Ireland's Brian O'Driscoll weighed up a move Down Under before committing to Leinster until 2013.

Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll has revealed he was recently tempted by the possibility of joining a Super Rugby side.

Earlier this year, O’Driscoll was at the centre of intense speculation about his future with reports linking the Ireland skipper with a move to either France or Australia.

After lengthy consideration he signed a new two-year deal with the IRFU, which will see him stay with Leinster until 2013.

Although ultimately committing his future to Leinster, the 32-year-old admits he was tempted at the prospect of a move to Australia.

“I was tempted by one season of Super 15,” O’Driscoll revealed in The Guardian.

“That would’ve been interesting and I had spoken to one person about it in Australia. I definitely thought that would be an opportunity but different variables in life shape your decision-making. I have a wife with her own profession that I have to consider.

“On top of that we’ve built something special at Leinster and that was a big component in my re-signing. In the end it was a bit of a no-brainer.”

For now O’Driscoll is busy preparing to line out for Leinster in the Heineken Cup semi-final against Toulouse this Saturday.  Although the Irish province are favourites, the experienced centre is refusing to look beyond the semi-final showdown.

“Having lost three (semi-finals) of them before I’m avoiding saying anything about gut instinct,” he went on.

“Let’s just say it’s an opportunity for a huge performance – and a chance to get some revenge over Toulouse and to make another European final. That’s more than enough to keep the mind focused this week.”

Although the match will keep him away from Friday’s Royal Wedding, O’Driscoll is grateful to have secured a home draw for the crucial match.

“We lost to them in the semi in Toulouse last year. But being at home is a big advantage. We’ll have over 40,000 supporting us and they’ll only have 4,000.

“It’s also about being able to sleep in your own bed the night before. It’s a small thing but waking up here, at home on Saturday morning, is really important. I’ll be up early enough for breakfast and lounging around. I’ll make my usual lunch at half-twelve. My missus knows to leave me alone. She won’t be getting much chat out of me.

“And then it’s off to the game, like any other Magners League or Heineken pool match – except this happens to be a European semi-final,” concluded the Leinster talisman.

The Heineken Cup semi-final – Leinster v Toulouse – will be screened live on Setanta Sports on May 1 at 12.25am EST.

Edinburgh Gardens, North Fitzroy
Photography by Darryl Kennedy

Bill Ayres and Dawn Ayres.

Damien Burns, Mary Shevin and Lucy O’Mahony.

Donal Nevin wins two return tickets to Ireland, presented by Seamus Moloughney of Emerald Travel.

Frank Keoghan from Kilkenny and Michael Collins from Tipperary.

Martin Hegarty from Clare, Ben Blake and Sean Aherne.

Peter Green and Margaret Green.

Paddy Maginn, owner of Paddys Meats, and De Arne Leonard.

Maureen Darcy and Breege Sullivan from Galway.

Gaelic Park, Willawong

Photography by Jim O’Reilly

President of the Queensland Irish Association, Eamon Gaffney, plays the pipes.

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Brisbane St Patrick’s Day Parade 2011

Photography by Jim O’Reilly

Dennis McAuliffe from Clare, John Joe Hartnett from Kerry and Pádraic Dooley from Offaly.

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Pint on Punt Hotel, Melbourne
Photography by Darryl Kennedy

Donatella DiFolco from Monaghan and Clare Devlin from Antrim.

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Minister Fitzgerald spoke about emigration and a more hopeful future in Ireland.

Ireland’s new minister for children, Frances Fitzgerald, has responded to a range issues of concern to the expat community in Australia in an interview with the Irish Echo.

Ms Fitzgerald visited Sydney, Canberra and Christchurch last week. In what is a tradition for Irish Government ministers who come to Sydney, Frances Fitzgerald visited the Irish Australian Welfare Bureau (IAWB), the Bondi not-for-profit group that helps the Irish Australian community.

We asked what were her impressions of their work.

