On a visit to Tipperary Town yesterday, the Australian Ambassador to Ireland said he believes that emigration to down under will resume.
Gary Gray was invited by Martin Quinn, who presented him with a copy of his book ‘Tipperary People of Great Note’.
While in the Premier County, he took in the Tipperary Remembrance Arch, a primary school, Bridewell Gaol, the council offices and an exhibition at the Excel Centre.
The ambassador told Tipp FM that he believes we’ll see a return of people emigrating from Tipperary and the country at large, to Australia, but it will be gradual, after the pandemic.
“When families realised that they were in Melbourne and couldn’t get back to Ireland at all, and the rules were really tough.
“I dealt with families who had bereavement, who had serious sicknesses and getting the movement was really, really difficult.
“I don’t think it will start very quickly, very soon, but I think it will restore, because ultimately the kin relationships will draw people across all of those miles.”
He added that there’s a lot of shared history between Australia and Ireland, particularly Tipperary and that Martin’s book really shed some important light on some of those links and stories.
