Belinda O’Dea :: IT Project Manager

Where are you from in Ireland and when did you come to Oz?
I’m from Co Sligo and I arrived in September 2007.

Under what circumstances?
Due to sibling pressure. We had a Permanent Residency (PR) Visa since 2004 and time was ticking on the take-up date. We needed to have lived here for two full years by September 2009 in order to extend it or get citizenship. (Before July 2007, PR required two years’ permanent residency to qualify for citizenship; since then it has changed to four years.) Now with the recession in Ireland we are very glad we didn’t waste our PR chance.

Are you single or married? Do you have kids?
Married, and I’ve had a baby since moving here.

What do you do for a living? Describe your career path?
I’m an IT project manager. With no career plan or guidance, I went to University College Galway to study arts and then chucked it in for a permanent job with AIB. I then discovered IT and trained to be a programmer with AIB’s in-house programme. I regretted quitting college so went to Trinity College Dublin to do a BSc in IT and then overdid it and studied for an MSc too. I moved into telco work between degrees, and after 15 years of permanent jobs, I moved into IT contracting and working abroad.

Was it easy to use your Irish experience to get a start in Oz?
Yes and no, having IT degrees and having English as a first language made things very easy, but when I first came I was a programmer/analyst and there weren’t many programming jobs for white women in their mid-30s, at a rate commensurate with experience anyway. So I had to move into business analysis which I hated but thankfully it led me to project management, which I love.

Is Oz a good place to pursue a career in your industry?
I don’t think it is especially better than anywhere else. I’ve worked in Denmark, Israel and Ireland and they are all pretty good for IT jobs.

How would you advise someone looking to work and live in Oz?
All the job agents in IT seem to be Cockney barrow boys. Where one agency won’t put you forward, another will for the same job, so play the field as they don’t always know what they are on about. Two litres of milk can vary in price from $2 to $5. Private health insurance covers dental and optical, which it doesn’t in Ireland, and Medicare is also a great facility to have at your disposal.

What, if anything, do you miss about Ireland?
The Irish sense of humour. A decent pint of Guinness. The stretch in the evening. The cost of books and decent bookshops (think Charlie Byrne’s in Galway). Work dos that end at 3am.

The mainly Irish crew of Catalpa Formwork. (Pic: Fergus O'Neill)

Twin brothers from the remote Dursey Island off Cork’s Beara Peninsula are working on some of the largest projects in Western Australia’s mining boom.

Barry and Fergus O’Neill left Dursey Island, which has a population of fewer than 10 people to establish a construction company in Western Australia in 2009.

Dursey is the only place in Ireland acessible by cable cart and it has no shops, pubs or restaurants and is more than 15,000km from Perth.

The O’Neill brothers have set up Catalpa Formwork, which takes its name from the famous 1876 Catalpa rescue, in which six Fenian prisoners were sprung from Fremantle Prison.

The brothers set up Catalpa Formwork in 2009 and employ about 35 people, most of whom are Irish. They employ two Australian apprentices and sponsor a local camogie team.

The O’Neills learned their trade from their father and after working on large projects in London, such as Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium, came to Perth because of the abundance of work.

Catalpa provides concrete works, formwork and shuttering on large mining projects and is currently working in Cape Preston in the mineral rich Pilbara region. “The main [consideration] is that you have to be prepared to work very hard and to work in the heat,” said Fergus. The Pilbara sears with regular temperatures of 35C and higher.

For new companies, said Fergus, it helps “to have a lot of money behind you”, as payment for jobs often occurs once the job is finished, which can be up to six months away.

Gerry Durkin, a 27-year old from Longford, works with Catalpa. He also said that the heat takes a lot of getting used to. “It’s hard work and a new experience. You have to be prepared to undergo serious heat,” he says.

Fergus says that there is a vast amount of work in the mining sector in Western Australia and that European construction workers are valued because “they have been at it for centuries”.

WA’s skills in demand list gives details of a number of highly needed mining occupations. Chemical, civil, geotechnical, petrol and mining engineers are a selection of the specialist workers needed for large projects in the Karatha and Cape Preston region of the state.

There has been an increase of more than 91 per cent in the number of 457 visas for Irish workers in WA between mid-2009 and mid-2010.

