new thing for me; a way of pushing my skills of craft and storytelling in a new direction’. While she has produced a tense, clever, rattling good tale, real world issues surrounding rape, sexual assault, domestic violence and the way these are dealt with, both by society and the Australian justice system, are central to her plotting. Following a catastrophic investigation in Melbourne, 34 year old Senior Detective Antigone Pollard returns to her home town of Deception Bay to take up residence in her grandmother’s former home. Soon after her arrival, while drinking in a town pub, her beer is spiked by a would-be rapist and Pollard quickly realizes there have been no convictions following a slew of similar incidents and sexual attacks in the surrounding districts. Searching for answers, she encounters a wall of silence amongst the local women as she encourages them to speak out to catch the rapist and end the nightmare. Pollard also becomes involved a ten year old cold case of an apparent murder- suicide involving a farming couple living on the outskirts of town. Having attended primary school with the apparent perpetrator, Pollard finds it difficult to believe that he could be capable of the crime. Shortcomings discovered in the original investigation, and her determination to catch the Deception Bay rapist, lead Pollard in to conflict with her chauvinistic, old-school, police boss and a number of the town’s alpha males. While she may have baggage, and a deserted boyfriend, from her policing in Melbourne, in Antigone Pollard, Petraitis has created a unique, confident, tough-as-nails, no nonsense protagonist consumed by the pursuit of justice. This novel shines a light on Australia’s seeming escalation of gender -based violence and the victims at the centre of it, who, when they have the courage to come forward, are so often ‘unbelieved’.

Paula from Tasmania

BY PAULA XIBERRAS

Matching Matters

BY PAULA XIBERRAS

‘Family Matters’ by Irish Australian author Ellie O’Neill is the story of a family of four women. The title is both a nod to the issues related to family life and a statement that ‘family matters’, that family is important.

In introducing the women of the novel, we can start with grandmother and matriarch Evie, an old fashioned matchmaker in her Irish village, following in her footsteps is her Australian granddaughter Rosie, who is also into matchmaking, however a more sophisticated, scientific method with an algorithm. Rosie’s younger sister Molly is busy caring for her baby and unnecessarily doubting her husband’s love for her, needing a little re-match making herself. Meanwhile the sister’s mother and Evie’s daughter, Yvonne is a woman holding a secret.

I recently spoke to Ellie about the book with its mix of modern Australia and the traditional Ireland concept of matchmaking which extended up to the 1950’s. The character of Evie is the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter which Ellie tells me is a little artistic licence replacing the original Irish concept of the seventh son of a seventh son. It was believed that this seventh son had special powers of healing. Evie too, has special powers which help make her matchmaking accurate as she is able to know what couples should be place together. These special powers are not a pre-requisite of being a matchmaker they are just a literary device of Ellie’s to make the story more interesting.

Ellie says matchmaking in Ireland began, especially in the rural sphere as there was often a long distance between remote farming communities and opportunities for young people to meet were rare. Nowadays in a modern and online world there are no such difficulties.

While matchmaking may still go on in Ireland as it does, Ellie’s own grandmother distinguishes between ‘match making’ and a ’love match’.

While Ellie has lived in Australia for ten years she still hasn’t set a book here but that may change due to the COVID experience when she did start writing her first novel set in Australia.

While writing ‘Family Matters’ Ellie tells me she was continually bothered in her mind by the idea of an older character as her protagonist, the older character would turn out to be Evie. She tried to banish the idea as she was wanting to write a much younger character as her

main protagonist. Evie did in fact prove too strong a character to ignore and it demonstrated to Ellie how an older character can still be a romantic heroine in a novel and not just be there for giving advice to the younger characters although she does that too!

Family Matters by Ellie O’Neill is out now published by Allen and Unwin.

A different Tara

BY PAULA XIBERRAS

In celebration of Naidoc week I spoke to author Dave mangenner Gough and illustrator Samantha Campbell on their book of Tasmania’s/Lutruwita’s Palawa people ‘Luwa Tara Luwa Waypa’.