“There’s always a range of social issues that any emigrant group find themselves confronted by. While an embassy or consular staff do a certain amount, what those groups do nobody else can do. It was very interesting to speak to them about the traditional challenges that they face.

“As an Irish Government minister, I don’t want to see any young people in a situation where they feel they don’t have a choice about coming [to Australia], or that they’re driven because they cannot find work at home.

“That’s why we’re introducing a jobs budget as one of the first things the new government will be doing, to take action and create an environment where jobs will be created again so that people aren’t under pressure to leave.”

With Australia receiving just three per cent of emigrant funding from the Irish Government last year, the Irish Echo asked if the new government would maintain IAWB’s level of funding.

“At the moment we have to be very financially strict … so we’re not going to make false promises. But as the situation changes here with Irish immigration, as you have greater numbers, obviously the support system has to reflect and support those needs.

“If the needs get greater then you have to look at the funding again and make sure that it’s realistic and does the job it’s meant to do. But on anything about funding, we’re not going to lie to people. We’re going to be very open with people.”

Asked if there was scope for the Irish and Australian governments to negotiate a new reciprocal visa deal, Ms Fitzgerald said she would favour “high-quality information” for Irish citizens.

“At this stage what I think is most important, given that there are a lot of opportunities in Australia and that the economy is doing well and there are skills shortages – and given that we have those skills – I think a matching is necessary. I don’t think it needs an agreement at government level, necessarily.

“I think what’s more needed is high-quality information. I think we do have to build that, more so people who are going to come out here really understand what’s available, do the preliminary work and investigation beforehand, and that there isn’t a false idea that you just arrive and there’s a job.

“I say all this in the context of us wanting to have jobs at home for our young people.”

In response to the suggestion that emigration was in fact helping reduce the burden on Ireland’s social welfare system, the minister said that was “not a road you would ever want to go down”.

“You would never wish, ever, for any reason …that your young talented population would leave the country, or felt pressurised to do it.

“I’m a mother of three young men and the idea that the country of their birth cannot offer them opportunity is a terrible condemnation. That’s why the people have replaced the government and are looking for a fresh start.”

She said young people who had come here were getting a great opportunity and she hoped they would bring new skills back to Ireland.

“We have to look at the opportunity that all these young people who are coming to Australia are getting. What I would like to think about is the skills that they will develop here, and come back. I think many people will come back who have emigrated during this period, as our economy begins to grow, as we create jobs and get a handle on our finances.”

Would the government look at the habitual residency stipulation, that has led to an increase in returning emigrants – from non-EU countries –  being ineligible for welfare?

“We have agreements within the EU – of free movement, of people – and reciprocal arrangements in relation to social welfare,” Ms Fitzgerald said.

“If you’re outside of that, even though you’re an Irish citizen, you don’t have automatic rights. But our system is flexible enough to look at these cases, individually, and if people are assessed to be in need they can be responded to.”

She said there was no easy way to change the habitual residency rule, but stressed that the government’s proposed universal healthcare legislation would be open to all.

“It’s not easy to see that being resolved because much of the social welfare system is based on having made a contribution in the country, but there is flexibility in it.”

The minister said she was open to hearing people’s experiences regarding post-nuptial citizenship. The present rules require Irish citizens’ marriage partners to live for three consecutive years in Ireland before they can be even considered for citizenship.

“I think the moving is the important thing. If they have the right to work … I don’t see it as a huge disincentive. But I would be open to hearing people’s experiences about that.”

Asked for more detail about proposals to extend voting in presidential elections to Irish citizens living abroad, she said:   “It’s hard not to feel an empathy with it. It’s a sign that people are committed to the country and want to be committed and that’s really important.

“Obviously, we have had an [emigrant voting] campaign over long periods. What I think has been missing is a rigorous analysis of what it actually means and how you would implement it.”

