Somethin' for everyone t'be sure!

With topics as diverse as 'Celtic Spirituality and the Irish' and 'the Irish origins of Australian Rules football' to be aired, t'be sure the 11th Irish Australian Conference will have somethin' for just about everyone — whether they claim Irish roots or not.

The last week in April will see Irish Studies show-cased when Murdoch University, University Notre Dame Australia and the Australian Irish Heritage Association host the Conference.

According to Conference Convenor Professor Bob Reece, of Murdoch's Centre for Irish Studies, it is the first event of its kind in Western Australia.

The biennial conference, the principal vehicle for Irish Studies and Irish Australian Studies in Australia, has attracted speakers from Ireland, Britain, the United States and New Zealand, as well as all states of Australia.

The Conference takes it title, 'Act of Union', from the 200th anniversary of the Act and this provides the subject for keynote addresses by Professor Gearoid O Tuathaigh, of the National University Ireland at Galway, and Professor Tom Bartlett, of University College Dublin.

Dr Ruan O Donnell of the University of Limerick and Professor Geoffrey Bolton of Murdoch University will speak on different aspects of the Act of Union.

Irish broadcaster and writer Siobhan McHugh will give the Mary Durack Lecture on 'Creating "The Irish Empire"' — sharing her experiences in the making of the recent television documentary series.

Registration and other details can be obtained from the Conference website at http://wwwsoc.murdoch.edu.au/cfis.