The Beginning

My name is Ian Plunkett and I have just concluded my studies to obtain a degree in International Relations from Dublin City University. I receive my final examination results in three weeks time. Having visited Washington DC before I was sceptical that I could be wowed in the same way I was the first time I visited in 2008. However, when our domestic flight cornered the Potomac River and I saw the outline of the Capitol this initial scepticism was shattered. Washington is an exceptionally impressive city. While not included in the canon of great architectural cities of the world such as Rome, Paris or the archetypal modern metropolises of New York City or Hong Kong, Washington has a subtle grandeur. Although many of its buildings are indeed copies of European-style construction, some-such as the National Archives, the Library of Congress and the Cannon Building-are architectural wonders in their own right. In our first few days we had a tour of the Capitol building, the Library of Congress and a night tour of Washington’s many impressive memorials, including standing in the spot where Martin Luther King made his seminal ‘I have a dream’ speech.

 

I applied to the Washington Ireland Program because I had heard that it offered an opportunity that was unattainable elsewhere. I am interning on Capitol Hill with a congressional representative from New York City. This is an opportunity that is afforded to very few people outside of America and I do not take it lightly. This exceptional program was offered to thirty students from the island of Ireland who showed considerable commitment to the oftentimes elusive concepts of service and leadership. These concepts have become increasingly clear in the week since I arrived as we establish a constructive dialogue as a class on various issues relating to active citizenship. This week in the Northern Ireland Bureau, four of our classmates made emotive, starkly different speeches about their life experiences, family backgrounds and their perception of what constitutes an individual national identity. Astoundingly, all spoke with clarity of purpose that is not typically prevalent in people still so young; it was a stirring moment for the whole class. I am living in Arlington Virginia for the next seven weeks and I am indebted to my host family for allowing me to share their home. The South African contingent is arriving tomorrow and I luck forward to meeting them, and engaging in a dialogue about our country’s respective paths to achieve egalitarianism and political stability. I begin work on Tuesday and this is what I am looking forward to the most. I hope to assert myself in my daily work, actively challenging my latent predispositions, attitudes and beliefs about politics and policy, and the manner in which government represents its people.