As we reach the halfway point I feel it is only fair to properly cast the mind back on what I feel has been the most constructive and worthwhile elements to the Program.
First off, our trip to Hemlock.
I will confess to being slightly apprehensive, mostly through lack of knowledge, about our trip into the depths of woodland Virginia. An outdoors adventure place with zip-wiring, mud pits, mosquito’s swarming around, relying on others for your safety, and a forecast of mid 30’s Celsius didn’t give me much to go on.
In truth, the activities weren’t that stretching. It was not the army assault course I had expected or had been described. It was though, an example to see our leadership in action.
Others may have described the activities in detail, however, there were a couple of points I wish to dwell on which I feel developed at Hemlock.
It can’t have escaped the opinions of others too that this is perhaps the most indecisive collective of people I have been amongst. It took us close to 15 e-mails to arrange a bus from Belfast to Dublin airport; any time we plan to meet it becomes an ordeal, and in fairness, the simplest of organisational plans tend to run amok in some way!
As a group of 26 (plus seven South Africans and MT), it is near impossible to get consensus on logistical grounds, that is understandable; but I have been very impressed by the lack of cliques and smaller groups, which I feel unnaturally haven’t developed. Of course that doesn’t mean everyone knows each other on an equal level, but we are very inclusive and not at all disconnected. That may have just jinxed it, but I feel it is nice to reflect on the unity within the group. Credit must go to the MT and the original interviewers for their efforts. Hemlock can be seen as a catalyst to genuinely getting the group to interact constructively. Any other time it has been as tourists, or for business, this time it was to get a practical task sorted.
It is true that competitiveness and determination arose a little too strong in the group I was part of, where the challenge to mount a human pyramid upwards of 14ft proved a step too far. We had to somehow place a bar through hoops at such heights, whilst involving the whole group. It is the reality of the situation that it took the guys to structure things in terms of lifting others, so arguably we may have dominated the challenge, though again, this was sometimes out of necessity. I did appreciate the many that were not included or felt their voices weren’t being heard. Metaphorically this challenge showed a lot to us, and we reflected on this afterwards.
I have to say we made a good job of the tightrope challenge, where we had to split an already large, merged group, and get both to reach opposite ends, passing one another. It seemed impossible to me right from the start, and took forever before anything advanced, but once a system was established to get people through, it all became clear. Fully relying on each other for support and balance, this is where the element of trust was courted and exploited out of necessity. Necessity; as otherwise we would fall. See how I work on those metaphors…!
Afterwards I can only thank the O’Hara family for kindly opening up their stunning home to us. I was quite sad to leave! Talking of that unity in our group, there were about 40 other people who would say the same!
As we entered week four, one of those events I looked forward to came with Mt Lebanon Baptist Church. In what proved an overtly political, pro-Obama sermon from Pastor Edmonds, I do acknowledge he may have wished to avoid a scriptural discussion due to the secular, diverse make-up of our group. Instead he placed emphasis on the need to remove labels from our mind, where we look past race, religion and culture to see people for what they really are. That, in theory, is a fundamental cornerstone to WIP, and something I hope we can bring back. The gospel choir was incredible of course, as were our own musical performers.
On Monday it must be noted the meeting with Irish Ambassador to the U.S., Michael Collins. As a career diplomat, his stance was predictable on issues such as cross-border cooperation, and on encouraging U.S. investment, however, he was keen on the issues being tackled by WIP, and was very decent in taking the time at the end to go round each of us which I thought a very nice touch.
I posed the question to him that as the Northern/Southern businesses develop competition, will this conflict with the Republic’s desire to stabilise the Northern economy. He interestingly agreed with this premise, claiming that it does show a great conflict of interests and a fine line for the Irish government to tread as the ‘Celtic Tiger’ boom appears to lull.
Briefly touching on the rest of the week, it became an increasingly slow time at BBC Washington, with news appearing to slow to a halt ahead of the Fourth of July celebrations. On Tuesday as a group we had a slightly underwhelming tour of the White House. I suppose it is quite significant post-9/11 to be granted a tour, and I appreciated it, but it was incredibly short, and being self-guided took the experience down a dimension. It was a shame too that George W. wasn’t able to fit himself into our schedule. Busy people that we are, George mate, you need to give us more notice.
Earlier that day I was able to interview Jamie Coomarasamy, from BBC World, who also kindly agreed to attend the following evening’s event at the D.C. Bar Association. This was a fantastic event, where a highly distinguished media panel were quizzed by Zelda as host and the floor on issues ranging from technology, to journalistic responsibility, bi-partisanship and coverage of the ‘War on Terror’. I found it good on personal grounds, but speaking with others it seemed to be a much wider success. Afterwards came the real success, when Matthew, Phil and Cliona took on three of Georgetown University’s brightest debating champions on the contentious topic of closing Guantanamo Bay. As someone who watched every minute of the weeks Senate Hearings into the issue, I have to say you three certainly held your own. By a mile you had the best side of the argument, but that only means so much.
When it came to Thursday, much credit must be paid to John for suggesting a meeting to focus on the real reason we’re here, constructively embracing the diversity of our group. We talked of the future of Ireland as a whole, and both North/South, with each person permitted three minutes to share their views before a more open discussion developed… and pizza arrived.
On a serious note, the night was very insightful and there were a number of issues raised that I found quite interesting. Certain things deserve to stay unsaid, though it was clear that our generation is adopting a more engaged dialogue view rather than extremist, polar opposite stances. To many from the Republic, the relevance of the Northern situation to their daily politics seemed a distant news story; while to we Northerners, a reality check seems to be the consensus, that a British connection or united Ireland move must have the overwhelming support of the people, and in a stable society.
I found it very constructive. I had reservations of people feeling they couldn’t speak openly so as not to offend; but really, the more open we are, the better for all.
Again, back to the more touristy side of our trip by the Fourth of July, where following a game of ultimate Frisbee and afternoon barbeque we travelled down to the Lincoln Memorial for one of the best spectacles in the U.S. calendar. With over half a million people lining the national mall, the rain easing off, the concert finished, the camera’s at the ready, and the excitement mounting, thus began the most incredible firework demonstration I’ve ever seen. It was a clear showing of U.S. patriotism and history, of people coming together, and the feeling that at that moment, you would rather be nowhere else in the world...
