Tom on Walkabout - the final installment

Tom Gilmore on walkabout â€â€ journey's end â€â€ and advice for would-be emigrants   'However, the reality is that in times of economic hardship Irish people immigrate because of necessity, and if they have the skills to work in a foreign market. We are trying here to facilitate these people to take up skilled job opportunities as they become available in Australia,' he added. But several speakers at the Perth conference on Western Australia's skills shortage warned that there are not jobs for everyone who emigrates from Ireland. 'It's a skills shortage and not a labour shortage,' said Cork-born, Perth-based, barrister Marty Kavanagh, who was one of the organisers of the forum. His sentiments were echoed by one of the main speakers, Bruce Campbell-Fraser, of the Western Australia Chamber of Mines and Energy. 'We have plenty of less skilled workers available locally and fewer people are needed for these jobs. For example, on one mining project we had only eight jobs for people working in a kitchen but we required 1,700 engineers and other skilled people such as electricians, plumbers and carpenters,' he said. There were words of caution too, in Mr Campbell-Fraser's speech, about jobs losses in the future, even for the skilled Irish people working in construction jobs, on projects such as a major mining project on Barrow Island in Western Australia. 'There are 5,000 people working now on the construction of this project, but this will taper off when the building work is completed in 2015. When the plant is operational it will only require 400 workers and they will need to have very different skills,' he added. Another speaker, Collis Thorpe, from the mining company, Kentz, also said that 'in five or six years' time' the whole nature of the Australian mining industry would change. But he added that there might be opportunities in the meantime for Irish companies to make equipment for some of the Australian mining companies. He said this would only work if the products made by the Irish firms were of good quality. Mr Thorpe added that while it was not politically correct to say so, some of the equipment currently produced for Australian mining firms in Third World countries was not up to standard when put to use in the mines. Perth businessman Brian Briscoe said that there is a 'whitewashed view in both the UK and Ireland' that Australia is 'the land of your dreams' and this is not the situation at all for many who are not skilled workers. 'It is not at all as cheap to live here now as it was seven or eight years ago and those coming out here need to be doing so on the back of an executive salary and with suitable skills,' said the Perth businessman. Mayor of Perth, Lisa Scaffidi, agreed with this and while she praised the Irish workers, some of whom she said were employed by her husband's company, she too had words of warning for them. 'They need to be told the full facts before they come out here so that they know what they are coming out to,' said the Mayor. Other recent reports that many of the young Irish were getting drunk and causing mayhem on the streets of Perth are not true either, according to Ambassador White. 'We have checked this out and knocked it on the head. That stereotype that has appeared here again recently is, like all stereotypes, a tired and jaded one. It is unrepresentative of the reality of the situation. 'This is not just me saying so but in terms of the Irish people out here, they are a diligent, hard-working group, who are contributing to this society. This is validated by the fact that employers' bodies, state governments and the federal government are all seeking out skilled Irish people to come and work in this economy,' he added. The work for skilled Irish emigrants is mostly in mining and construction projects across Australia, with some good opportunities also available in the IT sector.   specific skills that are required by companies down under But of course it is difficult for those emigrants who are over 30 to get permission to work and live in Australia unless they have specific skills that are required by companies down under. One such person, who was lucky enough to get employment in Canberra, even though he is in his 40s, is Graham Willcock, who has many relations around North Galway and whose mother, Sally Ward, is a native of Bodane, Tuam. Graham moved with his wife Sharon and their three young children to the Australian capital and he says that he has settled in very well in his new job as a marketing manager with the Regional Technical College in Canberra. Prior to emigrating he worked as chief executive officer with a major company in South Africa and his skills were specifically suited for his new job in Australia. Another young man who has settled in very well in his work in the construction and mining industry in Western Australia is Eoin Hannon from Kilconly, who moved to Perth last February. He is son of Pat and Bernie Hannon. Meanwhile, at the other end of the age spectrum, is Frank Murphy from Cork, who worked for 18 years as a producer on Gay Byrne's radio programme and on the Late Late Show on RTÉ. Now, this 67-year-old man is a radio presenter and a teacher of media skills in Perth. Since 1996 he has been teaching at the exclusive Wesley College, which is one of the most respected private second-level colleges in Western Australia. While he will retire from that work later this year, he will continue as the presenter of the very popular 'Rambling House' programme on Radio Fremantle. Frank still keeps in touch with Gay Byrne, Mike Murphy and many of the other top TV and radio personalities who he worked with during his years in RTÉ, and both Mike and Gay have been guests on his radio programme via telephone. He says he also has fond memories of Tuam, as he was the producer of a radio programme titled 'The Orange Blossom Special', which he worked on with presenter Niall Toner for RTÉ Radio One back in 1986, from the concert by American Country singer Boxcar Willie in Tuam Stadium. While the Tuam concert was not a commercial success, the radio programme, broadcast one week afterwards, proved to be very popular with listeners all over Ireland. 'I moved to Australia on the advice of my doctors who suggested that living in a warm climate would be better for my health,' says Frank who had suffered a number of illnesses before moving on from his very busy and very successful career as a producer with both RTÉ radio and TV. He added that he had to upskill considerably to get the teaching job at Wesley College in Perth, much of which deals with TV and film production. This upskilling gave him the opportunity, in spite of being of more mature years, to be selected for the job. So as this series of articles, or walkabouts, from around Australia concludes, it is important to emphasise that before any emigrant from Ireland, or elsewhere, considers moving to the land down under, there is a very important need to check that his or her skills dovetail with the requirements in Australia. While there are job opportunities for many emigrants, most of them are for those with specific trades and skills and not for unskilled or older workers. The streets are not paved with gold, except perhaps for some who may be mining for gold or other natural resources in the land down under.