In Melbourne it's the law to shut up shop at Easter

LETTER FROM MELBOURNE: Arriving in Melbourne on Good Friday was something like travelling back to pre-Celtic Tiger Ireland. Almost nothing was open.

The city's broad, majestic boulevards were empty bar the odd car and intermittent tram. I never thought I would be so happy to see a McDonalds.

Maybe a more accurate comparison would be a trip back to Melbourne when it was dominated by the Cork-born, Maynooth-educated Daniel Mannix. His 46-year reign (1917-1963) as Archbishop of Melbourne made him a powerful presence which the city's politicians ignored at their peril.

It was over four years since I had been to Melbourne, and I had never previously been there at Easter so the extent of the lock-down took me by surprise.

Easter Saturday saw a lot of businesses reopen, but Easter Sunday saw the shutters down again.

It turns out the legislation governing Easter Sunday trading was changed earlier this year; seemingly replicating most of the restrictions already placed upon Good Friday trading.

A lot of premises stayed closed for the entire weekend as they figured, correctly, that the technicalities and enforcement of the trading ban would cause much confusion and a dearth of customers.

The law basically says that shops have to close. There are some exemptions, such as small shops and food outlets, provided the business employed 20 people or fewer. A last-minute legislative change also allows petrol stations and pharmacies to open.

The fine for breaking the law is $10,000 (€5,600). However, the Police Association has said monitoring shops is not legitimate police work at a time when there are traditionally many road accidents and robberies.

Victoria's State premier Steve Bracks, of the Labour party, has denied opposition claims that the Easter trade ban is payback for support from the trade union movement.

Mr Bracks, a devout Catholic, said that "it [Easter Sunday] is an important day to observe for families around Australia. Our Christian tradition is one that I think has been upheld by all states in Australia."

Despite all this, Melbourne is a beautiful city to visit. Sydney has the harbour, but Melbourne has the wonderful River Yarra as its beating heart.

The Victorian capital is also more laid back than Sydney, and it is easier to find your way around thanks to grid-plan streets and a fine public transport system which includes trams, trains, buses, light rail and a small underground section.

Public transport in the city was privatised under a Liberal state government in the late 1990s, but has not turned out to be the goldmine the new entrants expected despite getting over $200 million (€112 million) in subsidies every year.

Last December, unable to become profitable, one train and tram operator, National Express, began handing its services back to the Victorian government.

Not that the English company's former employees miss them much. With refreshing Australian candour Mr Trevor Dobbyn, of the Rail Tram and Bus Union, fired a parting shot at National Express.

"Good riddance to them. They are a miserable pack of Pommy bastards. They can't play cricket and they can't run a public transport system."

One of the reasons the companies cannot turn a profit is that fare evasion is estimated to be costing $50 million (€28 million) a year. Yet this is a problem entirely of their own making. Cost-cutting on the trams meant that all the conductors were fired. The drivers do not take fares, so unless you have a pre-paid ticket it is up to your honesty to pay at the onboard ticket machine. A machine which only takes coins.

Despite the fares being very reasonable - they are, after all, subsidised - evasion is a popular sport in the city.

Privatisation did manage to turn the tide of two decades of declining patronage, but the public transport share of the travel market is still only at 9 per cent. So, in Melbourne at least, the jury is still out on whether privatising public transport is a success.

Another project which has soaked up a huge amount of public funds in Melbourne is the $450 million (€252 million) Federation Square.

Occupying the equivalent of a city block and created by constructing a massive concrete deck over a tangle of railway lines along the banks of the Yarra, the square is a piece of rare modernist beauty - and worth every penny that was spent on it.

It is a magnificent, courageous public project, which has provided a cultural focus for the city, much as the Opera House has done for Sydney.

The linchpin of the project is the Ian Potter Centre, which contains 20 galleries on three levels dedicated to presenting the history of Australian art, from indigenous to colonial period to contemporary.

The square also contains the Australian Centre for the Moving Image; a 450-seat indoor amphitheatre; and a Plaza with nearly two-dozen cafes and bars, which can accommodate crowds of up to 15,000 for outdoor performances.

American Donald Bates, who was one of the architects of Federation Square, put the importance of the project well when he said: "Melbourne has had to construct its uniqueness as a city whereas Sydney's uniqueness is God-given."

Ultimately, any place that has a pub called The Irish Times on a street called Collins is my kind of town.

Of course I went in; it would have been wrong not to.