A Letter from Ireland
a Chara,
I have travelled to Australia to catch up with my daughter, meet up with friends, and see some of the country.
Australia, Canada, and Britain are the countries of choice for the current wave of Irish emigrants. Unlike recent generations driven from Ireland by unemployment, there is effectively full employment in Ireland. This generation is leaving due to the housing crisis and because they have lost hope in making a home in Ireland.
Previously, when there was an uptick in the economy and jobs returned so did a large section of our emigrants. This feels different. The current government in Dublin has doubled down on its policies that created and sustained the crisis.
The choice is stark with no hope of owning a home: continue to pay over the odds to rent a room or move abroad where quality accommodation is affordable. Whole friend groups are choosing the latter.
Irish accents echo across Melbourne and Perth. All those I have met are glowing with hope and opportunity. All want to return to Ireland at some time, but not under the current conditions. They have been welcomed and supported in Australia. In my own case, I would like to thank John, Lucy, and Jimmy for their hospitality and generosity in making our visit to Perth and Fremantle so memorable
I travelled to Fremantle, in part a pilgrimage to visit the old convict prison in the town. This was the site at which Irish Revolutionary prisoners were transported from British and Irish jails. It was a sentence of no return,
One of the Fenian Prisoners, John Boyle O’Reilly, vowed to escape. Aided by supporters and friends, he rowed for days and hid out in sand dunes under the searing heat, with little food and water to await a passing whaling ship that would bring him to freedom.
He eventually made his way to the US, where he became a successful writer, editor, and owner of the Pilot newspaper in Boston. He got married, had a family, and became a leading figure in Irish America. He carried with him the Fenian ideals of equality, liberty, and fraternity and became a passionate anti slavery advocate.
He never forgot the comrades left behind in Fremantle Prison. He continued with John Devoy and Clan na Gael, to fundraise and plan for an escape. The urgency of which became clear when they received a letter from the remaining prisoners that began, “Dear friends, remember this is a voice from the tomb”.
The two moved up their planning and undertook one of the most daring escapes in prison history. Eventually freeing the prisoners who all made their way to the US.
Having visited the prison on this trip, it was indeed a tomb with a hammock slung across a bare 7 foot by 4 foot cell. An oven in the summer and a fridge in the winter.
The dream of a better Ireland united those at home, in North America, and in the tomb of a prison on the other side of the world. That unity of purpose continues until we build a new and united Ireland. One that is a home to all our people.
Have a great weekend.
Is mise,
Ciarán
Ciarán Quinn is the Sinn Féin Representative to North America