‘Luwa’ means three and ‘Tara’ means Kangaroo while ‘Waypa’ means men. So we have the story of three kangaroos and three men but they are one and the same. The men transform into kangaroos.

This magical story is that of Dave’s people, who have an ancestral connection to the kangaroo.

The story centres around young to be warrior, Niyakara, as he leaves his village to take part in a rite of passage in hunting kangaroos. He is not only interested in hunting, for on the river banks, collecting shells, is the girl who he is romantically interested in.

Samantha Campbell, whose illustrations beautifully depict the young warrior, says as a child she always drew Her parents would read her stories and she would look at all the illustrations. She later studied graphic design and became a book illustrator.

To consult on the drawings and to give Samantha an idea of what he was looking for Dave sent Samantha 15 different sketches, photographs and designs. Dave says the work Samantha did was beyond his expectations.

Dave loves all the illustrations but says one especially powerful image is one of the Niyakara being carried by the villagers. Another illustration depicts the actual transformation of the elders into kangaroos depicted as kangaroos with human legs!

The book features Palawa words that the reader can learn.

The book also features a QR code so you can hear Dave read the story.

‘Luwa Tara, luwa Waypa’ is out now published by Aboriginal Studies Press.

JOONDALUP ARTIST’S WORK HANGS IN ARKLOW MUSEUM

“I met Brian Harvey (who has now sadly passed away) while I was on holidays from Ireland and staying with friends Richie Doherty and his wife Janice and their family in Hartleap Lane, Beldon in Joondalup,” writes John Mahon who returned to Perth recently for a holiday. “Brian was a most talented man and very good at sketching and painting scenes and landscapes etc

We became good friends and when I told him the story about my grandmother Kate Tyrrell and her ship the it must have inspired him because he went to the trouble of getting a copy of the original painting of Kates ship by Ruben Chappell by email and then made a new modern painting of the vessel. Then he packed it up with pillows and brought it all the way to Ireland to me. I was lost for words when he handed it to me. So in turn I donated it to the Maritime Museum in Arklow, Co. Wicklow where it is on permanent display in the Kate

FAMILY PILGRIMAGE FROM PERTH TO

OFFALY

Perth woman Frances Holly and husband Bill were due to return home from their latest trip to Ireland at the end of October. It was her sixth visit and Bill’s fourth but this trip was special for both of them. A highlight of the trip was a special outing to Birr Library in early October, pictured. Frances presented the library with a copy of her book about her husband’s maternal family, the Day family. “Patricia, the librarian, - who happens to have a niece living in Perth – was delighted to receive it and put the book in the Local History section,” said Frances. Bill’s great-great grandparent’s – John Day and Mary Duffy – were married in the church in Eglish, near Birr, Co. Offaly in 1831. Their nine children were also baptised in the same Eglish church. Two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, went to America in about 1852, followed by their father, John. The family were never re-united. Mary, the mother, followed her remaining seven children to Melbourne, Victoria, in the 1860’s, where they settled in the vicinity of Bright in the Victorian goldfields.

Tyrrell section (pictured top right) Also pictured is Brian (right) with John (right) and Jocelyne Abel. Kate Tyrrells husband John Fitzpatrick had a brother Moses who emigrated to Melbourne in the late 19th century and became chief petty officer in the Victorian navy and was in the Boxer Rebellion in China (1899/1901). Moses himself had a grandson Neil Fitzpatrick who became a famous actor of stage and screen, starting in such films as A Cry in the Dark (1988) and The Great Raid (2008). It has been most rewarding and special to have friends such as Brian and his family as well as the Doherty’s in Perth, all great people. I am forever in their debt.”

“Maureen Relph, my sister-inlaw and the great-greatgranddaughter of John and Mary Day, began researching her family history about ten years ago but sadly, she died before she could write her book,” added Frances. “So I completed the extra research and put the book together so that her efforts would not be in vain.”

