'People are calling it a massacre': Cork man says locals fear Bondi Beach is no longer safe

Cork man Jean-Noel Murphy said the area wgere the shooting took place is so full of Irish that some call Bondi the '33rd county'

Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a shooting at Bondi Beach. Picture: AP Photo/Mark Baker

A Cork man living close to Bondi Beach has expressed his shock at the mass shooting in an area which is so full of Irish that some call Bondi the "33rd county".

Construction worker Jean-Noel Murphy, who is originally from Bishopstown, says he visits the beach every week and he would often be on the balcony of the Pavilion Hotel which overlooks the bridge from which two men launched the attack.

At least 16 people have been killed and 40 injured in the terrorist attack, which targeted a Jewish celebration at Bondi Beach.

“They call Bondi the 33rd county because it’s where all the Irish go,” he told the Irish Examiner. “This might as well have happened in Kinsale. We often go down there to watch the sun rise. 

"It was a place where everyone came together from around the world but the shooters have taken all that away. It’s really sad." 

The Hanukkah event, which took place at a park next to the beach, marked the first day of the Jewish festival of lights. Two men armed with guns opened fire on a crowd in the Archer Park area at 6.47pm local time (7.47am Irish time) on Sunday, New South Wales Police confirmed.

“I wasn’t there when it happened but it’s a place I know very well. I worked on a renovation right on Bondi Beach, across the road from the bridge where the shooting happened. The Pavilion Hotel directly overlooks this so if I was on the balcony, I would have been looking directly at the shooters. 

"It’s a big thing to go down to Bondi Beach on a Sunday, have a few beers and watch the sunset. We are all in shock. I’ve been getting alerts on social media for the last few hours. 

"It has hit home for all of us because there is such a large community of Jewish people in Bondi. My ex-boss is Jewish so I’m worried that his family might have been there. I know there are 12 people dead so far.” 

He described the sense of shock locally: “I had lived in Bondi since 2002 and only moved to Little Bay, which is a little further away from Bondi, because it is quieter. Everyone celebrates Christmas Day in Bondi, but it’s going to be very different now. 

"People are calling this a massacre here and they have every right to. I have spent many a Christmas Day on Bondi Beach. I literally lived a one-minute walk from it. I have done a lot of building work around there too. I think it will be a while before it really hits people properly.” 

Jean-Noel Murphy (left) from Bishopstown socialising close to Bondi Beach with his colleague Michelle in recent weeks.

The shootings come more than a year and a half after the killings in the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. 

On Saturday, 13 April 2024, 40-year-old Joel Cauchi stabbed and killed six people and injured a further 12. A nine-month-old baby girl was among the fatalities.

“I went to the candlelit vigil that was held after the Bondi junction knife attack because I wanted to show my respects after what had happened,” Jean-Noel told the Irish Examiner. “It’s really hard to believe that something like this is now happening again.” 

Upon hearing about Sunday's attack, he said the first thing he did was text friends to make sure they were okay. 

"We have been watching the news all night. This is going to hit home for anyone who is Irish. It has tarnished a place where everyone goes. 

"You meet Brazilians, French, the English, the Irish, the Germans, people of all nationalities can be found at Bondi Beach. It’s a place where everyone comes together. Now, there is a sense of it not being safe anymore.”