Conducting a pilot test around presidential elections would be a “good place to start” and more detail would emerge during the constitutional convention, she said.

The success of any pilot test was likely to be measured on “the ability of embassies around the world to reach out to the numbers of Irish citizens there and to see what the take-up would be”. She said it would have to be examined after that and stressed the complexities of that enfranchisement.

“I don’t think it’s simple. It’s very easy to have the phrase ‘votes for emigrants’ and I completely empathise with what’s behind it and the emotional and practical connection that people want to have, but I think to move to implementing something around it … we would have to tease it out.”

The minister was asked if the Sydney Consulate was safe from public sector cuts.

“I believe it will be. Take the very fact that Australia has been prioritised as one of nine countries for St Patrick’s Day. I know that’s a specific event but it is symbolic of an approach to the country and symbolic of the approach to the valuing of the work that’s being done here, and of the potential for linking trade and investment.”

New links were being forged between the two countries.

She and Prime Minister Julia Gillard had discussed educational opportunities for more Australians to study in Ireland.

On broader reform in Ireland, she admitted disappointment with the low number of women in the cabinet.

Ms Fitzgerald, chairwoman of the National Women’s Council from 1988 to 1992, said the presence of only two female ministers in the new government was a reflection of low numbers throughout the Dáil.

“Unless you address that issue you won’t get the greater numbers proportionally in Cabinet either and that’s why I have personally believed in positive activity in getting more women in.” Such activity would include support for quotas.

The Dáil’s gender imbalance, among other issues, was a sign that Ireland remains an “unfinished democracy”, she said, adding that the government had already committed to a programme of reform.

Adoption falls under the auspices of Ms Fitzgerald’s new ministry.

The Irish Echo asked if she would push to make available files relating to de facto, or illegal, adoptions.

“I’ve very strong views on this. I think we have taken far too conservative approach in Ireland to adoption. I worked in London in adoption, maybe 15 years ago, and there was a more open system of adoption there. The tracing systems were better,” she said.

“I think we’re a bit punitive on people still. We probably over worried although I totally understand that people who gave children up for adoption and expected privacy, that you can’t suddenly break that dramatically.

“If the right systems were in place more people would be able to find their birth parents and it would be easier for them,” she concluded.

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Curator Richard Reid with an anchor from an immigration ship that carried Irish women

Ireland’s new Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald and a who’s who of Irish Australia have attended the official opening of a landmark exhibition on the Irish in Australia.

Not Just Ned: A True History of the Irish in Australia has opened in the National Museum of Canberra. It contains exhibits collated from Australia and abroad, providing tangible evidence of the Irish legacy, from the first arrival of assisted immigrants through to today.

Minister Fitzgerald will spend the next two days meeting members of the Irish community in Australia, before travelling to Christchurch.

Education Minister Simon Crean, Health Minister Brendan O’Connor, NSW Labor Senator Ursula Stephens, Labor MP Deborah O’Neill, Optus CEO Paul O’Sullivan and respected author Tom Kenneally were all in attendance at the exhibition’s official opening.

Among the exhibits on show is a massive anchor from an assisted immigration ship carrying 180 Irish women which ran aground off Adelaide in 1855 and the largest map of Australia, commissioned by Victoria’s then Irish Minister for Land to help settle workers who had missed out on the state’s gold rush.

Richard Reid, the National Museum of Australia’s senior curator, said the exhibition offers a far broader view of Irish-Australia than that often presented by the Ned Kelly lexicon.

“What are the Irish all about in this country? Are they all about anti-authoritarian larrikin rebels or is there a much broader, wide-ranging story than that?” asks Reid.

The exhibition contains all four suits of the Kelly gang’s armour and Reid says the famous story is “an important iconic image of what has gone down in popular memory as an aspect of the Irish”.

“[Ned Kelly] is capable of obscuring the vastness of the story, which goes to ordinary immigrants.

