MEETING THE AMBASSADOR
Every Monday we spend the day in our WIP office on 1625 I Street. It’s a city centre location only two blocks from the Whitehouse. We usually discuss topics on leadership and this week we focused on the future of our countries. We tried to put together an image of the island of Ireland in the year 2020, focusing on a number of topics such as immigration, the role of the EU, political situations, the environment and what kind of economic situation we would be facing. The Irish Ambassador to the US, Mr. Michael Collins dropped in to talk to us. He gave us a brief overview of his involvement in the Foreign Service and then let us ask him some questions. He seemed like a nice guy and it was very kind of him to take time out of his busy schedule to drop by. After lunch we went out to Georgetown University where we got a lecture from a professor who specialized in post conflict resolution. It was informative and different and the team got to ask some questions at the end of the session.
MIDWEEK ACTION
Wednesday was a pretty eventful day. In the morning the team got to go on a tour of the Whitehouse. It is becoming increasingly difficult to get into the Whitehouse so we were lucky to get the chance. It is a surreal feeling being in the home of the most powerful man on the face of the planet. Later that day I was in work when I found out someone had gone into one of the World Bank buildings supposedly claiming he had a bomb in his bag. Security soon dealt with him but a few of the buildings were still evacuated for precaution. We were on standby but thankfully didn’t have to move out. Security at the bank is really tight and everyone needs a special ID to get in. Originally I thought it was a bit over the top but incidents like these remind us that there are some dangerous people out there. In the evening the team went to the DC Bar Association where there was an interactive media forum with a panel of four journalists. Zelda Cunningham chaired the event and ran the show smoothly and professionally, continually asking searching questions of the panel. When the media forum finished there was a debate between three of our students and three students from Georgetown University. The motion was whether the Guantanamo Bay detention camp should be closed. The WIP team of Phil Allister, Matthew Thompson and Cliona Enright Ward were proposing the motion. They were very well prepared and dealt well with the issue. The Georgetown team were accomplished debaters and also spoke well. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and afterwards we went to a bar for a chat and a laugh. The evening ended well as I got a lift home with Luke O Donnell and his host dad Dave O Brien in his BMW convertible. Cool.
CLEARING THE AIR
On Thursday evening John Callaghan took the initiative to organize a get together in our WIP office downtown after work. We had a discussion on Northern Ireland and Ireland in general. Each person got three minutes to express their views and feelings on the whole issue of the north, ranging from nationalism to unionism, Catholics, protestants, the Good Friday agreement etc.. basically anything that you wanted to get off your chest. When everyone had spoken we then had a questions and answers session with each other. The whole idea of the night was to get a clearer understanding of our feelings and it probably also prevented confusion over the next few weeks. I felt it went well and everyone was respectful of each other’s opinions.
4th OF JULY ---INDEPENDENCE DAY
I knew this was going to be a day to remember. It got off to the perfect start. At 9a.m. about sixteen of us met up in Jonathan Chesney’s house where his host dad Bob Van Heuvelen organizes a game of “ultimate frizz bee” each year for the WIP interns. We played it on a football field close to the house and afterwards had a lovely breakfast. We then read the Declaration of Independence on Bob’s porch.
Later in the day we went to Catherine Green’s host family Tim and Kathy Lynch where food was provided and everyone got to have a laugh and meet the other host families. At about half six we left to go to the fireworks on the national mall. When we arrived in the city it was pouring rain and we sheltered at the entrance of George Washington University Hospital for about ten minutes. Thankfully the rain stopped and we walked down 23rd street and took up position at the Lincoln Memorial to watch the fireworks display. They were spectacular. The sound of the exploding fireworks reverberated off the Lincoln memorial and created a real atmosphere. I just sat there and kept quite. Looking up at that special colored sky and surrounded by a by a team of extraordinary people, the one thing that kept going through my thoughts was that anything in life was possible.
ZOO and The ART GALLERY
On Saturday morning Gary Simpson organized to meet up at the zoo. A bunch of us met up nice and early and went to see the animals. It is free entry so we just strolled in and it was quiet at that time of the morning.
The Sloth bear was a big hit among our group along with the renowned great Panda. We saw plenty of animals and it was as nice a way as any to pass a Saturday morning. On Sunday morning Joyce Schwartz Chris and Gary’s host mom offered to bring the group on a tour of the National Art Gallery. It is a lovely building and it was all the more enjoyable to have a guide to explain particular pieces of art and the history behind each one. In the evening time Andrew McCullough’s host parents Tamera and Joe Drozd kindly held a Barbeque for all the six host families in Virginia. We played a baseball game among ourselves in which Zelda and Andrew excelled but I struggled and failed to get anywhere close to a home run. All in all it was a relaxing way to spend a Sunday evening and brought week four to a close.
4 DOWN, 4 TO GO
I am now half way through my time here in Washington D.C. I have down 4 weeks of a 8 week stay and it seems to have gone incredibly fast. At the same time we have done so many things and met so many people. It is an intense team building exercise. We are together a lot and even when we are not together emails and text messages are always been sent around. Looking ahead, I can only assume things are going to get even faster as we seem to have a lot more evening events after work. So far it has been a blast. What a unique program and what a time and place to be young and free. Roll on the next four weeks !
