Kyle O'Brien

Last Night in Ireland...

2009-06-14T15:33:00.000-07:00

So I know the last couple days have been slacking in the blog, but I've been really taking up my last few days in Ireland. It's about 11:30 PM here local time and we need to leave the apartment by 5:30 AM tomorrow to catch our flight out of Dublin International Airport.

I did want to give you a taste of what we did on our last day. It consisted of lunch at Frenchie's restaurant in Clough, a day at the horseraces and a farewell reception by the Friends of St. Patrick - Downpatrick. It was a great day and they'll be more details to come...here are some pictures!

My losing horse...Secret Police.

Mame, Dr. Campbell, myself and Allie at the races!

Bridget, Kate and Bobby...the gamblers of the group!

The 2009 Young Ambassadors on their last night.

Bobby (Milwaukee), Bridget (Milwaukee), Kate (Indiana), Mame (Washington, D.C.), Me, Marren (Minnesota), Jim (Chicago), Meghan (Minnesota)

and Allie (Minnesota)

Adam and myself...looking forward to Adam's visit to Milwaukee this summer!

Ireland: Day 11

2009-06-11T15:53:00.000-07:00

Day 11 was a day complete dedicated to Dublin, Republic Culture and the Ireland government processes. Kate had offered the previous night to make breakfast for everybody this morning. Sure enough...Kate had scrambled eggs with freshly shredded cheese ( I don't really know what kind it was...but it was awesome...I'm a cheddar guy so I don't know much else ;-) ), toast, juice, milk, and cereal. She came to get the boys and of course we're all scrambling to get ready, like always, and I then walk into the girls apartment with a set table and hot food. It was great!

Then we all loaded up again in a shuttle van around 8:45 AM to begin our journey to the Republic's capital city. Our first adventure was getting to the Leinster House...the home of the Irish parliament. The house was originally built by the Duke of Leinster in 1748 and is now the home of the 166 TD's in the Dáil Éireann (Gaelic for House of Representatives of Ireland) as well as the 60 Senators in the Seanad Éireann (Gaelic for, you guessed it, Senate of Ireland). It's evident in the nomenclature of the houses alone that the United States government had a very significant impact on how the legislative bodies were created. Although the 166 member "House" has significantly less members than the US house, it has much the same power as most amendments made to legislation are observed and acted upon in the lower house (aka Dail Eireann).

We arrived at the building and first went to the House chamber to see business in session. They were debating and discussing the child abuse report that was released by Ireland's Commission to Inquire About Child Abuse. Many Americans probably remember this being released, as it made headlines on that side of the Atlantic as well. Here is a link to a news story on the topic from Yahoo News: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090520/ap_on_re_eu/eu_ireland_catholic_abuse

As we were leaving the chamber, some of the other Young Ambassadors in the group said that they witnessed visitors crying in the gallery. As we entered the estate, we saw protestors outside with signs regarding abuse from religious child services. Earlier in the week, protestors marched a silent march throughout the city of Dublin to show their dissatisfaction with the institutional abuse experienced by children throughout the 1900's.

We then went on a tour with our tour guide Pat and saw the rest of the house including the Senate chambers, famous paintings within the house, the flag of the 69th Irish Brigade (regiment of the Union during the American Civil War 1200 men fought of which only 200 survived) given to the People of Ireland by John F. Kennedy and the reception room of many famous dignitaries including Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.

After our tour, we went to lunch at an Irish pub where the popular lunch seemed to be another course of Fish & Chips. I'm trully getting spoiled here as it seems like "Friday Fish Fry" is everyday with Fish & Chips. Some of the group enjoyed a cold Guinness brewed only miles away.

We then went on to meet up with Dr. Campbell, Mr. Jack Ferris and the other two Ambassadors that spent the morning with the Ulster Scotts Agency. We met them in the main square at Trinity College and then headed up to meet with the Taioseach and Minister Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. Talking with these two very distinguished and prominent politicians in Ireland was a great experience. Not too many times can a visitor to Ireland get to meet the leader of the country! The Taioseach is basically the Prime Minister of Ireland, appointed by the President and required to maintain confidence by a majority in the lower house. The current Taioseach, Brian Cowan, talked at length with us about his views on Ireland's role in a global economy as well as the role that the country of Ireland plays to help America. He told us that the Irish want to be able to help America and the US shoudn't always be expected to cater to everyone else...other countries need to cater to Americans as guests of foreign countries as well.