“Only 12 per cent of the immigrants were convicts, the rest were free assisted immigrants, just coming out to make a new life for themselves and battling their way through on the land and in the city,” according to Reid.

Other exhibits include: a chair used by former prime minister, Ben Chifley, an Irish Australian political hero but also a symbol of mixed marriages of the era; a gold probe used to remove a bullet from the Duke of Edinburgh after an attempt on his life by an Irish republican; and the story of the Durack family’s pastoral empire, built over generations in Western Australia.

Emerging Irish artist Kiera O’Toole has also produced a unique piece to commemorate the exhibition.

Irish people who have lived in Australia for generations and the ‘modern Irish community’ will find significance in the new exhibition, said Reid, an Irish immigrant himself.

“I think every person of Irish descent in the country should have a look at it, clearly because it’s their story. It’s the story of the old Irish community here, that were here in 19^th and early 20^th centuries.

“The modern Irish community should come and see it too because this is what their progenitors in this country did.”

Reid has managed to assemble some modern Irish Australian icons which celebrate memorable moments over the past two decades.

These include Irish raider Vintage Crop’s win in the 1993 Melbourne Cup, Jim Stynes Brownlow Medal success and Tadhg Kennelly’s 2005 Premiership win with the Sydney Swans.

“There’s plenty about the modern Irish too. We’ve got Jimmy Stynes’ footy jersey, Tadhg Kennelly’s Championship medal and Swans jersey, the jockey’s silks from the 1993 Melbourne Cup. We’ve also got dresses worn by the three Australian women who have won the Rose of Tralee,” Richard says.

“The Irish are here in very successful guises – all over the place – as well as in some battling stories too, so it’s a mixture.”

By Luke O’Neill

Ned Kelly's armour. (Pic: State Library of Victoria)

The opening of the Irish In Australia exhibition at the National Museum in Canberra on St Patrick’s Day represents an important milestone in the history of our community.

The event, clumsily named Not Just Ned: A True History Of The Irish In Australia, seeks to draw together the many strands of Irish influence and endeavour in this country.

It will, we hope, offer Australia another opportunity to examine its Irishness and the influence the Irish have had on the modern, multicultural nation.

There is much to consider.

When Australians describe themselves as having a low regard for authority or pomposity, when they celebrate their larrikin spirit, when they invoke the fair go, Irish ears prick up.

After all, these are not English traits, are they? Must be Irish then, right?

Ireland is still a place where motorists will flash their headlights at you to warn of an imminent police speed trap ahead.

It’s a populace covenant against the state.

And yet, the most celebrated exponent of these characteristics, Ned Kelly, is not universally embraced as an Aussie icon. Far from it.

Like much of Australia’s history, Kelly’s legacy is contested. Was he a social justice hero who died for his beliefs? Was he simply a cop killer who had it coming?

The polemic is a good example of how you cannot interpret Australian history without considering the Irish.

The Irish like Ned Kelly.

Five years ago, when an exhibition of Kelly paraphernalia visited Ireland at the same time as former Prime Minister John Howard, the now defunct Daily Ireland published a memorable front page.

Under a headline of Two Australians Visit Ireland it ran pictures of Kelly and Howard.

Under Ned’s picture, it read “Wanted”. Under Howard’s “Unwanted”.

Howard, the ardent monarchist, never commanded the affection of the Irish in Australia in the same way as his predecessor did.

Paul Keating was embraced by the local Irish community as a sort of Aussie JFK who said things like “Australia without the Irish would be unimaginable; Australia without the Irish would be unthinkable; Australia without the Irish would be unspeakable.”

And yet, even Keating was not sentimental about his Hibernian heritage.

When he addressed the Irish parliament – the Dáil – in 1993, he went out of his way not to get dewy-eyed about his Galway lineage.

Australians do not describe themselves as Irish in the same way as Americans do. Ted Kennedy was described at his funeral as “an Irishman”. Such a tag would rarely be used here, even though the Irish role in the establishment of the Australian nation is much greater, proportionally, than it was in America. And there’s the rub.