By Luke O’Neill

Expats can cast symbolic ballot

Irish citizens abroad may be enfranchised to vote in future elections, if politicians follow through on enthusiastic rhetoric during the first weeks of the campaign currenty under way in Ireland.

Both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, for the first time, a proposal to
allow Irish citizens abroad to vote in presidential elections.

Meanwhile, Fine Gael’s Simon Coveney – tipped to be a possible future leader – has gone further, declaring that the current disenfranchisement on Irish citizens abroad “must change”.

“I think when we talk about political reform, one of the things that must change is that we must allow Irish people living abroad to vote in general elections in Ireland,” he said.

“The idea that 50,000 people have left Ireland over the past year because they can’t find work here and they can’t
develop a future here.

“The fact that we’re not going to allow those people vote for a new government who can solve the problems that have driven them out of Ireland, to me seems obscene.”

Mr Coveney said he was personally commited to extending the franchise to those who have left Ireland “in recent years” as part of an overall political reform agenda”.

“We need to allow people who have left Ireland in recent years a vote in the general election and we need to facilitate that through Irish embassies or through some other mechanism.”

Meanwhile, a former Irish Echo deputy editor, Michael Finn, who is running as an independent in Mr Coveney’s constituency of Cork, has vowed to pursue the issue of emigrant votes with the major parties.

Mr Finn, a Cork City councillor, described the “brain drain” of thousands of young people leaving Ireland every month as a “national identity crisis”.

He is pressing for action to be taken.

“I have contacted the leaders or spokespeople of all parties in a bid to get this issue brought front of house,” Cllr Finn said.

“As the keys to Ireland’s future continue to unlock opportunities in Australia, Canada and Britain – closing doors behind, largely out of necessity – it is nothing short of a deficit in our democracy that these people cannot have a say in the running of the country that they will hopefully one day return to.”

Have your say on votes for Irish citizens abroad. Email editor@irishecho.com.au

by Billy Cantwell

Sr Angela Mary Doyle

Queensland Mercy nun Sr Angela Mary Doyle is synonomous with the Mater Hospital in Brisbane. Now, the 85-year-old Clare native has decided to write a memoir. She spoke to Claire McGreal about her full and rewarding life.

In 1947, a young Irish nun left her home and family in Cranny, Co Clare to join the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy in Brisbane.

It was another 20 years before Sr Angela Mary would ever step foot on Irish soil again.

She went on to become a leading figure in the Mater Hospital organisation in Queensland, dedicating herself tirelessly to charity work and the plight of those less fortunate.

The now 85-year-old was named Queenslander of the Year in 1989 and has won many other awards for her contribution to the Mater and the Queensland and Australian communities. She has just released her memoirs – Mercy, Mater And Me – which was launched by her friend, former prime minister and fellow Queenslander Kevin Rudd recently.

When Sr Angela Mary first left Ireland and her close-knit family of nine behind in 1947, she thought she’d never return.

“The distance was so great back then and communication was slow. It was a very serious break that went on for 20 years.”

After being rejected from convents in Clare due to her lack of secondary education, Sr Angela joined the Timoleague Convent in West Cork, where she trained to be a teacher and studied the Australian curriculum.

Like many parents whose children emigrate, Sr Angela Mary’s weren’t over the moon about her decision to go to Australia.

“There used to be a belief that Irish parents in those days wanted their daughters to be nuns and their sons to be priests,” Sr Angela Mary told us. “But that was a myth really. They just wanted the best for us.

“My mother was not very happy about it, not one bit. But my father said if that’s what she wants to do, we shouldn’t stand in her way.”

It took the group of young Irish nuns five weeks to reach Australia on a troop boat from Dun Laoghaire in 1947.

And it was only on the train from Sydney to Brisbane over a month later that Sr Angela Mary said she started to doubt herself.

“I suddenly realised, what do I think I can do? I’ve come all this way, what do I think I can do…I can’t do anything…but I had no money, I couldn’t go back.”

These apparent self-doubts served only to spur Sr Angela Mary on to great things in Australia. Within one year of arriving in Brisbane she was reluctantly moved from teaching to nursing at the Mater Hospital in Brisbane.

“I wasn’t enthusiastic about it, to put it mildly, because I had never had any medical experience.”

