Young Ambasssador Program Seeks Student Applicants to Come to Belfast
The Saint Patrick Centre in County Down, Northern Ireland, is about to launch a new cultural program which invites young people in Arizona to come to Ireland, experience the cultures of the northern part of the island and build a life long association with the people there. The Centre, which is a major tourist attraction and reconciliation site located in “Saint Patrick’s Country” beside the patron saint’s grave has established a non profit support organisation called the Friends of Saint Patrick in America. Their aim is to build on the interest and links which already exists in Arizona and promote a greater understanding of the shared cultural heritage of Northern Ireland. Central to the focus of the Friends of Saint Patrick for 2008 is The Young Ambassador Program which seeks twelve prospective Young Ambassadors from throughout North America to travel to Belfast in July/August 2008 to explore various aspects of traditions particular to that part of the island of Ireland.
While there, the Young Ambassadors will develop their own cultural research projects, which could focus on traditional music, dance, Scots Irish connections, Irish language or other areas of interest. “Northern Ireland also provides a developing model for community reconciliation,” said Dr. Campbell, Director of the Centre “so political and peace studies projects will also be considered.”
In Arizona the Irish Cultural Centre Director Mary Moriarty and Councilmember Vicki Hunt of Peoria City Council will be helping to select applicants for the project. “Places are limited,” said Dr. Campbell, “but we have a special affinity with Arizona and the greater Phoenix region in particular, so we would like good representation from this area.”
Funding for the Young Ambassador Program is provided entirely by Foras na Gaeilge (an Irish language organization), the Ulster Scots Agency (representing the Scots Irish culture and traditions) and the Northern Ireland Bureau in Washington, DC.
The Young Ambassadors will be selected through an on-line application process, and the deadline for applications is, appropriately, March 17th, St. Patrick’s Day.
“The aim of the Young Ambassador Program is to establish a network of informed individuals within our organization who can form a lifelong bond with Ireland and can actively represent various aspects of that culture throughout their lives,” said Kathy McGorray Dougherty, coordinator of the Minnesota Friends chapter.
For further information contact the Irish Cultural Center, 1106 N. Central Ave., Phoenix, Arizona, 602-258-0109.
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