Aussie kids know little about their Irish forebears. There seems to be a reluctance to delve too deeply into this country’s Irishness for fear of rattling some skeletons from their closets. We saw it in the ill-fated republic poll back in 1999.

“Don’t mention the Irish” must have been written on idiot boards throughout the HQ of the Australian Republican Movement.

Former Labor leader and Governor-General Bill Hayden, in an apparent dig at Keating, said that he would welcome a republic but not one orchestrated by someone with a “Hibernian Squint”, which gave rise to a column in the Irish Echo celebrating Australians of Irish background.

The implication, I assume, is that the Irish can not see beyond their alleged irrational and pathological hatred of the English to make an informed judgement about the future of Australia. But the irony is that Australian nationalism was, many believe, born out of the Irish community.

The Irish were the first immigrants to embrace the idea of being Australian. Those loyal to crown and empire eventually came around too.

This came to a head during the poisonous conscription debate during the first World War. The Irish broadly opposed conscription and two referendums on the issue were defeated.

In subsequent years, rather than being congratulated for preventing the deaths of countless more young Australians, the Irish Catholic community was victimised.

Former Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser recently said that Prime Minister Billy Hughes’s effort to turn the conscription referendums into a vote on “the merits and demerits of the Irish and Irish Catholics” was “perhaps the worst act of any prime minister in Australia’s short history”.

The results were still being felt when Fraser was a child, overhearing his father Neville’s remarks about whether or not Catholics could be regarded as loyal Australians.

We welcome that the Gillard government seeks to re-embrace multiculturalism, not so much as a philosophy but a statement of fact.

Australia has never been homogenous. After all, those early Irish arrivals agitated (and continue to agitate) to ensure that this country did not simply become a little England. Many generations of Irish were accused of not assimilating, in the same way that Muslims are today.

But if you join in the St Patrick’s Day celebrations this year, you will be taking part in Australia’s oldest ethnic celebration since European settlement.

That is why the Irish Australian journey is unique. It connects all the strands of Australian history – convict, transportee, refugee, settler, skilled migrant. The Irish in Australia provide an excellent template for how a community can be ethnic yet mainstream, simultaneously inside and outside the tent, happy to be a part of this remarkable multicultural nation.

Happy St Patrick’s Day!

The Irish Government has recently called for applications for the next round of grants under the Emigrant Support Programme.

Despite Ireland’s problems, the Government, to its credit, maintained the level of funding last year for the emigrant programme at approximately €12m.

The vast majority of this funding goes to the Irish in Britain.

In fact, in 2010, over two thirds of the funding found its way to England including a massive €686,435 for the Federation of Irish Societies.

The Irish in America received over €2m in funding while Australia received just under €400,000. This equates to about 3.5 per cent of all emigrant funding.

Groups based in Ireland received almost €1m.

These included the Crosscare Migrant Project (€161,140) and the Irish Episcopal Council for Emigrants (€44,242), both agencies of the Catholic Church.

Also included under ‘Ireland’ are two amounts which have been granted to the GAA, €216,000 for ‘Britain’ and €75,000 for ‘North America’. There is a further €122,239 for the Rockland County GAA in the United States.

The GAA in Australia again received no funding in 2010.

The Australian funding of €388,505 was shared between seven groups.

The Irish welfare groups in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Wollongong received 75 per cent of the funding while the remainder went to a variety of groups including the forthcoming Irish In Australia exhibition at the National Museum, the St Patrick’s Day Parade in Sydney and the Clontarf Old Boys Heritage Committee.

On the face of it, less than four per cent of the emigrant budget being granted to Australia seems extraordinarily low.

However, according to the Irish Government, very few applications for funding are received from this country.

As Ireland faces its enormous economic challenges, the maintenance of the emigrant funding budget is uncertain.

