HistoryIn 1690, Catholic Ireland was conquered by Protestant England. The English then passed laws that Catholics could not own a gun, could not travel more than 5 miles from home and could not teach in Protestant schools. Three-quarters of the Irish land was owned by the English Protestants, who rented it to the Irish farmers. If rent was not paid, bailiffs would take anything moveable, such as livestock or furniture, and then evict the family. To survive, many Irish were forced to a life to crime. Other Irish struggled to realise political change. In March 1798 Ireland was declared to be in a state of insurrection. Under the Insurrection Act, Magistrates and Military Officers were empowered to arrest and punish, by death or otherwise, according to their discretion, people committing treasonable acts or even suspected of treason. An Indemnity Act protected them from suits for illegal acts committed by them in suppressing a rebellion. Consequently, many thousands of Irish were, without any judicial trial or investigation, flogged, tortured, and transported to Australia. In Australia, the Irish retained some of the features of their homeland; however, different environmental conditions soon shaped the Irish Australian identity so that it was completely different to that in the motherland. Economies
From CIA World Fact Book
CommonwealthIreland is not a Commonwealth country and does not have the Queen as its head of state. The seeds of Irish independance were sewn in an uprising in 1916 that touched off a guerilla war. In 1921, 26 southern counties of Ireland became independent from the UK. Six northern (Ulster) counties remained part of the UK. In 1949, Ireland withdrew from the British Commonwealth. To an extent, it is still fighting wars against the English. Australia retains the Queen as its head of state. In 1999, Australia had a referendum to become a republic. Polls showed that 90 per cent of Australians were in support of a republic but 80 per cent did not support the proposed model that denied them the right to vote for the president. The referendum ultimately failed because proponents used arguments that divided rather than united Australians. Roughly 55 per cent of Australians voted no and all states voted no. Rural areas were strongholds for the no vote, as were Labor seats in working-class suburbs. Wealthy city electorates mostly voted yes. Religious conflictIreland suffers a great deal of religious conflict between Catholics and Protestants. Even the Irish who are atheist can get caught up in the Catholic Protestant dispute. The need to deal with the conflict is reflected in the design of Ireland's flag. The Irish tricolour flag bears green for Roman Catholics, orange for Protestants, and white for the desired peace between them. Despite the patriotic symbolism, or perhaps because of it, the religious conflict continues. Australia has very little religious conflict. The only thing that really seems to matter to Australian Christians is whether other people are Christians. In the past, there was some minor conflict between Catholic and Protestants migrants but their conflicts were not passed onto their descendants. Today, Australia has fundamentalist atheists who act like evangelical Christians in the way they spread the atheist gospel. The conflict between atheists and Christians is the closest that Australia comes to religious conflict. Conflict involving Australian Muslims has largely stemmed from cultural factors and again has involved the atheists. SportBoth Australia and Ireland have invented their own codes of football. Although both codes were probably influenced by the other, people in both countries have been reluctant to acknowledge the mutual influence. In 1859, Australians created 10 rules for a game of football. Over the next 50 years, more rules were added and many of these rules might have been proposed by Irish immigrants or Convicts familiar with the Irish sport of Caid. Circumstantial evidence an Irish influence comes from H.C Harrison, one of the fathers of Australian rules. In his autobiography, Harrison wrote that players were simply ignoring his rules and playing the rules of Ireland instead. In his words: "As Captain, I once protested that such tactics were against the rules, but the only satisfaction I got was the forceful reply, 'to H- with your rules! We're playing the - Irish rules. " In 1884, Ireland wrote rules for their own version of football. The rules they created were very similar to the rules of Australian football. Teams were composed of 21 players, an oval ball was used as were behind posts. The Gaelic goal posts were at first 15 feet apart, but were soon moved to 21 feet - the exact same distance as in Australian rules. In addition, Gaelic football allowed tackling like Australian rules. Over the next two decades, the Irish performed radical surgery on their code that differentiated it from Australian rules. Specificaly, they switched to a round ball, outlawed tackling, reduced player numbers and discarded behind posts. Arguably, Ireland performed the surgery to counter claims they were just playing the Australian game. Aside from their indigenous sports, both Ireland and Australia play the English sports of soccer, rugby union, and cricket. Australia has embraced the English sports much more readily than the Irish. As a result, Australia has had a great deal of international success playing the English sports while Ireland hasn't