Pictured are Frances Holly, left, librarian Patricia and Bill Holly with a copy of the family’s history she presented to the library. Birr Library was built in 1858 – seven years before Mary left Ireland to go to Australia – and was originally a chapel for the Mercy Nuns. If you have a story you would like to share please get in touch at irishsceneperth@gmail. com or 0479047250!

Australian National Irish Dancing Championships

The 2022 Australian National Irish Dancing Championships were held at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre from Tuesday 27th September to Saturday 1st October. More than 650 dancers from all over Australia competed in solo, team and traditional Ceili competitions.

Our first National Championship in 3 years after the 2020 and 2021 National Championships were cancelled due to Covid restrictions and lockdowns. A very special week catching up with our interstate Irish dancing friends.

88 | THE IRISH SCENE

Celtic Academy at the Perth Nationals

O’Hare School at the Perth Nationals

Caoimhe - The Academy & Tara - Celtic Academy

Kavanagh Studio at the 2022 Nationals Championships.

It’s been a fantastic year for the junior trials kicking off. Some photos

It’s been a fantastic year for the club, and we’re already getting ready for next season with the junior trials kicking off. Some photos from our senior presentation night, and the junior teams.

It’s

been a fantastic year for the club, and we’re already getting ready for next season with the junior trials kicking off. Some photos from our senior presentation night, and the junior teams. Follow us on Facebook for lots more information, news and photos!

It’s been a fantastic year for the club, and we’re already getting ready for next season with the junior trials kicking off. Some photos from our senior presentation night, and the junior teams.

A massive thank you for the past year to all of our major sponsors:

• Gay Collins, Pipeline Technics

•

•

• Frankie Atkinson, Muntz partners

Without the generosity of such sponsors, clubs like ours would not be able to run as well as they do and so we thank you for your continued support, it is very much appreciated. We also would like to welcome on board Chris Williams of Muscleworx group, a new major sponsor for 2023. Thanks also to our banner sponsors and various teamwear sponsors, several of whom have been with us for a number of years now.

Follow us on Facebook for lots

Follow us on Facebook for lots more information, news and photos

A massive thank you for the past

And not forgetting the hardworking volunteers and committee members. If you are interested in getting involved with your local club in any capacity – coach, volunteer, committee member – please contact us at CSRFC2020@gmail.com

A massive thank you for the past year to all of our major sponsors

Gay Collins, Pipeline Technics

Declan McDermott, Integrity Property solutions

Dave Madman Muir, Madman Motors, and • Frankie Atkinson, Muntz partners

Follow us on Facebook for lots more information, news and photos!

A massive thank you for the past year to all of our major sponsors: • Gay Collins, Pipeline Technics • Declan McDermott, Integrity Property solutions • Dave Madman Muir, Madman Motors, and • Frankie Atkinson, Muntz partners

Gay Collins, Pipeline Technics Declan McDermott, Integrity

Dave Madman Muir, Madman Frankie Atkinson, Muntz

Without the generosity of such they do and so we thank you for would like to welcome on board 2023. Thanks also to our banner have been with us for a number

Without the generosity of such sponsors, clubs like ours would not be able to run as well they do and so we thank you for your continued support, it is very much appreciated. We also would like to welcome on board Chris Williams of Muscleworx group, a new major sponsor 2023. Thanks also to our banner sponsors and various teamwear sponsors, several of whom have been with us for a number of years now.

And not forgetting the hardworking in getting involved with your local

And not forgetting the hardworking volunteers and committee members. If you are interested in getting involved with your local club in any capacity – coach, volunteer, committee member

– please contact us at CSRFC2020@gmail.com

– please contact us at CSRFC2020@gmail.com

Without the generosity of such sponsors, clubs like ours would not be able to run as well as they do and so we thank you for your continued support, it is very much appreciated. We also would like to welcome on board Chris Williams of Muscleworx group, a new major sponsor for 2023. Thanks also to our banner sponsors and various teamwear sponsors, several of whom have been with us for a number of years now.

sponsors, several of whom have been with us for a number of years now.

