Give Irene a decent storyline!

[Frankie]

OK... I can't be the only one who thinks they have forgotten Irene.

She has not had a decent story line... in fact any story line in ages. The last big one was the poisoning in 2005, and then there were the 3 or 4 episodes when Barry left in 2006. Since then .... zilch.... WHY? Some weeks she has been in only one scene a week... this is a criminal waste of a great character and great actress.

[alexx]

Totally agree. But I’ve gone into this so many times before I cant be bothered saying it again… anyway, Lynne McGranger is fantastic, they need to sort out Irene’s relationships with her kids on screen and not just Irene, every character, They kinda stuffed up Sally’s relationship with Ric and Cassie, with using words like ‘you are my daughter’ yet never seeing anything on screen to suggest they were particularly close as a mother and daughter…(like we used to see with Pippa and all her kids). S we need to see nice bonding stuff, which is carried on throughout the entire time, like they used to with Irene and all her kids prior 2005. And then we need a really great storyline, because Irene is one of my favrite characters when she is being Irene…and not just kitchen hand with wise words.

[Daisyap]

I agree cos Irene is one of the few people left in it who I actually like and enjoy watching.

[seph12]

I quite like her relationship with Belle but she always seems to be condeming Belle for things which really aren't that bad. She's only 17, no alcohool. WHAAAT? weird things like that make me laugh.

I dunno..i do think she still gets used..but if they doo too much to one character who's been in it for so long it stretches believability.

I thought she had some bonding with Annie coming up anyway?

[Daisyap]

The no alcohol thing makes me laugh too, like when Sally went mental at Cassie for drinking when she was 17, as if no one underage ever drinks!

[Zippy]

I agree. Irene is a wonderful character and Lynne McGranger is fantastic. They seem to have delegated her to kitchen hand at the diner, and have lost sight of how integral she is to the show. She was, and is, far more than any other character, the natural successor to Pippa as the central mother figure, particularly now that Beth has gone as well. I recall Bevan wanted to write her out at one point, but saw the error of his ways. I hope they are not thinking about going down that route again. That would be a huge mistake. She is much too good to lose, and there is so much potential with her character. Alex, you make an excellent point about them not showing the developing relationships these days. I miss that a lot. Irene's relationships with all of her kids has been powerful and deep, and we watched it develop and loved her and them in doing so. The current writers do not seem to understand that, or to communicate that; and thus they make startling errors such as Irene making an excessive fuss about under age drinking, or Belle sleeping with Drew. She was always firm, but more realisitic and much more liberal in relation to this with previous kids, so why have they forgotten this? Or is it that they have to make a thing about 17 year olds being under age because its family show and they have to give out the message that its wrong?

Irene definitely needs a major story line, or 2 or 3 or 4. It is long over due.

[Corey]

I could not agree more. Irene and Corey poisoning her was one of the best storylines in the past 10 years, if not the best. I loved it and them. I thought Lynne's performance was just brilliant. I would love to see them give her something really meaty and challenging to do, as well as to see more of the old Irene, who was so good with kids like Joey, Selina, Will and Nick. We need Irene bonding with her kids, and being there for them, and we need to see a lot more of her.

[Dan F]

I agree Frankie! Once Kate leaves, Lynne will be the 2nd longest serving cast member, but in recent times she certainly hasn't been able to show her full potential.

With Bevan back at the helm, I hope he will try and push Irene into a more 'core' position within the show over the next year! There's so many possibilities for her character, they could always bring back Fin, Damo or Nathan for a bit, or have one of her former foster children return....maybe we could explore more of her family background!

[John]

I have always felt that Irene was the logical mother figure to be taking in the stray young people who come to Summer Bay. She is the logical successor to Pippa in a way I didn't think Sally ever could be. Also Irene's background with her own children and her alcoholism would always lead to interesting flash backs and impacts on current storylines.

[Di]

Its such a shame, that Irene is just been treated like a talking extra IMO... Its such a waste.

Like John! has said.

I'd also like to see, more of Irene's past. Maybe one of her kids dies, and she takes there kids in?

Irene is such a natural taking kids in.. she know how rough life can be. As she's had some very, very dark and heavy issues happen in the past.