We then headed downtown to visit some of the stores in Dublin and then drove back to Dundrum. Waiting for us at the apartmentn was Maynard and Mark from the Ulster Scotts Agency and Jack who is a professional conflict mediator. We received a little lesson from Mark on the Fiffe and the Lambeg Drum; both traditional Ulster Scotts Instruments that Mark uses for the work he does with reconciliation within the schools in Northern Ireland. Maynard provide us with tremendous insight into his experiences and observations of the processes that have taken place here during and after the Troubles. Lastly, Jack helped us understand his work mediating conflict that arose with the Troubles especially for youth and their parents. As you can see...on the way back some of us were just a wee bit tired! Jim gave me permission to put these on...I wouldn't be that mean to do it without him knowing ;-)

After these presentations Jack and Maynard stuck around until almost midnight and talked with us about Northern Ireland, Ireland and American politics. We had a very interesting discussion on foreign affairs with Maynard to see how someone in a foreign country views the American culture and political world.

Thinking today...

2009-06-10T15:59:00.000-07:00

I saw Elton John perform this song when I was in 3rd grade. My parents took me to see him at the Bradley Center for his Made in England tour in 1995. I always enjoyed this song...now I feel I understand it.

These are the scenes we saw during our tour of West Belfast. The Struggles are still very evident as you'll be able to see in some of these pictures. This is the Sinn Fein headquarters...the IRA was the militant wing of Sinn Fein and the UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force) was the militant wing for the Democratic Unionist Party. To see the combativeness that still exists in extremist political groups on the island please see this BBC Article: Continuity IRA Shot Dead Officer. Political leaders, even Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, have taken abuse from extremist Nationalist groups who believe that they need to make the entire island one republic.

All West Belfast, one will see murals on buildings represent Loyalist and Nationlist viewpoints. Some of these are extremely moving and depict scenes from the Struggles that one could never imagine.

This is a picture of the peacewall that separates the Loyalist and the Nationalist peoples in West Belfast. The picture was taken outside a memorial built by nationalists to recognize the loss of IRA soldiers and civillians during "The War". This memorial is built a cornenr of Bombay Street...which was one of the most brutally hit civillian areas. To this day, one can see that family's fence off their back yards to keep intruders and potentially explosives away from the foundation of their homes. In the picture, you can see parts of the wall where paint is burnt off. These are areas where bombs were intended to be thrown over the wall but fell back down and exploded. It is extremely sobering...

The last picture is a picture of the barbed wire that encompasses areas of the city. The first picture was taken from the bus of someone's back yard and the second picture is of a community center called the 174 Trust. Notice the barbed fencing that surrounds the Pre-School and daycare beside the church.

Deep inside my soul fights a war
I can't explain, I can't cross over any more
All I see are dirty faces
Rain and wire, and common sense in pieces
But I try to see through Irish eyes
Belfast

Look outside, summer's lost and gone
It's a long walk on a street of right and wrong
In every inch of sadness
Rocks and tanks go hand in hand with madness
But I never saw a braver place
Belfast

And it's sad when they sing, and hollow ears listen
Of smoking black roses, on the streets of Belfast
And so say your lovers from under the flowers
Every foot of this world needs an inch of

Belfast

Who's to say on whom heaven smiles
Our different ways we try hard to recognise
No more enchanted evenings
The pubs are closed and all the ghosts are leaving
But you'll never let them shut you down
Belfast

The enemy is not at home
A jealous green streaks down this faulty diamond
No bloody boots or crucifix
Can ever hope to split this emerald island
But I never saw a braver place
Belfast

Ireland: Day 10

2009-06-10T10:20:00.000-07:00

Day 10 consisted of another trip to Belfast, for Bobby and myself to get a more up close and personal look at the inner workings of Stormont and the Northern Ireland Assembly. As always, we caught the bus to Downpatrick at 8:00 AM.

We then headed to the Oakley Fayre, the official favorite breakfast joint among Young Ambassadors in Downpatrick. The classic toasted bagel with scrambled egg and bacon was the bird in the hand selection for me this morning...guaranteed declisiousness!