She trained to be a nurse, achieving a number of diplomas, before being appointed administrator of three Mater Public Hospitals in Brisbane, which included being responsible for a number of areas including finance, engineering and human resources.

But Sr Angela Mary said the appointment made her feel like a ‘fraud’.

“I really protested against it because I felt I wasn’t equipped [for it] and I feared I could be a terrible failure…but in those days you did what you were told,” she explains.

She set about expanding her skills and studied business at the Queensland Institute of Technology. She completed the course and received a degree before securing a fellowship at the Australian College of Health Service Executives.

“I felt I couldn’t do the job properly without this…I think my mother and father had rung into us [that] education was critically important.”

This, she says, has been her proudest achievement so far.

“Having been unable to go to secondary school it was a big day for me… it really was something I had to work very hard for, I had to go to lectures five nights a week…that was what pleased me most, because I felt then I was qualified to be in the position I was in.”

In 1949, Sr Angela Mary’s younger sister Nuala also joined the Sisters of Mercy in Brisbane, and dedicated her life to charity work in Australia.

The young women wrote to their family often and it was via telegraph that they found out that their father had passed away.

“This was very, very sad, because we knew what our mother and our family at home were going through”.

In 1967, 20 years after she first boarded the ship for Australia, Angela Mary finally went back to visit her family in Clare.

“In that time my brothers and sisters had grown up, the youngest I hardly recognised…it was a time of great emotion and a deeply moving meeting for us.”

During her 21 years as administrator of the Mater Hospitals, Sr Angela Mary was a highly influential and respected public figure.

Despite stepping down from that role 10 years ago, she kept up her involvement with the organisation, serving in various executive roles.

She was also involved in raising awareness about those suffering from HIV/AIDS in the 1980s, a time when such work was considered politically incorrect, especially for a Catholic nun.

It was while she was at an AIDS conference in the United States in 1989 that she received a phone call from former Queensland premier Mike Ahern telling her she had been named as Queenslander of the Year, something she says “astonished” her.

Sr Angela Mary was also involved for many years with helping Taiwanese people who came to Australia and struggled to find their feet.

She learned basic Mandarin so she could “understand their worries”.

It was through this work that her memoirs came about. She was approached by a Taiwanese businessman, who had heard how she helped his fellow country people, and asked her to write her life story with his financial backing.

With the help of well-known Brisbane historian Helen Gregory, Angela Mary spent 18 months penning her memoirs Mercy, Mater and Me. They travelled back to Ireland, visiting her hometown of Cranny and her four siblings in Ireland.

She also enlisted the help of long time friend, transport minister Noel Dempsey. “I’m very grateful to Noel, he is a very knowledgeable man and no mean historian himself.”

While she says that she will “always love Ireland”, Australia is now where she calls home.

“Australia and Queensland have made me feel very welcome, I love it dearly and this is where I will remain,” she says cheerfully.

And she says while her birthplace has certainly changed over the years, she is sure that Irish people still retain their charitable nature.

“I don’t think that Ireland will never lose its soul, it will ever forget its own poverty and how people were relatively happy despite being desperately poor.”

Sr Angela Mary Doyle’s memoir Mercy, Mater and Me is available to buy at www.maryryan.com.au

A funeral has been held in Sydney for Trooper Jason Brown, who died in a battle in Afghanistan on August 13.

The Irish Australian, whose mum Ann is from Carlow, became the 18th Australian soldier to die in Afghanistan when he was killed in an engagement with insurgents on August 21.

The 29-year-old was farewelled at a private service in Normanhurst in Sydney’s northwest before his burial at Castebrook Cemetery in Rouse Hill.

His uncle, Fr Paul Fitzpatrick – who is parish priest of Portlaoise parish in Co Laois – travelled from Ireland to officiate at the funeral mass.

Trooper Brown’s grandparents originate from Graiguecullen and Killeshin Co Laois.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Leader Of The Opposition Tony Abbott joined Trooper Brown’s family and friends at the Queen of Peace Catholic Church.

He is survived by his dad Graham – a Vietnam veteran – his mum Ann and sister, Stephanie.

Trooper Brown, a member of the Special Air Service, was killed after insurgents opened fire while he was on patrol in the Northern Kandahar province.

