Editor’s Letter

Welcome to this edition of Irish Scene, the issue that almost never was. We had just printed and fully distributed the magazine in early March when things started going askew, quickly. Like many others in the community we were looking forward to the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Festival in Leederville and the craic. The front cover of the March edition (above right) featured a picture of a bright red tractor surrounded by throngs of spectators from last year’s parade. Everything was ready to go for 2020 to be another bumper celebration for the Irish community here in Perth, across the rest of Australia and beyond. The Perth parade was to be held on the morning of March 14, a Saturday. On the Monday of that week there were clouds on the horizon, but far off. With each passing day the threat became more real, more immediate. But even as late as Thursday most people were probably thinking, certainly hoping, it was still a goer. The morning of Friday the 13th shattered any lingering hopes. Listening to talk back radio that morning you could sense the tension and pressure piling on, almost by the minute. PM Scott Morrison announced that all public gatherings and events would be limited to 500 people, in effect from Monday. Strictly speaking then, there was no legal impediment to the Perth parade from going ahead the next day, but with less than 24 hours to go, City of Vincent and the organising committee made the only real choice open to them - to cancel the event which usually attracts tens of thousands of revellers. They must have been gutted, a years worth of hard graft, endless meetings and organisation were thrashed on the eve of the parade. Talk about things going viral. Word of the decision spread through the Irish community instantaneously, everybody seemed to know about it all at once. The bad news was omnipresent. Shortly afterwards word went out that the St. Patrick’s Day mass in St Mary’s Cathedral was off. On the same day, the Irish Chamber of Commerce had a big St Patrick’s Day bash at Crown in Burswood. It went ahead and was a great event but it too was being squeezed by pandemic pressure. In many ways that fateful Friday marked the start of ‘lockdown’ conditions and restrictions that would force many of us to work and stay at home. Friday 13th spooked March 17th, but not the Irish spirit!

Everybody has been touched by this crisis but for those who have lost a loved one, are suffering trauma or lost their job, this is truly a devastating time. We should look out for each other and offer support where we can. We decided to put out this edition of Irish Scene for various reasons. We were inspired by the many examples of others in the Irish and wider community who found ways to overcome life in isolation to share with others. Many of our advertisers and other businesses are changing the way they operate so that they can reach out to customers. We could not print the magazine as normal, but we could publish it online. We wanted to try and tell as many of their stories as well, to share and show the great spirit that has helped us through this ordeal. We wanted to pay tribute and say thank you to all those - from nurses and shelve stackers to our political leaders - who have gone above and beyond to serve the community. As some of the articles in this issue show, our forebears have weathered similar challenges before, did their best, made sacrifices and endured. And it has been such a momentous time, full of worthwhile stories and reactions that we thought it was worth trying to document some of that experience in a special edition. Hopefully the next issue will be a bit more normal, whatever that means anymore.