Bobby and I went to Margaret Ritchie's office to hitch a ride with Maria to Stormont again. We arrived around 9:00 AM and then hopped in Maria's car to head up to Belfast. We had the chance to meet Katherine, Margaret Ritchie's niece who majored in Political Science and Accountancy.

I told the ladies the story of me almost missing the bus this morning. So I was just hanging out near the apartment wating for Bobby to come downstairs. Jim had left with his laundry basket and I just assumed he was coming back to the apartment...so I left the door wide open so Jim wouldn't get locked out. As Bobby and I left, we walked by the laundry room to see if Jim was there, but the door was closed. So we continued on, figuring he just went back to the apartment. Anyways, Bobby and I finally get to the bus and as we walk up Bobby goes, "Hey Kyle...isn't that Jim in the front of the line."

I did a double take and realized that our door was wide open with no one to close it for 10 hours. I had to sprint back through the town of Dundrum in a blue shirt and tie in order to shut the door of our apartment. Remember how I had mentioned that school kids just litter the bus lines in the morning for their ride to school...yeah well that was embarassing sprinting in dress clothes through a bunch of kids dressed like Harry Potter. (In Northern Ireland...all school children where uniform suits to school). Thankfully the bus driver stuck around for me...I think mainly because he felt so bad for me!

Nevertheless, I really didn't need much for coffee because my heart was beating pretty good after the all out sprint.

So Maria, Bobby and I headed on the Ireland back roads to Storemont. We had a great conversation with Maria on the way up. We talked about lots of different things including my story telling ability...which apparently is pretty poor ;-)...we also talked about the phrase "We gotta book it out of here..." We told her that it's normally a phrase that is used when you're in trouble and need to run away...so I doubt Maria will need to use it anytime soon ;-)

We showed up to Stormont and went through the security checkpoint once again...I think the security guys are starting to get to know us! Next, we went into the SDLP party office and met Ashley who is the party treasurer that arranged our day. Maria then left us like a mom at a grown up day-care and for Bobby and I it was like an entire day of recess!

Starting our day was a visit to the Committee of Enterprise, Trade and Investment. We had the chance to meet with Jim and Soey, and ironically Soey is a graduate of UW-Milwaukee and calls Milwaukee home. These two are committee staffpersons who work with MLA's to make the committees as efficient as possible. Jim and Soey do research on policy as well as work with Assemblypersons that want to develop legislation within the committee.

Jim gave us an overview of the committee including the agencies, boards and comissions that the committee works with. Some of these different government groups include Invest NI, Energy Regulators, Toruism Ireland, Consumer Council and Northern Ireland Tourist Board. We also had a great lesson on committee structures as well as where committees derive their power.

One of the things that I wondered about throughout my time here in Northern Ireland was how the country utilized currency within the United Kingdom. Many of the banks offer bank notes through their own bank (Ulster Bank, Bank of Ireland, etc.) Essentially, as Jim said, the currency created by these banks are not even legal tender. They are essentially backed by their own bank but not accepted in England, as the Bank of England provides the only legal tender in the United Kingdom.

Lunch followed the tour and Minister Ritchie bought lunch for Bobby, Ashley and myself. After all of the controversy over expense accounts Bobby and I joked about being subpoened to testify after accepting a meal from politicans. See this website to understand a little bit about the MP Expense Account controversy... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/

After lunch, we went to see Stephen from the communications department of the SDLP. Stephen is in charge of press releases within the party and talked with us a little bit about working with the press in Northern Ireland and the rest of Great Britain. He said that according to the Northern Ireland Act of 1998, all political parties must be equally represented within the media.

He also talked about the importance of developing and maintaining solid relationships with journalists throughout the country. He said that the newspapers, whom have a unionist or nationlist bias similar to conservative or liberal slants in American media, heavily control what type of coverage is given to the politicians. Also, politicians are only allowed a certain amount of space per year within the newspapers so Stephen's job is to utilize that space as effective as possible. He said that he also must conduct some damage control when something bad comes out about the members of their party.

The SDLP, like all the other parties in Northern Ireland, actually have a party office right inside Stormont. I asked the staff about campaigning materials being stored in the office and basically they said it wasn't legal but it wasn't enforced...so many offices utilize their state office space for campaign purposes. I wonder if people are upset about the tremendous amount of overhead that the government has in the Parliament Buildings.