And not forgetting the hardworking volunteers and committee members. If you are interested in getting involved with your local club in any capacity – coach, volunteer, committee member

Irish Scene article

Carramar Shamrock Rovers Irish Scene article October 2022

Carramar Shamrock Rovers

Carramar Shamrock Rovers Irish Scene article October 2022

Championship Finals Day

The GAA WA Gaelic Football championship finals concluded in our September finals day down at Tom Bateman Reserve, Thornlie. Conditions were mild, dry and cloudy with a light breeze, great conditions for championship final day! A large crowd of all ages came down to enjoy the football, with good representation from all participating clubs and the kiddies were kept entertained with the ever popular bouncy castle. As always, they were kept well fed and refreshed thanks to grounds manager, Sean O’Casey and his staff. Later in the day, Celtic Academy provided the Irish Dancing entertainment, followed by music with Ciaran O’Sullivan and friends.

The finals were live streamed on the Australasian GAA YouTube and commentated by Morley’s own Robbie O’Callaghan, Gary Cooney and Noel Coyle. Our thanks goes to them for providing some lively commentary across both finals.

Women’s Final

The women opened proceedings with a repeat of the recent league final between St. Finbarr’s and last year’s beaten championship finalists, Southern Districts. Both teams have had their share of success this year already, with St Finbarr’s winning the preseason 7s tournament, having beaten Southern Districts in the final in a well contested close match. Southern Districts returned the favour a few weeks later, defeating St Finbarr’s in the Fr Kelly Cup final. St. Finbarr’s came out on top to comprehensively secure the league final win recently, making them firm favourites going into the Championship final, but that certainly did not put off a very confident Southern’s squad.

As throw up commenced, both teams came out of the blocks at frantic pace, and in keeping in tone with the season so far, early attacks were exchanged. Southern Districts created the first of the chances with a free kick in the opening minute taken by Amanda Ward, but Finbarr’s were very quick to swallow up the chance of a score with many players behind the ball. Southern’s were just as good defensively and brought the ball up to gain a free from 30 yards which was well executed by Amy Cox. Finbarr’s quickly went back up the field with a longrange kick out from keeper Laura Gallagher, and Maud Foley carrying the ball well, but Southern’s again snuffed out their chance, this time with Carrie Keenan intercepting the ball.

A swift counterattack from Maud Foley and Louise Dervan cutting through the Districts

Districts women.

defence to set up for what looked to be the first score for Finbarr’s, but it just went slightly wide of the post. This didn’t deter Finbarr’s and they quickly got up the field again and secured their first score of the game through a Maud Foley free. Districts quickly responded, winning the kickout to set out their own attack. The ball was worked well into the danger zone, and Amy Cox won another free which looked to be dropping short, but Cassie Moane was quick and clinical to palm it into the back of the net to bring Districts further ahead 1-01 – 0-01.

The ball was up and down the field with both teams doing great defensive work, Finbarr’s broke away and this time with linking play between Meadhbh Moloney and Maud Foley to setup Emma Gray who scored Finbarr’s second point. Districts were working tirelessly in defence, but the referee Noel Coyle spotted something that resulted in Amanda Ward being shown the sin bin card for 10 minutes.

With Districts down one player, you would think that Finbarr’s would have the edge, but both teams had their fair share of possession. Finbarr’s had a number of chances which failed to materialise to scores as District’s were defending ruthlessly, with a standout performance from full back Eimear Teague Mossey. Maud Foley scored another free, leaving the gap to just 1 point. The balance of the game shifted heavily in Finbarr’s favour, as they quickly got their stamp on the game. With their attack starting to dominate the forward play and their defence working extremely hard, Finbarr’s were creating a number of chances, but they were unfortunate not to capitalise on them. Just before the half time whistle, Emma Gray came up the field and scored from play leaving the half time score in a draw.

