The Irish in Australia have never felt further from home since the beginning of the pandemic.
Australia has been one of the countries praised for a swift response to Covid and strict approach to international travel. The ‘zero-Covid’ tactic has meant that people living on the island nation, while cut off from the rest of the world, are enjoying relative normality as case numbers continue remain low.
But a trip home to Ireland has been impossible.
Gordon has been Down Under for 25 years, working as a club manager in the hospitality industry.
The realisation that family would not be able to come out for his son’s wedding was a blow in itself, but then his mother suffered a health scare in April.
“The last time I was home two years ago I said goodbye to my mother. Every time you say goodbye you know there’s a chance you’ll never see her alive again, but at least you’d get back for the funeral.”
But Gordon was told that if he left Australia to travel home to his mother, it could be up to six months before he would be let back into the country. Unable to afford this, Gordon resigned himself to staying put.
“We resigned ourselves to the fact that the best we could do was Zoom the funeral, which is devastating. It was heartbreaking in that regard, but thankfully she slowly got better.
"My son’s wedding is planned for December and unfortunately nobody from Ireland will be coming over, but at least my mother is still there,” he said.
Damian is a consultant in the infrastructure construction industry, and has been in Australia since 2008.
“I think a lot of people are feeling the distance far, far more than they ever did before. I know other Irish people who have packed up and gone home.”
However, Damian believes the sacrifice involved in a zero-Covid approach is worth it, to protect others.
“As hard as it is, the idea is that if someone went home for a funeral and came back here, it would increase the chances that there would be more funerals,” he said.
Judy had just landed in Australia in February last year to start a new adventure, when everything suddenly locked down around her.
“Obviously I had no work, and didn’t really know anyone else in Australia at the time,” she said.
Luckily, Judy co-travelling friend had family in South Australia, who they stayed with to weather the first wave. “There were no supports, there was nothing really for us. On the Australian news they were telling everyone to go home, if you’re a backpacker go home.”
After lockdown, workers like Judy needed to do the minimum required farmwork to retain and extend their visas.
Judy doesn’t see herself moving home any time soon, but would love to get a visit in as soon as she can.
“I had never really planned to come home in the first year or two anyway, but now I’m coming to the stage where I would actually love to go home and see my friends and family. If money, flights and restrictions weren’t an issue, I’d go home for a week tomorrow.”
Laura is living in North Queensland, having moved over eight years ago. She had her first child, Saoirse, in December 2019, and has missed the support of family beyond her husband who works full-time.
“I was very isolated. I had a three-month-old baby, the country was on lockdown, and it was me and her all day.”
Missing big events and milestones happening with her family back in Ireland is hard enough, but Laura emphasises that not being able to travel home is so much more than that.
“It’s the thousands of little things that you miss, day to day life, not getting to go home and spend that quality time, it’s tough,” she said.
“It’s a big price to pay for a normal life. And how normal is it? To not have any contact with family apart from a Skype call?”
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