In a statement, his parents Graham and Ann and sister Stephanie said he was a career soldier who dreamed from a young age of being nothing else.

“Everyone who knew him knew his dream. He strived to be the best he could be at his job and was successfully accepted into the elite Special Air Service Regiment,” they said.

“He was born to be a soldier, and believed in what he was doing. He died doing what he loved. We are all very proud of him. “We will miss him dearly, as will his army mates, who were his second family.”

• Fr Fitzpatrick is keen to meet expats from Carlow and Laois while in Sydney. If you wish to contact him, send an email to info@portlaoiseparish.ie

By Anna Brazil and Billy Cantwell

Three Irishmen living in Western Australia have appeared in court charged in connection with a drugs bust in Perth.

Police say 2,000 BZP or ‘party drug’ tablets were posted to a number of addresses in Scarborough and Port Kennedy, along with around 35 grams of cocaine.

Christopher Michael Murtagh, 24, Alan Farrelly, 26, and Garry David Black, 38,  were arrested in Port Kennedy and Scarborough on August 16. All three were charged with Conspiracy to Possess a Prohibited Drug with Intent to Sell/Supply at Perth Magistrates Court.

Alan Farrelly was also charged in relation to the selling of a prohibited drug.

The men, understood to be from Bailieborough, Co Cavan, were released on bail and are due back in court on August 31.

BZP, short for N-benzylpiperazine, is considered to be a ‘club’ or ‘party’ drug. It’s used as a euphoric stimulant that produces similar effects to amphetamines, but is said to be around ten times less potent. BZP tablets are often sold with a hallucinogen in the form of MDMA, and are associated with the rave or nightclub scene.

BZP has been banned in all Australian states since 2006, when it was deemed illegal in Victoria. The US banned it in 2004. Following the lead of several other EU countries, Health Minister Mary Harney made BZP illegal in Ireland in March 2009.

It is also banned in New Zealand and the UK, while it is yet to be outlawed in Canada.

by Claire McGreal

Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Federal Labor Candidate for Robertson, Irish Australian Deborah O’Neill

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has praised the contribution of generations of Irish immigrants to Australia.

Answering a series of questions about issues of concern to the Irish community, Ms Gillard reaffirmed her wish to see an Australian Republic in the future, expressed a desire to visit Ireland and looked forward to the forthcoming Irish In Australia exhibition at the Australian Museum in Canberra.

Irish Echo (IE): Have you ever been to Ireland? When, under what circumstances?

Julia Gillard (JG): Unfortunately I have not yet had the chance to visit Ireland but have always wanted to. As a person with proud Celtic heritage, it is certainly on the list!

Have you any Irish background?
I do not have any direct Irish ancestors, but my grandmother’s surname was Dalton – which is Irish.

Much is said about the strong cultural and historical connections between Ireland and Australia. What do you believe has been the legacy of the Irish to Australia?
The legacy is a rich infusion of culture, practices and ongoing relationships. From the nuns who came from Ireland to establish the congregations of Sisters of Mercy, over 150 years ago, our growing fan base for Gaelic football, the perennial contest of the Rugby World Cup and the great Irish racehorses that come to contest in the Melbourne Cup (and occasionally take it home!).

I’m certainly looking forward to the wonderful exhibition being mounted at the National Museum of Australia next year, highlighting the connections between our two countries.

Of course I would say that we’ve all benefited from the larrikin humour that is part of both Irish and Australian culture – from the days of convicts and bushrangers, through to the contribution of both the Irish and Australians in WW1. We all know that the Irish have a fierce reputation for ingenuity and creativity, their great sense of entrepreneurship and engineering genius – traits which are of course shared with the Welsh!

Our great Australian democracy has benefited from the contributions of many Irish and Australians of Irish descent – from Daniel Denehy to John Curtin and Paul Keating. The Irish-Australian Parliamentary Friendship Group is one of the strongest in the Australian Parliament, and of course Labor has our own Irish-born politician, Senator Ursula Stephens.

