North West Star's new Irish-born editor introduces himself

Apologies for channeling Kevin Rudd this early in the morning but I am here, I am the new editor at this great paper and yes, I do want to help.

However a brief listen to my accent and you'll quickly work out I'm stretching the point of saying I'm from Queensland, though I have lived here for 20 years.

I was born in Waterford, in the south-east of Ireland, a city not much bigger than Mount Isa, where the weather is vastly different and where the rain is more frequent and less welcome.

Waterford is Ireland's oldest city, founded by Vikings a thousand years ago.

There's not much pillage and plundering going on these days and the only reason you may have heard of it is that is synonymous with Waterford Crystal (alas the beautiful glassware is no longer made there, the Irish having priced their labour out of a tough market).

Like the Vikings, I left Waterford many centuries ago and after stints in Dublin, London and Chester in England, I ended up in Australia in late 1988, the year of the bicentennial celebrations.

I dont remember much about those celebrations but I never forget the sheer stark quality of the light that first day I arrived; it was like nothing Id experienced in the northern hemisphere.

Having come for just one year, I kept extending it until in 1994 I did the decent thing and became an Australian.

I dont mind telling you I was happy then-PM Paul Keating had changed the rules so that I swore allegiance to Australia and not to Her Majesty, which might have been troublesome to a cranky Irish republican (apologies to any monarchist readers I may have immediately put offside).

But citizenship was a decision I never regretted, and like many Irish men and women before me, I made a seamless transition to become a dinky-di Aussie albeit one with a strange verbal twang.

I married an Australian woman and although that did not work out and we eventually divorced, it did produce two wonderful daughters both are young Australian women I am very proud of the eldest is now a member of our armed forces.

In those days I worked for IT companies in Melbourne and Brisbane, gaining a good living but curiously unsatisfied with my station in life. So in the mid 2000s I decided to do an open university degree course in communications.

Gradually the idea grew I wanted to change career and enter journalism in my mid 40s (some uncharitable people called it a mid-life crisis, but I was far too old for that!).

And so in 2009 I gave up the big city life to work for the paper in Roma in south-west Queensland. I figured I would do a year there, learn the ropes and then hopefully move on to bigger and better things.

What I failed to take into account was how much country Queensland life would get under my skin. Within a few months of my arrival, a 10-year drought was broken (Im claiming some credit here, watch for my weather bona fides over the coming months in the Isa!) and the town and surrounding districts had to deal with floods which struck repeatedly over the next three summers.They say that to be regarded as a local you had to live there 30 years or been through three floods and if that was correct, I had taken the fast-track to localness.

I loved Roma and its people and it taught me a lot about myself. People say that newspapers are dying but country Queensland locals care about their paper and werent shy in telling me if something was wrong or I published something they didnt like. There was also occasional bouquets to go with the brickbats and I loved the immediacy of the feedback, good, bad or indifferent.

Ive taken the lessons from my time in Roma to further roles at Gatton and Dalby and Im keen to put them into practice here in Mount Isa.

When I heard of the opportunity to come and work here I jumped at the chance. Here was another great Queensland country community doing it tough, but full of great people with great stories I wanted to tell.

Like everywhere else in Mount Isa, the newspaper has been through hard times going from a Monday to Friday daily in 2015 to now publishing every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I want those days to be synonymous with the paper but I dont want us to be known as a triweekly. News happens every day and we will still aim to deliver great relevant and local content every day on our website.

Im excited about the future here because I can see lots of positives. Its great to hear the copper smelter has been extended to 2022. The North West gas pipeline development is also hugely significant in ways we can barely imagine now. Agriculture is also strong and our region needs to reap the benefits of increased domestic tourism.

Im sure, like in Roma, locals are fiercely protective of their paper and will be quick to let me know if Ive got something wrong. Im not afraid of criticism and would rather know than not if someone is unhappy with us. Because only then can I do something about it.

But whether youve got a gripe or not, Id love to hear from you. If you ever see me out and about in Mount Isa, Cloncurry and Camooweal, feel free to come up and say hello.

This is your paper and I am your editor.