Irene Roberts

Irene was a drunken mother of Finlay and Damien Roberts. She lost her daughter Finlay who moved to the Bay and ended up in the Rosses. She arrived in the Bay in 1992 to beg Finlay to return home. One evening, she fell down the stairs, and accused Finlay and Damien of pushing her down the stairs. It wasn't long before she lost Damien.

In 1993, she returned to the Bay with a bottle in her hand. It was only revealed later that it was non-alcoholic drink which she bought for Finlay.

Irene bidded for the beach house which she shared with Luke and Roxy. She had hoped to have Finlay and Damien back together with her as a family, but they did not want to move out of the Rosses.

Irene took in Selina in 1994 and decided to become a foster mother. The lady from the Department refused to allow her, until Selina talked to her, persuading her to change her mind. Irene has cared for a number of children and she is happy at the chance as she lost out when she was supposed to care for her own children.

Irene was asked by Finlay to become a surrogate mother for her.

She has not been lucky with men. She fell for millionaire Anthony Doyle, but it did not work out. Being an independent woman, she did not like him splashing out on her too much.

Irene has an ability few would envy. She is able to tell what may happen. She had a number of dreams which were actually premonitions. They all came true, and this scared her so much that she decided to leave it.

Irene had an arch enemy - Diana Fraser, James and Lachie's mother. The pair always feuded whether it's over Chloe, Olivia or not. There was a party on in Irene's house when Irene had a knife in her hand - she was to cut a cake. She was waving it while arguing, and Diana accused her of threatening her with a knife. However, Irene managed to get free from jail - when a drunken Diana arrived on her porch, she managed to persuade her to drop the charges..

When Will Smith arrived in the Bay, he lied that Damien told him he could stay at Irene's. Irene has been caring for him, and his sister, Hayley later arrived.

When Ken Smith, Will and Hayley's father arrived, tensions were caused because Will would not give him a chance, whereas Hayley was delighted to see him despite his doings in the past. Irene became friendly with him and helped him change his ways.

Ken left for a few months but returned to the Bay to see Irene. They both became close, and later decided to marry. They opted for a small wedding, but circumstances changed that they have decided to go all the way.

One night, Irene had a nightmare. She dreamt that Ken was running away, calling for her. She was running after her until she came to a cliff edge.

It appears that her premonition came true when Ken died underneath a car on their wedding. Instead of a wedding, they had a funeral. She was devastated and angry with Ken for spending money on her rather than on important stuff at the garage, that she threw the ring into the sea.

Though not a one of the original characters, Irene has stuck around the Bay longer than most characters. She may become the next Pippa!

Jacqui Phillips
Lynne McGranger

Jacqui originally played Irene in a few episodes in 1992. Lynne took over the character when Irene returned in 1993. Lynne McGranger was born in the Sydney suburb of Paddington on 29 January.

Before concentrating on her acting career, she was a primary school teacher. She graduated from the Riverina College of Advanced Education in 1975.

Lynne was always interested in performing. She grew up learning ballet and modern dance. In 1982 and 1983, she rekindled her interest by studying acting, voice, dance, mime and gymnastics with Penrith's Q Theatre.

She performed i several Q Theatre productions including Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and As You Like It and Alan Aykbourne's How The Other Half Loves. She also appeared in other productions in Melbourne for the Anthill, Playbox and Theatreworks companies and worked in cabaret and stand-up comedy.

In Melbourne, Lynne began working on some short film projects and started getting TV work with a guest role on The Flying Doctors. She has since appeared in the ABC telemovie Unit 64 (Street Angels), the Gluttony episode of the ABC Seven Deadly Sins series and Skytrackers for the Seven Network.

In 1993, she joined the cast of Home and Away as a guest but became a permanent cast member.