New Ireland – Hibernia in the South Pacific…

Inspired by Brian O’Neill’s call for new contributors, this is a first-time post; little to do with politics and nothing to do with pestilence, but hopefully a bit of an antidote to the latter.

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If you were like me, and loved to browse an atlas in days before the internet, you might possibly have happened upon a seemingly innocuous speck of an island on the opposite side of the world which rejoices in the name New Ireland. I had come across it in childhood and was fascinated by what this near namesake of ours in the Pacific might be like. Little did I know that a decade or so later, I would wind up living there for two years. In this post, I am going to tell you a little about that place – or at least how it was at the end of the 1970s, when I was there. If there is any appetite for it, I would be happy to do a second post about how I came to be in New Ireland and some of my experiences there.

The map above shows the main island of New Ireland, ominously shaped like a musket, which is about 220 miles long, and as little as 6 miles wide in places. There is a chain of mountains running down the spine, and these rise to over 7000 feet in the wider bit at the south eastern end. There are about 30 other inhabited islands within New Ireland Province.

The map below shows how New Ireland fits into the state of Papua New Guinea (PNG), where it is just one of twenty one provinces, and definitely a bit of an outlier. Note its “big brother” New Britain, immediately to the south. A little snippet of northern Australia can be seen at the bottom of the map.

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Prior to gaining independence in 1975, the Territory of PNG was administered by Australia on behalf of the British Crown. As colonialism went, this seems to have been quite benevolent, and Australia continued to provide substantial aid to PNG for decades after independence.

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Here’s a photograph of the first year anniversary celebrations of the establishment of the New Ireland Provincial Government in the capital Kavieng. A couple of years after independence, the mineral rich province of Bouganville – the island to the east of New Ireland – wanted to break away from PNG, but was mollified by the setting up of a Provincial Government. However, the outworking of this was that every province was granted its own Provincial Government. The country was suddenly awash with professional politicians. Is this familiar? Sadly, it did not work out long term as far as Bouganville was concerned, and a bloody war of secession followed.

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Above can be seen typical coastal scenery on the main island, somewhere between Kavieng and Namatanai. There is a road hidden under all that foliage, in fact, it’s the famous Boluminski Highway, for a long time the only proper road in the entire country.

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A Provincial Government boat at a wharf on the island of Emira – the smaller island on the St Matthias Group – see map. You might need glasses to make out the name of the vessel, but it’s worth a squint. Yes, having spent 2 weeks on her, I can confirm she was “strong and stable” but her round bottom meant that she rolled a lot in a blow! Emira has an interesting WW2 history. While the rest of New Ireland languished under the Japanese occupation, the Americans landed 10,000 military on the island (population 500) and bulldozed two huge runways – still visible on Google Earth. The “traditional” dance of the locals, as displayed at cultural shows, involves them lining up with arms outstretched, making passable impressions of Pratt and Whitney aero engines, and wheeling in tight formations that would deter any passing Zeros.

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Another means of transport in New Ireland: a 15 seater Brittan Norman Islander aircraft belonging to the third level carrier Talair. There were about 15 mainly grass strips scattered around the Province, and this faithful puffer visited each of them several days a week.

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Happy New Ireland villagers! There is little in the way of grinding poverty, as in sub-Saharan Africa, for the mainly rural based population. Nearly everyone has access to the sea and hence to fishing, as most people live on the coast. Population density is fairly low; about 100,000 people spread over the Province, and families are able to grow staples and vegetables. There is widespread access to primary education. However, when I was there, access to secondary and further education was limited, and health provision was very patchy. Rural participation in the cash economy was usually no more than the selling of a few bags of copra (oil rich dried coconut flesh) to the processor in Kavieng.

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Rush hour in the capital, Kavieng, population similar to that of Cushendall. After two years living there, I had a major skills deficit when it came to crossing busy roads….

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A so-called Irish Bridge on the road south east of Namatanai. Within 30 minutes the spate river would rise to the extent that the Toyota Landcruiser might be swept away if the driver attempted a return journey. New Ireland rainfall puts percipation in Old Ireland in the penny place!

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“Malagan” masks, unique to New Ireland. Traditionally the masks are part of a wider Malagan culture. They are carved as a part of an expression of a community’s reverence and remembrance for a deceased person.

Leaving aside the small matter of about 30,000 years of non-European occupation, the first recorded European sighting of New Ireland was by Dutch seamen in the 17th century, but at that stage it was thought to be part of the larger island to the south. In the 18th century, Admiral Carteret RN sailed up what became known as St George’s Channel between the two islands, and then gave New Ireland its current name. Germans started to colonize the island in the 19th century, planting coconut plantations, and the island was renamed Neu-Mecklenberg. At the start of WW1, the Australian army wrested control of the island from a handful of Germans and their native constabulary. Things were then peaceful until the Japanese military descended like a wolf on the fold in January 1942. The commander of the antiquated Australian air force detachment in New Britain sent the Roman gladiator message to his HQ: “Morituri te salutant”. (We who are about to die salute you.)

PNG has over 800 languages within a population of 8 – 9 million, making it the most linguistically diverse country in the world. New Ireland has a modest 19 languages. Luckily, citizens do not make a demand that street signs, etc. are in their native tongue! There is a creole-type lingua franca Tok Pisin, which is used in New Ireland and other provinces. English is the official language, but Tok Pisin is where the conversation is at. I can’t recall that much of it 40 years later, but as a couple of examples, New Ireland Radio was known as “Maus Bilong Solwara Antap” (Voice of the High Seas), and the seat pocket safety card on aircraft stated: “Sapos balus i bugarup, bai yupela mas bihainam ol dispela samting” (If the aircraft is malfunctioning, you must obey the following instructions).

Thankfully politics and religion don’t go hand in hand in New Ireland. The main political split within PNG in the 1970s was between the Pangu Party, led by the first Prime Minister, Michael Somare, and the Peoples’ Progressive Party, led by New Ireland man Julius Chan, who later became Prime Minister. I was never totally clear what the ideological differences were, but had the impression that it was a bit like FF/FG rivalry.

As for religion, as you travel along the main island coast, one village is Catholic, the next is United Church (Methodist and Episcopalian), etc. without any particular rhyme or reason. The only mono-religious cluster that I found were on the St Matthias islands, where everyone is a Seventh Day Adventist. There is a story behind that, for another day perhaps.

Of course, generalities about people within any particular geographical location can be problematic, but my experience over two years brings the following terms to mind: hospitable; easygoing; stoical; sociable; family orientated; sceptical (especially about young Europeans trying to “get things done” during a two year stint); reserved; very appreciative of their own home place.

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