Francis R. Ireland was born in Ipswich, Queensland, in 1898. He came to Cairns with his parents in 1905. In 1912 his working life commenced at 14 years of age when he started work mending bicycle tyre's punctures for Mr. Fred Taylor, in premises at 44-48 Abbott Street.
Over time he progressed to bicycle mechanic, advanced motor mechanic, and then became foreman of a garage run by Mr. C. Midlin. As a young mechanic Francis Ireland would deliver new cars to outlying properties and teach the buyers how to drive. Once he arrived just as the owner left to go driving for 2 months and was asked to await his return. He did... and meanwhile taught every person on the property to drive! That family are still Ireland's customers.
Mr. Ireland commenced his own business, repairing and selling bicycles and motor cycles and repairing motor cars, taking over the business of Mr. Midlin. This was the 4th June, 1923, "with a bag of tools, no money and some knowledge". A time when horses, buggy's and push bikes still ruled the streets of Cairns. At 24 years of age, he knew the value of customer service and he immediately placed great emphasis on the importance of customer satisfaction in his own business. Later, the business occupied premises at 34 Lake Street, where Palm Court is now situated. From this time on the business gained momentum and many years became milestones:
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1931 |
Francis Ireland became a General Motors Dealer, for the second time, having already been a Chrysler, Pontiac, Oakland and whippet Dealer between 1923 and 1931. The company has held the General Motors franchise since that time. |
1936 |
New premises were built at 123 Lake Street. These were very substantial buildings for the time and continued to be of service to the family until 1976. |
1947 |
Saw the formation of a subsidiary, Brown, Bolton & Co., to handle all body and paint work. Dan Bolton and Eric Brown, both first class tradesman, started with Mr. Ireland as young men before the war. |
1948 |
Mr. Ireland formed another subsidiary, McDonald Motor Agencies. This Dealership handled the Vauxhall Franchise at 44-48 Abbott Street. 1953 A small family owned finance company, M.V.I. was started. This company is now M.V.I. Pty.Ltd. and operates from the Mitsubishi sales building, offering clients a finance brokerage and insurance service. |
1953 |
A small family owned finance company, M.V.I. This company is now M.V.I. Pty.Ltd. and operates from the Mitsubishi sales building, offering clients a finance and insurance brokerage service. |
1956 |
McDonald Motor Agencies were appointed by G.M.H. as Holden Dealers, as imports of Vauxhall ceased. This meant from 1956 the two Holden Dealership's in Cairns were operated by the Ireland family. |
1961 |
Mr. Ron Ireland was approved as Dealer Principal by G.M.H. |
1970 |
Saw new premises for McDonald Motor Agencies built at 227 Mulgrave Road. This new Dealership, at that time, was considered one of the best facilities ever built in Australia. It is now the premises of FR Ireland Pty Ltd. |
1973 |
Mercedes-Benz appointed the company as Dealers for Passenger Cars. |
1976 |
Two companies, McDonald Motor Agencies Pty. Ltd. and F.R. Ireland & Co., a partnership, amalgamated their activities at 227 Mulgrave Road and F.R. Ireland Pty. Ltd. was formed. F.R. Ireland Pty. Ltd. saw the addition of agricultural sales business to the company, with its appointment as Distributors for Same Tractors, the company imported and distributed for Ingham North. |
1977 |
Premises of F.R. Ireland & Co. at 123 lake St. were sold to the City Council and later rebuilt for the City Library, used until the new City Library was constructed on the opposite side of Lake Street in 1999. |
1979 |
F.R. Ireland Pty. Ltd. were appointed Chrysler Dealers. (Chrysler was subsequently bought out by Mitsubishi and Ireland Chrysler became Ireland Mitsubishi) |
1982 |
Class Grain & Fodder Machinery appointed to the company as Dealers. 1983 The Iseki tractor franchise was added to the appointments. |
1983 |
The Iseki tractor franchise was added to the appointments. Awarded Mercedes benz Passenger Car Dealer Of The Year for the second time. |
1984 |
Toft Crane Harvesters and Transport Systems (later Austoft), appointed the company as Dealers. A new showroom was built for the Mitsubishi Sales Department on land purchased for that purpose next door to the existing Mulgrave Road site. Land and buildings were purchased at 163 Edith Street Innisfail for the Establishment of a branch of the Agricultural business in that town. |
1985 |
General Motors recognised the dealership as a Senior Level Service Centre in June 1985. |
1986 |
General Motors recognised the dealership as a Master Level Service Centre, an award achieved through the highest standards of customer satisfaction attained through the General Motors Service Development System. This was achieved just sixteen months after Senior Level, in October 1986. |
1987 |
The Deutz-Fahr Tractor range was added to the company's Franchises. |
1988 |
Built a new Showroom for Used Vehicle Sales Department and Sales Business Offices at Mulgrave Road site Built the F.R. Ireland Pty. Ltd. Training Centre, incorporating Staff Lunch Area, Rest Rooms, Training Rooms, Service Training Managers Office, and Storage Area. |
1989 |
Appointed John Deere Dealer for Cairns and Atherton Tableland and Innisfail Areas. Appointed Suzuki Dealers for the Innisfail area. |
1993 |
Fire destroyed the main Dealership at 227 Mulgrave Road which housed the Administration, Service, Parts and Holden Sales operations. The business was operating again the following day but it took six months to replace the buildings and equipment at a final cost of more than $2.5 Million. |
1994 |
The company is appointed Chrysler Jeep Dealers for Cardwell north. Ireland Farming rebuilt in land purchased for that purpose in O'Leary Street, immediately behind the existing Dealership site. The trading name was changed to Ireland Farm & Lawn at the same time to more closely reflect the nature of the business products. The total dealership site is now over 2.4 hectares (6 acres). A new showroom is built for Mercedes Benz and Chrysler Jeep, refurbished from the previous Ireland Farming premises. |
1995 |
The company is appointed Saab Dealers for Cardwell north. Mr. Richard Ireland is the Dealer Principal. With the succession planning for the business, Mr. David Ireland and Mr. Richard Ireland become joint Managing Directors. David appointed Dealer Principal for Mercedes Benz, Chrysler Jeep, John Deere, Austoft and Suzuki. Richard appointed Dealer Principal for Holden, Isuzu, and Mitsubishi. |
1998 |
Due to very low sales volumes of that product in the Innisfail area, the Suzuki motor vehicle franchise was relinquished. |
1999 |
October saw the closure of the Machinery business after 23 years of trading. This was brought about by a severe decline in the Queensland sugar and machinery market over several years with no outlook for market improvement in the medium term. |
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Since 1923 the Ireland name in North Queensland has been synonymous with service and quality products based predominantly around motor vehicles. The company has expanded to include investments in such diverse activities as remote service stations, tourism, machinery products, rent-a-car operations, and an interests in the Nerada Tea Plantation and the Cairns Taipans NBL Basketball team. In all these different forms of business one thing stands out and that is, that to be successful, a standard of customer satisfaction must be achieved that surpasses all of your competitors.
One thing Ireland's impress on the company's sales people is that the company is in the business for the long haul, not here to make a quick dollar for a couple of years. Ireland's are already selling to the second and third generation of customers and want to sell to the fourth and fifth generations as well. At Ireland's we are extremely fortunate to have business with over 75 years experience. This experience however only makes us as good as we perform today. It is only our complete dedication to customer satisfaction that will ensure our prosperity in the next 75 years.
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