Hundreds of thousands of young Irish people have left Irish shores in search of jobs since the economic collapse four years ago. Many have made their way to Australia, including several thousand who have settled into life in Melbourne like other generations of Irish emigrants.
According to the most recent Census, which took place in 2006, the Australian State of Victoria had over 450,000 people of Irish ancestry and over 11,000 residents who were born in Ireland. There’s no doubt that number has increased hugely over the past five years.
With such a strong Irish heritage, it’s not surprising that Melbourne has a very active Irish community. The Connolly Association is a huge part of that community having been established back in the mid 1950’s by a woman named Molly Neilson. Molly was born Australian of Irish heritage with a very strong affinity for James Connolly and everything he stood for.
She set up this group literally in the front room of her house. At first the group published a magazine called The Harp, which gave political commentary on Ireland. At the time, the meat industry and the construction industry had a lot of Irish trade union officials so it was distributed through the trade union movement and in Irish pubs as well as through regular subscribers.
The magazine was published right up until the mid 1970’s when the Connolly Association got a slot on the 3CR Community Radio Station and it was felt that it would be cheaper and easier to get the information out through this new medium. The Connolly Association first broadcast in 1975 under the guidance of Seamus McGettigan, a Donegal native who was also mad about the ideals of James Connolly. Seamus was the face of the Connolly’s for many years and strangely passed away on the same date as James Connolly himself, 11 May.
Since it first broadcast over 35 years ago, the show has had a regular stream of contributors.
Jim Cusack, one of today’s presenters said, “Since I joined the show over 15 years ago, we’ve had about 10 presenters in total keeping a regular broadcast going every week. The show plays a big part in the lives of some of the Irish who moved here decades ago and perhaps do not have access to the internet to find out what’s going on at home. They rely on the wireless and our slot every Saturday morning to update them on developments.”
3CR is the perfect platform for The Connolly Association according to David Gibney, one of the show’s new presenters. It broadcasts daily and weekly shows concentrating on a range of issues including Aboriginal rights, women’s rights and worker’s rights.
Established in 1976 by members of the Australian trade union movement to give an alternative voice to the people of Melbourne, 3CR has been a “voice of dissent” on issues such as the Iraq war and the anti-apartheid movement in the 1980’s. It was even attacked by other members of the media in 1978 and said to be “the voice of terrorism” when it supported the Palestinian struggle.
The radio station has strong links with the political left and includes shows such as the Solidarity Breakfast Show, Keep Left and Stick Together – all deriving influence from the Australian trade union movement.
Mr Gibney, who joined the Connolly Association last January having left Ireland in 2010 said, “The show is a great way for Irish emigrants to follow what’s really been happening in Ireland. We have strong links with Irish unions and political parties on boths sides of the house so we don’t just regurgitate what other media outlets in Ireland are saying. We’re close to the people who are on the ground and know what the real issues are.
“We had in-depth coverage of the minimum wage cuts that took place in Ireland earlier this year and we’ve also covered the hugely important issue of the abolition of the Joint Labour Committees (JLC). These issues, along with the criminal bailout by Irish politicians of defunct banks and property developers are just some of the stories we try to focus on. Stories that are perhaps not sexy but have real relevance to millions of Irish people, at home and abroad,” said Mr Gibney.
“The Irish community in Melbourne is growing every day. We have thousands of Irish arriving, again, as a result of bad political policies implemented by Fianna Fail and now other political parties.
Others will arrive from the six counties in the north as a direct result of cuts by David Cameron’s government. Many of the people who arrive will go home at some stage, sadly others will settle down and be here for good. For those that do go home, my hope is they will be more engaged in what has happened and is still happening in Ireland and will go home to demand a better, fairer country which is based around principles of equality and justice for all its people.”
Mr Gibney concluded, “The success and longevity of the Connolly Association is testament to the pride the Irish diaspora have in their country. To paraphrase Brendan Behan, ‘Other people have a nationality, the Irish have a psychosis.’ We’ve had seven decades of volunteers sacrificing their time and energy to keep the Irish spirit alive in Australia. Long may it continue.”
