New wave of Irish backpackers threatened with loss of Australian visas
Irish backpackers are being warned they face losing their visas because of a sharp rise in violence on the streets of Perth in western Australia.
Business-owners in Perth are beefing up their entrance policies as the number of alcohol-fuelled incidents involving Irish backpackers continues to rise.
There' has also been a warning from police that visas will be revoked if individuals are caught disturbing the peace.
Longford native Bridget Kelly, who runs the Shed pub in Perth, said the problem was not confined to Perth.
"The whole of western Australia is suffering from the new crowd of Irish coming in the last couple of years," she said.
"We never used to have any problems at all…there's a massive reputation that we've had over the years, but it's being damaged out of control in the last couple of years.
"It's all alcohol-related violence. It's damage to property and fighting with each other - stuff that's never happened before."
