Irish feel ‘animosity’ from Top Enders
By Andrew Thompson, ABCMarch 18, 2013, 11:39 am
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Some Irish people living in Darwin say they have experienced hostility as increasing numbers move to the Top End looking for work.
Anthony McCann from Belfast said he, like many other Irish people, left home to escape the recession gripping his country.
Mr McCann said he and his friends had noticed growing animosity from some Australians as more Irish people moved to the Top End.
“Coming here to Australia at the start I was like ‘ahh, Australia, it’s class, it’s good’, but now I actually feel a wee bit marginalised too because Aussies are starting to feel, like, as if there’s too many Irish,” he said.
“In Darwin you get that feeling, there’s like a bit of…there’s a bad atmosphere…because there is too many Irish here and there’s lots of fights.
“Not with me or all of us, but it is happening.”
Territory government delegations visited Ireland in recent years as part of efforts to poach skilled workers to plug holes in the local workforce.
The Master Builders Association NT estimated in late 2011 there would be at least 20,000 job vacancies created in the NT over the next decade.