Coming into the second half Districts won the throw up, but the ball trickled over the sideline to ruin a chance of a score. Finbarr’s came straight out of the blocks and took control of the early passages of play in the second half with a fine score from Maud Foley in the opening minutes of the second half. Attack after attack, Districts kept fighting but further scores from Maud Foley, Aoife Kavanagh and Ashling McGinty put Finbarr’s into a confident lead 8 minutes into the second half. With Districts holding on, their corner forward Amy Cox scored another free, and had a chance on goal but Laura Gallagher pulled off a fine save to put the ball over the bar, bringing Cox’s tally to 3 points. With 15 minutes in, Districts were holding on, but a quick-fire goal from a Maud Foley penalty and two goals from Aoife Kavanagh and Clare O’Rourke added even more pressure to the Districts side, but that didn’t stop them from continuing to push on which resulted in a goal from substitute Louise Mc Dermott. This was quickly followed by Emma Doyle from Finbarr’s scoring her first point of the game, leaving the score as 3:09 to 2:03 to Finbarr’s with 3 minutes to go. Further goals from Clare O’Rourke and Emma Doyle sealed the deal for Finbarr’s leaving the final score as 5:09 to 2:03.

For Districts, Cassie Moane, Carrie Keenan and Eimear Teague Mossey worked tirelessly all game and fought hard until the very end. Finbarr’s had several standout players including Maud Foley, Louise Dervan and Emma Gray, and defensively as a unit, with Amy Langan leading in full back, were sensational.

Congratulations Finbarr’s and commiserations to Southern Districts. Thank you to our referee, Noel Coyle and officiating team for a well contested game. Congratulations to Maud Foley

Finbarrs men.

for winning player of the match and to Morley’s Louise Dineen for winning WA’s Best and Fairest award for 2022. Special thanks to Fionnbarr Diamond who took the time to visit our games frequently and record the action for us. Check out our social media for more images!

Men’s Final

With the conclusion of the women’s final complete, all focus shifted to the men’s final. With Finbarr’s women clinching the championship final, Finbarr’s men knew a prestigious double was on the cards if they too could get the job done. Despite Greenwood finishing top of the league standings after 8 rounds, yet St Finbarr’s winning the league final, there was little separating the teams going into this one, although St Finbarr’s may have had the phycological edge having beaten Greenwood already in the championship, before making the final through the newly introduced back door system. With two championship wins on the bounce for Finbarr’s, this was their first opportunity to achieve 3 wins in a row.

With throw up under way, Greenwood started the better team with Chris Young instantly setting up Shane Gaffney. The opening 15 minutes of the game started predictably close, with nothing separating the teams in the opening quarter. In tight finals, goals often win games and as St Finbarr’s counterattacked, a certain goal looked on was it not for a heroic save from Ger Crehan. Although early in proceedings, this would surely prove pivotal to the outcome. From the resulting kick out, Greenwood patiently worked the ball up the field to set up Mark McCabe, who twisted and turned to neatly slot the ball over the bar to bring Greenwood up 0-00 to 0-02. With 10 minutes played, Greenwood looked to be in

better control of the ball, exhibiting typical classic displays of patient and controlled play coupled with measured attacking finesse. St Finbarr’s finally got on the score sheet through Mark Geoghegan, a well converted free having previously been fouled on the edge of the 30M mark. After a few minutes of scrappy play, St Finbarr’s brought the game level with Cian Murray slotting over the bar following the overlap before Mark Geoghegan converted two free’s from fouls on Paul Power and Cian Murray. St Finbarr’s led for the first time after 20 minutes and turned the game on its head with 4 unanswered scores. A cagey few minutes of play followed before Greenwood pulled one back, a 20m free tapped over to bring the scores to 0-04 to 0-03 before Mark McCabe took his score well to bring the scores level once more. With the resulting kick out, St Finbarr’s counter attacked well to catch the Greenwood defence unawares. Paul Power having been pulled down after turning his marker to firstly earn and then convert his free from 25m put the score board to 0-05 to 0-04, before Shane Flynn added another for St Finbarr’s, taking his score very well under pressure on the swivel. With Ger getting proceedings swiftly underway with a well-timed accurate kickout, Greenwood still found time to find one more score just before half time through Shane Gaffney. As the second half has progressed, St Finbarr’s grew into the game, making better use of the play in the latter 20 minutes of the first half. The half time whistle blows, there is very little between the teams with St Finbarr’s edging it 0-06 to 0-05.

