{"id":10025,"date":"2021-01-25T09:59:53","date_gmt":"2021-01-25T09:59:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=10025"},"modified":"2021-01-25T09:59:53","modified_gmt":"2021-01-25T09:59:53","slug":"star-jets-player-among-newcastles-newest-citizens-to-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2021\/01\/25\/star-jets-player-among-newcastles-newest-citizens-to-be\/","title":{"rendered":"Star Jets player among Newcastle's newest citizens-to-be"},"content":{"rendered":"

Newcastle Jets forward Roy O\u2019Donovan has found a permanent home in the region, with the Irish import and his young family set to become Australian citizens at one of City of Newcastle\u2019s online citizenship ceremonies on Tuesday.
\nO\u2019Donovan and his wife Ellen relocated to Australia in 2015, initially for a change of scenery, but when their son Alfie was born less than 12 months later, the O\u2019Donovans soon fell in love with Newcastle and the unparalleled lifestyle it had to offer.
\n\"Roy-O-Donovan-with-his-wife-Ellen-and-son-Alfie-at-Dixon-Park-Beach-Large.JPG\"Roy O’Donovan with his wife Ellen and son Alfie at Dixon Park Beach.<\/sup><\/strong>
\n\u201cI always had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to play in Australia or America because I fancied the change from living in England,\u201d O\u2019Donovan said.
\n\u201cWe came to Newcastle and really felt like we had found a home here. I\u2019d travelled elsewhere for football but never for more than two or three years at a time. You can\u2019t beat the lifestyle here, especially for raising a family, with so many beautiful parks and beaches at your doorstep.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re extremely honoured and proud to become Australian citizens and be part of Newcastle\u2019s future.\u201d
\nAs for Alfie\u2019s favourite thing about Newcastle? \u201cI love swimming at the beaches and also seeing all the dogs walking around,\u201d he said.
\nThe O\u2019Donovans will share their special day with Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes, who is presiding over their citizenship ceremony via Zoom, before tucking into a backyard barbecue, sending their love to family and friends in hard lockdown in Ireland and enjoying some family time before Alfie starts kindergarten later this week.
\nCr Nelmes said City of Newcastle had adapted its traditional Australia Day Citizenship Ceremony, which in the past has been one of the largest in the state, to allow our newest citizens to take the pledge in a COVID safe environment.
\n\u201cWhile the COVID-19 pandemic has meant we have had to do things a little differently to keep the community safe, it\u2019s an historic moment as Lord Mayor to welcome City of Newcastle\u2019s newest citizens in a more intimate, one-on-one setting, joining them virtually in their lounge rooms and kitchens.\u201d
\nThe Lord Mayor and Deputy Lord Mayor Councillor Declan Clausen will preside over simultaneous ceremonies, accompanied by the Federal Member for Newcastle, Sharon Claydon, who will read the Minister\u2019s Message.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Newcastle Jets forward Roy O\u2019Donovan has found a permanent home in the region, with the Irish import and his young family set to become Australian citizens at one of City of Newcastle\u2019s online citizenship ceremonies on Tuesday. O\u2019Donovan and his wife Ellen relocated to Australia in 2015, initially for a change of scenery, but when … Continue reading “Star Jets player among Newcastle's newest citizens-to-be”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newcastle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10025\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}