AN IRISH HOSTEL owner and publican in the Australian state of Queensland has said he will no longer take in Irish backpackers due to a number of drunken and disorderly incidents in recent years.
Dublin-born Thomas Dunne has told the Irish Echo in Australia that a number of incidents have caused problems for the Irish community in the area with damaged property leading in some cases to the arrest of Irish backpackers who stay in the Main Street Backpackers hostel in Proserpine.
Many of the backpackers stay there while working locally in farms for five months in order to secure a second working visa in Australia.
“Over the last three years the Irish backpacker has taken over the mantle [in behaviour] so we take less each year,” he told the paper. “The Irish are the only ones to have caused deliberate damage.”
Dunne, who with his wife and three children, have been running the adjoining O’Duinn’s Bar since 2006 said there are no issues with the bar but there had been an increasing number of incidents including one where two men were arrested and charged for damage done to the accommodation.
He told the Irish Echo that the incident was “the last straw” adding that they won’t be taking any more Irish backpackers.
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