had much at all. MusicIn Australia's colonial era, Australian music carried the fingerprints of the Irish Convict population. Specifically, Australian bush music inherited the story telling elements seen in Irish music. The Wild Colonial Boy was a good example of the Irish influence. The song celebrated an Australian bushranger born in Ireland that was transported to Australia. It told of his birth, his family, his values, his exploits in Australia and his eventual death. As well as becoming popular in Australia, it became popular in Ireland. Into the Irish tradition, Australian musicians weaved Aboriginal walkabout themes, Aboriginal words and used Aboriginal instruments such as the didgeridoo. Waltzing Matilda is a classic example of the Aboriginal influence on Australian bush music. Waltzing Matilda sings about a swagman that sits under the shade of a coolabah tree aside a billabong and then swipes a jumpbuck. In Irish style mythology, the swagman kills himself rather than be taken alive by the troopers. Traces of the past can be seen political nature of modern day Irish and Australian rock music. In Ireland, rock bands have been keen to organise protest concerts to end religious conflict or world poverty. Likewise, Australian bands have also been to protest some cause. Some have protested in favour of Aboriginal rights or the environment. In 2006, Australian bands held a concert to protest against employees and employers being able to negotiate individual contracts, rather than employers needing to negotiate through unions representing their members. Arguably, Australian rock bands just couldn’t think of anything else to organise a protest concert over. Irish in AustraliaIn many countries around the world, descendants of Irish emigrants have worked hard to preserve pride in their ancestral culture. In America, the Boston Celtics basketball team is testament to the lengths the American Irish have gone to keep their pride alive. While Irish descendants in America have retained their pride, those in Australia have mostly given it up. According to historian Patrick O'Farrell: "Australia first became what amounted to the Australian Irish Catholic slogan. These Australians of Irish background did not tend to regard Ireland as their "mother country". The penal experience offers one explanation for why the Irish Australians gave up their pride in the motherland. In America's founding era, people of English descent constituted the majority of the population, and were the first class citizens. The Irish were categorised alongside blacks as a second class minority, which naturally fostered a victim culture. On the other hand, two generations into Australia's urban era, nearly 80 per cent of the population was a Convict, Emancipist, or of Convict descent. As a consequence, the majority of the population were second class-citizens, and the exclusive free settlers were the disliked minority. Race or ancestry was insignificant compared to the stigma of Convict ancestry. In a perverse way, being a Convict allowed the Irish to gain a sense of equality with other social groups in Australia. A victim identity can only really prosper when it is in the minority. Defiance of the English offers a second explanation for why the Irish gave up their pride. Because the English were afraid that Australian patriotism could result in American style independence movements, they were quick to suppress expressions of Australian pride. Naturally, this motivated the Irish to express pride in being Australian. A third explanation is that some Irish gained positions of authority and they used those positions of authority against the Irish, which naturally eroded Irish pride. Peter Lalor, one of the leaders of the Eureka rebellion, was a classic example of the Irish betraying their roots when it suited them. Lalor lost an arm in the Eureka battle and was hidden while the other men went on trial. After they were acquitted, Lalor's arrest warrant was withdrawn, he was given money and he stood for the new Victorian parliament. As a hero, he was elected with much euphoria. He then used Chinese to break the picket lines of striking miners, he opposed an elected upper house, opposed universal manhood suffrage and voted for bills that empowered the rich. He subsequently became despised by all those who had fought alongside him. Redmond Barry was another who betrayed his Irish roots. Barry was an Irish judge that made it his mission to hang Ned Kelly, seen by many Irish as an Australian patriot of Irish stock. DiasporaIrish culture has been influenced by emmigration. Potato famines and conflict with the English resulted in many Irish leaving Ireland. In 1840, the Irish population was estimated to be over 8 million. In 1911, it was estimated to be 4.4 million. Today, around 80 million people have some Irish ancestry. Around 3 million of these people can legally claim to be Irish. 