Making it Down Under, Episode 1 of 6, RTÉ One, Wednesday, September 7th at 8.30PM
For the last two hundred years, Australia has been a magnet for people from all over the world. It’s a vast continent of unexplored outback with vibrant cities located mostly along its coastline and it’s here that most of the immigrant population has settled.
Irish people have long been a presence in Australia, and they’ve made the most of the opportunities on offer. Making it Down Under takes a look at some recent arrivals who are working in challenging careers. From medics to truck drivers, mine workers to jockeys, we meet some of the Irish living and working in this extraordinary land.
On Episode One:
Mayo native Dr Matthew Mulkeen flies to the scene of a life threatening accident. Matthew (38) has been based in Queensland since 2015 and is a doctor with one of the region’s rapid response ‘Lifeflight’ helicopters. His wife Marijana is from Croatia and they met in Ireland in 2006. They have one daughter, Alexandra who is 7.
Corkman Con O’Sullivan (27) has been living in Australia for the past five years and has been driving the world’s largest cattle road train since 2013. It’s a tough job that takes him thousands of kilometres every week around Western Australia. From Bantry, Con loves the outback and the open road. In episode one we find that for Con, driving the biggest cattle train in the world isn’t all fun and games.
Vet John Russell performs a high tech operation on a high value horse. John (30) is from Downpatrick and is a specialist equine veterinary surgeon in Melbourne. John has been here since 2011 and despite having a great job with one of Ireland’s top stud farms, decided to take the leap to Oz to further his career with Caulfield Equine Hospital. His day-to-day job sees him work on some of the best race horses in Australia.
Roscommon native, Louise Day (22), who is training to become a jockey and has found the going easier for female jockeys in Australia compared to Ireland.
Kate Doyle from Waterford always wanted to be a Veterinary nurse but found it tough to get into it in Ireland. She moved to Perth in 2011 and studied there to become a vet nurse, a job she loves. She is engaged to be married to her partner Ian. Kate and Ian first met in Perth, and although they’re both Irish, they quickly realised just how small their home nation can be. Kate’s family home is just across the road from his in Waterford. Having traveled halfway round the world to fall in love with the girl next door, Ian’s also had to find room in his heart for Kate’s menagerie of two dogs and two cats.