Q: Ireland’s economic problems have caused more young Irish to explore their emigration options. Many are looking to Australia but there is a growing concern that the current anti-immigration debate here will feed through into policy. Before they spend thousands of dollars on visa applications, how can you reassure would-be skilled migrants from Ireland that the visa goalposts will not be shifted as they ponder which country to emigrate to?
The Australian government, through its overseas missions, has made it clear to skilled migrants in Britain, Ireland and elsewhere that their skills are both wanted and needed here. But the domestic political messages of the current campaign are clear – more immigrants bad, less immigrants good.
So there’s no ambiguity, do you agree with the following propositions:
Australia owes an enormous debt of gratitude to its immigrants. Australia has benefited enormously from the arrival of hundreds of thousands of migrants, in many cases educated by the taxpayers of other countries. Australia is reliant on immigration to continue to grow and prosper.

Since 1945, seven million people have come to Australia as new settlers. Immigration has always been a part of Australia’s story and will continue to be part of our future. I am proud of my own immigrant heritage.

The Irish have been coming to Australia since the earliest days of our colonial history. Today, millions of Australians have Irish ancestry.

We recognise the massive economic and social contribution made by migrants and believe that Australia’s diversity is one of its greatest strengths.

Since 2007, the Federal Labor Government has made a number of reforms to our migration program to make sure it maintains its integrity and gets the right balance. That means ensuring that temporary routes do not become permanent by default and focusing on the real needs of our economy and employers.

I have indicated my vision of a sustainable population – one that supports our environment and quality of life and is in turn supported by proper resources and infrastructure.

Q: The preoccupation with asylum seekers and boat people has led some commentators to observe that the campaign is more akin to the battle to become governor of Arizona than prime minister of a modern, multicultural nation. The fact that more illegals come here by plane on legitimate visas does not seem to inhibit the vitriol directed at boat people. Aren’t those who are not preoccupied with border security right to conclude that the major parties are pandering to xenophobes and racists with their intolerant stance on asylum seekers?

I have said during this campaign that this debate should be had on the facts and that we should keep it in proper perspective. But concern among Australians about these arrivals is not something to be dismissed. I am committed to working towards an effective, long-term regional solution to deal with the challenge of irregular maritime arrivals. Our objective is to stop the boats, not at our shoreline, but before they even leave those far away ports. We are working with other countries both in our region and in places like Afghanistan to reduce the number of people starting that journey and return those who are found not to have a case to stay.

Mr Abbott and the Coalition have sought to capitalise upon the anxieties of some Australians to demonise asylum seekers for political gain.

The new British government has dropped plans to reform the monarchy which might have ended the legal ban on Catholics becoming king or queen as well as the rules of succession. We understand that Gordon Brown had discussed the proposed changes with Kevin Rudd late last year. Given that you still swear an oath of allegiance to the same monarch, don’t you think that the current rules are both sectarian and sexist? Is Australia bound by what Britain does regarding the rules of succession concerning our head of state and if so, doesn’t that mean that Australia is still not truly independent? Are republicans entitled to be disillusioned with the Rudd/Gillard government given that the issue of constitutional reform has been completely ignored since 2007?

I believe that at some point Australia will become a republic. A referendum on the republic is something that will happen at some point in the future, but our focus now is on delivering things that make a difference for Australian families.

Given Ireland’s troubled historical relationship with Britain, many Irish Australians find objectionable the presence of the Union Jack on the Australian flag. Can they look forward to a day when the Australian flag will be one that can be embraced by them and others who find it objectionable like the Aboriginal people?

I support retaining the Australian flag in its current form.

Richmond Tigers Irish defender Jamie O’Reilly makes his debut for the club in this weekends’ clash of the titans against rivals Carlton at the MCG.

The 22 year old former Gaelic football player is the Melbourne club’s first ever Irish player, after picking up the AFL code at a remarkable pace.

The County Down native was first spotted by Richmond recruiters playing U-21s for his county last March, and the following week in an All Ireland semi.

After being offered a trial with the Tigers, he put his commerce degree on hold and made the trip to Australia.

Following an impressive performance at Punt Road late last year, he signed for the Tigers on an international two season rookie contract. “I’m really loving it,” he told  richmondfc.com.au last month.

“It’s everything that I expected it would be, living the professional lifestyle. At home I had a part-time job, was studying full-time and had football five or six nights a week for all different teams.

“So it’s good to be able to concentrate all of my energy on one thing.

O’Reilly also recently told the Irish Echo how he hoped to notch up a senior game in the three remaining rounds of the season.