For those groups who rely on this money for their very survival, it may be time to look at other sources of revenue.

Ireland’s fiscal position is perilous. Many decisions about the allocation of funds will face greater scrutiny next year and beyond as the country tries to get its massive debts under control.

The Irish community in Australia has fallen behind other migrant communities when it comes to applyling for funding from state or federal government.

Why? The answer is part hubris, part pride.

There is a sense that we do need any help. The Irish do well Down Under, as we all know. But this does not mean that those immigrant problems of homesickness, alienation, depression and loneliness spare us.

Other migrant communities are less inhibited about asking for help from the state and we should seek to learn from them.

Funding is available and right now, the Australian exchequer is in significantly better shape than Ireland’s.

We’re encouraged, for example, to see the NSW GAA step up its campaign to find a permanent home in Sydney and build a youth training network.

This is the way of the future, build locally and then seek Ireland’s help.

We saw how easily funds can be wasted with the ill-considered NSW Irish community website, now apparently abandoned.

It is a function of the Irish state to look after its citizens and welfare organizations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Wollongong and Perth play a crucial consular role alongside the hard-working diplomatic staff.

That work should never be underestimated.

Ireland should be funding these groups but the future of that support is uncertain.

It is also disappointing to see that the funding earmarked for Australia remains so low.

Whatever the scale of the emigrant funding budget next year, we hope that the decision makers in Dublin consider an increase to the overall allocation for Australia.

This is the number one destination for Irish emigrants right now, something that is not reflected in the fact that just one in every €28 spent by Ireland on its emigrant budget comes to Australia.

It is therefore important for established groups to apply for funding, even in the current difficult circumstances.

The Queensland GAA, for instance, needs help to rebuild its devastated grounds in Brisbane. The forthcoming Irish In Australia exhibition in Canberra may become a permanent exhibit. The celebration of Irish creativity through tours and events needs to be supported. Social networks like the Irish Brekkie Club and various expat mum’s groups may need funds to set up websites, for instance.

Cultural groups like the Aisling Society in Sydney, or the Perth Irish Theatre Group, or business groups like The Lansdowne Club, or the Irish Australian Chamber of Commerce could make good use of a grant from Dublin.

These are all legitimate vehicles for emigrant funding. The Irish Abroad unit has recently opened its doors to consider funding applications for next year.

Established groups should seize the opportunity and apply.

But they should also remember to seek out local state and federal government support and maintain a robust fundraising effort.

Further information on the Emigrant Support Program can be found on the Department of Foreign Affairs website. Any queries on the operation of the programme may be directed to the Embassy of Ireland in Canberra or the Consulate-General in Sydney. Applications can be made via the online application form.

A young Irishman was killed and his older brother was injured when the car he was driving in Sydney’s Grose Wold left the road, struck a safety barrier, a pole and then a tree.

James Gallagher, 22, was killed after the Toyota Camry he was driving crashed, just after midnight on Sunday, September 26. New South Wales Police said that he became trapped in the vehicle and died at the scene.

The young man’s brother Daniel and another man were also in the green Camry when the accident happened. The victim’s brother suffered a broken arm and was taken to Nepean Hospital in Sydney’s west to be treated for injuries and shock along with the third passenger.

It is understood that he underwent surgery at the hospital on September 29 and has been in a recovery ward since.
The two brothers and the third passenger hail from Cornagee, Kinlough in north Leitrim.

The victim, the youngest of four brothers, had been working as a construction worker for the last two years.

Before departing for Australia with the victim’s parents, James and Bernadette, the deceased’s uncle, Arthur Bredin, told media in Ireland that the family were “absolutely devastated”.

“James was a wonderful young fellow. He was extremely hardworking and generous. His first love was family and home and farming,” he told the Irish Independent.

“He was full of ambition and full of future plans to return home and restore an old derelict cottage on the family farm and buy his own farm,” he said.

A police report is now being prepared for the NSW Coroner.