CORK families living in Australia have shared their heartbreak over not being able to visit loved ones at home in Ireland due to travel restrictions — with one woman, whose parents are yet to meet her son, describing how there are days that she cries when she sees children with their grandparents.

Families around Australia have rallied together in recent weeks to call for the parents of Australian citizens and permanent residents to be allowed to enter the country, with a number of protests taking place to highlight the issue.

Douglas woman, Jessica Healy, who has lived in Perth for eight years, played an active part in the Perth protest this month which was organised by the advocacy group Parents are Immediate Family.

Jessica welcomed her first son, Shay, into the world 10 months ago, but her parents have not yet met their first grandchild, and she said she feels locked away from the world.

“I wish I could keep him a baby, mainly for my parents to hold him, feel his squishy baby rolls and to smell that baby smell everyone loves,” she said.

“I was 13 weeks pregnant when the borders closed on March 20 of 2020. I honestly believed it was a good idea and that we would be safe. I never imagined they would still be closed 18 months on.”

She described the situation as heartbreaking.

“Back then I was sure my family would be out at the end of October to meet our first child and their first grandchild. My heart broke when I realised this was not going to happen. My heart broke a little bit more when travel was still banned at Christmas.

“I have friends who have been denied exemptions to travel for a death of a loved one.

“Being on the other side of the world never fazed me as I was always 24 hours away if I needed to return. The fact that this is no longer the case has put so much fear into me.”

The mum of one said a petition for change has failed to make a real difference to date.

'Robbed of precious moments'

The family currently keeps in touch with loved ones through FaceTime and social media platforms.

“FaceTime doesn’t compare. I feel like we have been robbed of precious moments of my baby’s first few months. Our understanding has grown into anger and frustration.

“My family was vaccinated at the beginning of the year in the hope that Australia would allow those vaccinated to enter. Sadly, this never happened. My husband and I are both fully vaccinated as we know it will be a factor in allowing us to travel. We were one of the first in our group of friends to receive as we want to travel so badly.”

Jessica says she has to fight back tears when seeing people with their grandchildren.

“Words alone can’t explain what it would mean to us to be reunited. This is the longest we’ve been separated from our families. I was fortunate enough to have my parents here during Christmas of 2019 but my husband hasn’t seen his since our wedding three years ago.

“It has really tested my mental strength. I know I have to be strong and positive as I have a little human who depends on me. However, there are days I cry when I see children with their grandparents when we are out.

“I understand we chose to move here but I never imagined my freedom to travel home and introduce my child to his family would be taken from me.”

She is urging people to highlight the issue via their social media platforms.

'It is really tough on our parents'

Cork couple Conor and Kate O’Shea also participated in the recent protests.

Conor and Kate have two little girls, Olivia, aged three, and Harper, who is six months.

They haven’t seen their families in Cork since December 2019.

Kate said it is “heartbreaking” their family members can’t travel over to meet their grandchild Harper for the first time.

“It is really tough on our parents missing out on spending quality time with their grandkids. I feel for all the grandparents missing their grandkids being born, their Christenings, and birthdays.

“We travelled home with our daughter Olivia for Christmas 2019 and we haven’t seen either of our families since. Both my parents and Conor’s mother visited Perth when Olivia was born and they loved having cuddles with their first grandchild. When Harper was born in February this year it was very difficult for our parents not to be able to meet her,” she said.

Kate is hoping the Australian government will allow vaccinated Irish people to travel freely once again to see family members.

“The protests got some media coverage which is good. The current situation is that nobody is allowed to enter or leave Australia without an exemption to travel. Exemptions are being rejected because they do not view parents of adult children as immediate family.

“All we are looking for is the opportunity to travel home to see our loved ones once we have been vaccinated or to allow our vaccinated parents to travel into Australia,” she said.

Social media has helped the O’Shea family to keep in touch with their loved ones, said Kate.

“I’m so very grateful for FaceTime. Of course, it’s not the same as meeting at the gates in Cork Airport and having a good old hug.”

Kate said they are not sure if they will remain in Perth or move home, down the line.

“We always said we are only a day and a plane ride away. We are going to see how the rest of this year plays out and hope that 2021 will bring with it some ease on the Australian border closures,” she said.