Now it seems his dream has come true, and after playing for the reserves for the past year, the Irish man will line out on the half back line against Carlton on Saturday.

The AFL rookie will be well represented for the big game, with the Tigers reportedly flying out his parents from Belfast.

He also told the Irish Echo how the dream was to follow the footsteps of fellow Irish players who made their AFL debuts in their first year.

‘You could almost count on one hand the guys who have managed to do it [play in their first year]- like Martin Clarke, Michael Quinn and Colm Begley, so it would be great to do it.

But does he have any hankerings to return to his native Down and Gaelic football?

O’Reilly admits he’s thought about it, but that he has no regrets. ‘I’m out here and I’ve made the decision to pursue another adventure, and I’m fully focused on trying to play senior football’.

Convict sites across Australia – rich with Irish history – have been added to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO) World Heritage List.

The sites include Hyde Park Barracks in Sydney, Port Arthur in Tasmania, and Fremantle Prison in Western Australia.

Professor Elizabeth Malcolm, Gerry Higgins Chair of Irish Studies at the University of Melbourne, was one of those to welcome the move.

“Anything that goes to protect convict heritage would have to be welcomed by anyone working in the field of Irish studies,” she told Irish Australia.

Australia’s Environment Protection and Heritage Minister Peter Garrett also welcomed the World Heritage committee’s decision to inscribe 11 local convict sites on the list, helping to ensure their preservation into the future.

The recognition of Hyde Park Barracks has particular significance for the Irish community in Australia. Acting at times as a prison, immigration processing centre, orphanage, infirmary and ‘madhouse’, among other things, the site now also hosts Australia’s Monument to the Great Irish Famine.

Another recognised site, Fremantle Prison, was home to one of the most infamous and audacious prison yarns in Australian history. The Catalpa Escape of 1876 saw six members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood escape on the whaler which travelled 11 months from Massachusetts to collect the convicts in Bunbury.

Bevan Beaver, the executive manager of Fremantle Prison, said he was delighted with the news.

“It is significant because it is recognition of the convicts’ efforts,” said Mr Beaver.

“Western Australia was set up as a free colony. But it was failing. So from our perspective the story of forced migration is what got Western Australia up and running. Basically convict labour saved the day.”

Five of the 11 World Heritage listed sites are located in Tasmania.

State Minister for Environment, Parks and Heritage, David O’Byrne said that obtaining World Heritage recognition of Australia’s convict past is a significant milestone.

“Forced penal migration had a particular impact on Tasmania because of its sheer scale in relation to the general population,” Minister O’Byrne said.

“This is a major part of the Tasmanian story. “I’m quite proud to own up to some convict ancestry — my family is descended from four brothers, the O’Byrnes, who were convicted in Ireland and transported.”

Other sites included in the announcement are Cockatoo Island Convict Site and Old Great North Road, in NSW; Brickendon and Woolmers Estates, Darlington Probation Station, the Coal Mines Historic Site and the Cascades Female Factory in Tasmania, and Kingston and Arthur’s Vale Historic Area on Norfolk Island.

www.unesco.org

Dozens of Irish nationals have been left in visa and payroll limbo following the collapse of Sydney-based company, PayFair. The firm went into voluntary liquidation on August 10 owing money to as many as 100 Irish nationals on temporary visas in Australia.

Up to 20 Irish contract workers, currently sponsored by the company on 457 visas, are understood to be talking to other immigration management companies in a bid to salvage their visas.

These workers are hired directly by employers or through recruitment agencies but have their sponsorship and payroll through PayFair.

The Irish Echo has learned that liquidators are working on trying to find other companies to take over the sponsorship and immigration aspect of the firm. This includes competitors and other recruitment firms.

One Irish person here on a Working Holiday Visa and whose payroll was handled by PayFair, has told the Irish Echo their salary has been paid in full to date, but that she is now being moved to another management company.

The Irish Echo has seen the list of nearly 300 creditors, which includes many Irish names with addresses in both Sydney and Melbourne. The Irish Echo is also on the list as PayFair had booked advertisements in the newspaper and the website over the past twelve months.

Money owed to individuals ranges from one dollar to over four thousand. It’s understood this may include superannuation payments. Liquidators are continuing their examination of the firm’s finances, and more should be known in the coming days.