Home now a no-go for Irish in Australia: 'Knowing you can’t is really hard'

Nine years in Australia and now holding citizenship of the country, Ciara Newport, from New Ross, Co Wexford, lives on the Central Coast of New South Wales with her fiance and two children.

But Ireland is never far from her mind. "People are definitely really homesick this year. Even those who hadn't planned to go home this Christmas, knowing that you can't is really hard," she says.

“We like to get home and just spend a couple of weeks at home every year to have that family connection and I’m really missing it big-time this year,” says Newport, “There’ll be extra FaceTimes and extra tears this year.”

Because she is now an Australian passport-holder, if she had tried to travel to Ireland she would have had to apply to the Australian Border Force for difficult-to-get exemptions to leave.

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Currently, however, the Australian government is granting such permits only sparingly – on compassionate grounds if there a death abroad of a family member or if an individual is staying away for more than three months.

Such restrictions do not apply to the thousands of Irish citizens in Australia living there on temporary visas. They can leave at any time. In most cases, however, they will not be permitted to return.

It's been tough, we haven't seen any of them for over a year now. My parents are a bit older and they're not so good with technology

Following a recent outbreak in Sydney’s Northern Beaches, which has swelled to 90 cases, many internal state borders which had only recently re-opened for Christmas, have been closed again. However, for those living in the state of Western Australia, gatherings and celebrations can go ahead as usual. 

Nick Carrigan is a psychiatrist from Clara in Co Kilkenny. He lives in Bunbury in regional western Australia with his wife, Allison, from Kilbeggan in Westmeath, who is also a psychiatrist, and their three children.

Usually, the Carrigans return to Kilkenny or Westmeath, or have family travel to them for Christmas. "It's been tough, we haven't seen any of them for over a year now. My parents are a bit older and they're not so good with technology.

“We phone as often as we can, but it’s not the same. We’re lucky here, we don’t have serious restrictions on how many people can gather, so it’ll be normal but without family.”

‘Quite sad’

Edwina King, from Tramore in Waterford, is spending Christmas in Australia, too, though she had "really" wanted to go home because her partner's sister is having a baby. "We were quite sad we couldn't."

With her business in Perth, King, 10 years in Australia, has no plans to go back to Ireland. However, many Irish friends have returned. “Covid has been the driving factor for people to move home,” she said.

“I’ve never been homesick ever, I love it in Australia, but I think it’s the fact that you’re not allowed to go home that makes you want to go more. It’s just the uncertainty and feeling restricted because before you always felt like you could just jump on a plane,” she added.

The lack of freedom is causing anxiety, says Sydney-based Sarah Whelan, a social worker from Swords, Co Dublin, who runs a group called Irish Women Abroad.

Whelan lives in the New South Wales city with her partner and four-year-old daughter, and is expecting her second child in March. “We’ve always had this thing, ‘Oh, if something happens, we’ll be home in 24 hours.’

“But we can’t this year. A lot of people [are] in really difficult situations and they don’t know where to turn,” she said, adding that she does not know if her family back home will be able to see her new baby next year.

“It’s really shaken people up. We did have a period of time when we were isolating and indoors and we were thinking, when you strip back all the things we love about Australia, what are we doing here?”

Note: this piece has been updated to reflect the fact that Australia has seen an upsurge of Covid-19 cases in the Sydney area