With developments in technology, you can now listen to the show online and it has listeners not only in Melbourne, but in Ireland, Sweden and as far afield as Japan. If you’d like to listen to the Connolly Association, you can listen in live at 9:30 every Saturday morning in Melbourne at 855am on your radio or 10:30pm Irish time every Friday night on www.3CR.org.au. You can also contact the Connolly Association at theconnollyassociation@gmail.com or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.
 |
| Barry Gough and Jim Cusack, presenters on the Connolly Association show |
With such a strong Irish heritage, it’s not surprising that Melbourne has a very active Irish community. The Connolly Association is a huge part of that community having been established back in the mid 1950’s by a woman named Molly Neilson. Molly was born Australian of Irish heritage with a very strong affinity for James Connolly and everything he stood for.
She set up this group literally in the front room of her house. At first the group published a magazine called The Harp, which gave political commentary on Ireland. At the time, the meat industry and the construction industry had a lot of Irish trade union officials so it was distributed through the trade union movement and in Irish pubs as well as through regular subscribers.
The magazine was published right up until the mid 1970’s when the Connolly Association got a slot on the 3CR Community Radio Station and it was felt that it would be cheaper and easier to get the information out through this new medium. The Connolly Association first broadcast in 1975 under the guidance of Seamus McGettigan, a Donegal native who was also mad about the ideals of James Connolly. Seamus was the face of the Connolly’s for many years and strangely passed away on the same date as James Connolly himself, 11 May.
Since it first broadcast over 35 years ago, the show has had a regular stream of contributors.
Jim Cusack, one of today’s presenters said, “Since I joined the show over 15 years ago, we’ve had about 10 presenters in total keeping a regular broadcast going every week. The show plays a big part in the lives of some of the Irish who moved here decades ago and perhaps do not have access to the internet to find out what’s going on at home. They rely on the wireless and our slot every Saturday morning to update them on developments.”
3CR is the perfect platform for The Connolly Association according to David Gibney, one of the show’s new presenters. It broadcasts daily and weekly shows concentrating on a range of issues including Aboriginal rights, women’s rights and worker’s rights.
 |
| David Gibney, one of the show's new presenters |
Established in 1976 by members of the Australian trade union movement to give an alternative voice to the people of Melbourne, 3CR has been a “voice of dissent” on issues such as the Iraq war and the anti-apartheid movement in the 1980’s. It was even attacked by other members of the media in 1978 and said to be “the voice of terrorism” when it supported the Palestinian struggle.
The radio station has strong links with the political left and includes shows such as the Solidarity Breakfast Show, Keep Left and Stick Together – all deriving influence from the Australian trade union movement.
Mr Gibney, who joined the Connolly Association last January having left Ireland in 2010 said, “The show is a great way for Irish emigrants to follow what’s really been happening in Ireland. We have strong links with Irish unions and political parties on boths sides of the house so we don’t just regurgitate what other media outlets in Ireland are saying. We’re close to the people who are on the ground and know what the real issues are.
“We had in-depth coverage of the minimum wage cuts that took place in Ireland earlier this year and we’ve also covered the hugely important issue of the abolition of the Joint Labour Committees (JLC). These issues, along with the criminal bailout by Irish politicians of defunct banks and property developers are just some of the stories we try to focus on. Stories that are perhaps not sexy but have real relevance to millions of Irish people, at home and abroad,” said Mr Gibney.
“The Irish community in Melbourne is growing every day. We have thousands of Irish arriving, again, as a result of bad political policies implemented by Fianna Fail and now other political parties.
Others will arrive from the six counties in the north as a direct result of cuts by David Cameron’s government. Many of the people who arrive will go home at some stage, sadly others will settle down and be here for good. For those that do go home, my hope is they will be more engaged in what has happened and is still happening in Ireland and will go home to demand a better, fairer country which is based around principles of equality and justice for all its people.”
Mr Gibney concluded, “The success and longevity of the Connolly Association is testament to the pride the Irish diaspora have in their country. To paraphrase Brendan Behan, ‘Other people have a nationality, the Irish have a psychosis.’ We’ve had seven decades of volunteers sacrificing their time and energy to keep the Irish spirit alive in Australia. Long may it continue.”
With developments in technology, you can now listen to the show online and it has listeners not only in Melbourne, but in Ireland, Sweden and as far afield as Japan. If you’d like to listen to the Connolly Association, you can listen in live at 9:30 every Saturday morning in Melbourne at 855am on your radio or 10:30pm Irish time every Friday night on www.3CR.org.au. You can also contact the Connolly Association at theconnollyassociation@gmail.com or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.
No comments:
Post a Comment