As the second half commenced, both teams started lively with attacks exchanged but both defences winning the early battles in the first few minutes. With Greenwood in possession in midfield, a hopeful high ball into the penalty

finbarrs women.

area resulted in a penalty after Mark McCabe won the ball well and laid it off only for the oncoming attacker to be dragged down. Although a glorious goal chance presented itself, Mark McCabe opted for the safe option and slotted the ball over the black spot. Perhaps an opportunity passed up, and how significant that would be remains to be seen, but the scores are level at 6 points each. Another few cagey minutes passed with defences snuffing out each attack before Mark McCabe again slotted over having utilised some fancy footwork to find space. With the scores now 0-08 to 0-06 in Greenwood’s favour, they now looked on top and in control of the game. However, a few frantic moments changed the complexity of the game. Two attacks from Finbarr’s created a lot of trouble for Greenwood’s defence. The first resulting in a black card and an easy score tapped over the bar by Paul Power, before a second attack straight from the resulting kick out, led to a penalty. Both sinical fouls and no real legitimate complaints. With another penalty in the game, St Finbarr’s have a glorious chance to put themselves back in front. Responsibility lay with Mark Geoghegan, who blasted the ball to the keepers right, only to see his sterling effort denied with a top draw double save from Greenwood goalkeeper Ger Grehan. Not settling for his initial heroics, the veteran keeper reacted quickly to again deny Finbarr’s from close range by saving the rebound point blank even though it appeared to be a certain goal. But Ger’s work wasn’t finished there, reacting quickly to instinctively deny Ciaran Fitzpatrick after getting his hand to deflect a 45 dropping short. The score remained 0-08 to 0-07 for a few minutes and Greenwood didn’t let the heads drop despite being a man down. Mark McCabe and

Chris Young added another two more points to put Greenwood 3 points clear with 10 minutes to go. As the game entered its final stages, Mark Geoghegan pulled one back, slotting over from the 20m line before Ciaran Fitzpatrick drilled another over, turning onto his favourite right foot. Another quick kickout resulted in a counterattack and swift reply from Greenwood to respond in clinical fashion ensuring there were two points between them. With 3 minutes on the clock, a high ball not dealt with properly by Greenwood was worked out to Ronan Flaherty who showed good composure to slot over from 18m whilst under pressure. But it proved not enough in the end as Greenwood smartly played the clock down in the final minute by keeping the ball well and showing a calm head to keep possession.

As the whistle blew, frustration fell on St Finbarr’s who misses out on that prestigious club double and 3 championship wins on the trot. A valiant effort but coming agonisingly short, a technical game that was tight all the way through, with never more than 2 points between the teams. Greenwood will feel proud of their display and efforts, although a small element of relief as they held on to a deserved win and to regain the championship title. Strong performances across the board on both teams, but a particular special mention goes to Mark

Greenwood men.

Geoghegan and Peter Powell for Finbarr’s, with Ger Grehan, Shane Gaffney, Mark Mc Cabe and Chris Young putting in great displays, well done lads!

A huge thank you to the referee Michael Mossey and umpiring team for their efforts on the day, as well as an extended thank you to Sean O’Casey and his team for being great hosts throughout.

State Games 2022:

GAA WA was well presented at this year’s Australasian Games held in Melbourne by the men and women’s football teams. The women’s team made it to the final against New South Wales, but narrowly missed out on the win! Well done to both teams for representing WA, and a special mention goes to our 7 All-Star winners:

Men:

Peadar Faughnan – St. Finbarr’s

Shane Gaffney – Greenwood

Women:

Laura Gallagher – St. Finbarr’s

Maud Foley – St. Finbarr’s

Joanne Cregg – St. Finbarr’s

Cassie Moane – Southern Districts

Carrie Keenan – Southern Districts

State team.

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