1.2 million are Irish-born emigrants. As many descedants of Irish emmigrants have retained an Irish identity, they are still seen as family members by the people of Ireland. Article 2 of the Constitution of Ireland was amended in 1998 to read: " the Irish nation cherishes its special affinity with people of Irish ancestry living abroad who share its cultural identity and heritage." Australia also has a large diaspora. In 2008, the diaspora was estimated to be around 800,000 people. Motivations to go abroad are primarily adventure and/or work opportunities. Approximately 2/3rds are professionals, para-professionals, managers or in administrative occupations. Almost half are earning in excess of $100,000 a year. Unlike Ireland, Australia has an ambiguous relationship with its diaspora. Some members of the diaspora, such as feminist Germaine Greer, have been scathing of Australia when abroad. Not surprisingly, she has subsequently found that her negativity has been returned with interest. Other Australians, such as presenter Clive James, have been a bit more complimentary and have in turn have elicited a complimentary reaction in Australians at home. Different attitudes to the diaspora have also been expressed in music. Some negative views were enshined in songs such as Red Gum's "I’ve Been to Bali Too". The song was written as a criticism of Australians going abroad to have fun rather than learn about another culture. In the words of author Schumann: "Part of it was my acute embarrassment at the behaviour of my countrymen who could've been in the suburbs or on the beach for all the interest they were showing in the Balinese - boorish bastards they were." Men at Work's " Downunder" was also critical of Australians abroad. Ironically, when Men at Work sang, "I come from a land downunder, where women glow and men plunder" Australians thought the band was complimenting them and so they elevated the song to anthem status. Expat journalists have also been scathing of Australians; including those journalists that should be able to appreciate the importance of national teamwork. For example, Ben Johnson, a former professional rugby player who moved to China, used his time insult Australians. In one article for the China Daily, Johnson wrote of his embarrassment at seeing a drunk Australian at a pub. According to Johnson, "Wing nut, gibberer and flip are words many Australians would use to describe the young man whose drunken behavior in a Beijing bar last Saturday night did his country a disservice… To the young man being hosted by Beijing's warm-hearted people, I remind you of something our mothers and grandmothers have all asked us at least once. Would you act like that at home?" To be embarrassed by a drunk in a pub was as silly as being offended by seeing a lady wearing a bikini at the beach. Furthermore, considering that the Chinese celebrate drinking to the point that they fall down, insulting a drunk Australian was an odd way of showing respect for Chinese culture. Drinking culturesTraditionally Ireland has had a strong drinking culture. The pastime of going to a pub and drinking a beer or many has long united all of Ireland's cultural divides. Even in the face of a demanding modern economy, the Irish have managed to preserve their drinking traditions. An OECD Health Data survey in 2005 found that Ireland had the second highest per capita alcohol consumption in the world. Guinness is the favoured beverage of an Irishmen wishing to show his patriotism through drink. Unlike most beers which are carbonated, draft Guiness is nitrogenated. The nitrogen bubbles give Guinness a creamy head that allows for little gimmicks like the stamping of shamrocks. Traditionally, Australia was also a great drinking nation. During the early days of the colony, rum was used instead of money. It has been estimated that during this era, the colony drank more alcohol per capita than in any other time in human history. Right up until the 1970s, Australia retained an honoured place amongst the world's great drinking nations. However, in the 1980s, per capita consumption started falling away. Ironically, the fall coincided with the election of Bob Hawke, a prime minister that held an entry in the Guinness Book of Records for beer drinking. By 2003, Australia was ranked 38th in per capita alcohol consumption. The fall in consumption has been offset by a rise in quality of consumption. In the 1970s, the Australian was primarily a drinker of harsh beers advertised as being "doubly hopped for bitter flavours." Words like "smooth taste" were seen to have no place in beer commercials. Today, premium lagers and boutique beers have increased their market share, as have mid-strength beers. Words such as "smooth taste" no longer have the negative associations that they once had. Unlike Ireland, Australia has no national beer. Each state has its own brewers and flagship brands. Arguably, Tasmania produces Australia's finest beer as it has the world's purest water. As well as developing a taste for premium beers, Australia has developed a taste for wine. In the 1970s, few Australians drank wine. A strong domestic market developed in the 80s, which laid the groundwork for international expansion. From 1990 to 2001 Australia's annual exports increased from 38 million litres worth $121 million to around 354 million litres worth $1.7 billion. This was a 10 fold increase in volume and a 14 fold increase in value. In 1975 Australia was a net importer of wine. Today it is the world's largest wine exporter behind France, Italy and Spain. Australia is most famous for its Shiraz, which is one of the harsher red grape varieties, but a variety that mellows with age. Recently, Tasmania has started producing elegant Pinot Noir and Western Australia has started producing quality Merlots and Cabernet Sauvignons. The NSW Hunter Valley produces exceptional Semillon and South Australia's Adelaide Hills produces exception Riesling.
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