The next area that we went was the ground floor where the Library is held. The Library is utilized as a member resource and has a staff of 14 individuals that mostly work on collecting information for members of the Assembly to make an informed decision on legislation. They produce about 12 reports each month on legislative issues. Ingrid, one of the Senior Librarians at the Assembly Library, showed us the members room as well as the records of chamber meetings since 1921 when the Assembly met in Belfast's City Hall.

The next place we went we met Maureen and Shareene who work for the Business Committee. The Business Committee is in charge of the Order Paper (Agenda) for the Assembly and decides what types of legislation the chamber will take up. The staff members from the business committee serve as assistants to the Speaker's office with parliamentary procedure and the Standing Orders of the Assembly (governing rules of the body).

Lastly, we walked down the hall to the Speaker's Office, an elected member of the Assembly that is only given a vote in the event of a tie among the 108 members of the Assembly. All the ministers (9) and the first and deputy first ministers are elected members of the Assembly and are then placed in their post as executives. We were given lapels with the symbol of the Northern Ireland Assembly by the Chief of Staff in the Speaker's office. We were then given a tour of the office as well as a litle background on the furnishings of the office including paintings, sceptors and a dispatch box that was saved from the fire in the House of Commons in January of 1995.

Some interesting random history on the building - in WWII the British Government had the building painted black with a tar and cow manure mixture to hide the building from invading Axis forces. Belfast was the 3rd hardest hit city throughout the war and as our tour guide kindly mentioned to us, the Northern Irish obviously didn't predict Stormont to ever be hit as they designed a large white building on a hill with roadways in the shape of an arrow pointing at the building...a fairly easy target for any invading enemies.

The tar/manure mixture took workers seven and a half years to remove and return to it's "original" state as a white building...they used only wire brushes and elbow grease. Many have commented that you can still see remnants of the mixture on the building and it could never be refurbished to it's original state.

Our final destination was the Bill Office where Ellis, one of the senior drafters works with legislators, staff and committees to develop bills and help them propose amendments. She gave us a very detailed understanding of what takes place when a bill is written as well as the politics behind bill writing before, during and after introduction in the chamber or committee.

We ended up back in the SDLP office to meet Maria for our ride home. We had a great ride home with her and talked about my fear of rollercoasters (which I proudly overcame as a sophomore in college ;-)), Wisconsin Dells as the waterpark capitol of the world and Maria's trip to Greece this summer. She mentioned that she might be overdoing her holiday visits...with 5 vacations this year alone ;-). If anyone deserves it, it surely is Maria. I was talking to Ashley and Katherine at the SDLP office in Stormont and they mentioned how dedicated Maria is to her work and how she has a great work ethic. I'm so extremely appreciative of the opportunity I've had this trip to work with her.

Maria dropped us off at the bus station where Bobby and I caught the bus home with the rest of the Young Ambassador gang. Jimmy Mac had mentioned how this was the first time that everyone placed in Downpatrick rode the bus home together...very ironic that it was one of our last days together. Our group has certainly come a long way in a week and a half!

Our night ended with a visit from Dr. Campbell in Dundrum, a couple of us napping and some laundry.

As all of us sit here we're contemplating recent news around Wisconsin and the rest of the States. We just read about the two police men shot in Milwaukee as well as the security guard killed at the US Holocaust museum. We take our home protection for granted and being here in Northern Ireland I spend a lot of time talking to people who have lived through a time period that they weren't safe in their home. Today our tour guide commented that, "When you've grown up with tanks on your roadways and military checkpoints on your way to school...you don't know anything else." Our civil servants, police officers, security officers, firefighters and medical staff keep us safe each and everyday...yet we take their services for granted.

One of the girls from the group, Meghan, was in the Holocaust Museum almost three times a week last summer as she studied Holocaust Studies. She commented how, "She probably walked past that guy everyday..." I think it hit some of us how we think more about these individuals as enforcement officers instead of peace officers. We complain about speeding tickets, airline checkpoints and smoke alarms...yet we take our homeland security for granted and don't realize that the purpose of these agencies is to protect our society.

The people of Northern Ireland have had to readjust their lives because of their inability to be secure in their own homes. This isn't distant history...it just ended in 1998. This can happen anytime and anywhere. We don't think about those that protect us in our own homeland...so for all the times I've never said it...thank you.

Til tomorrow,

- Kyle

Ireland: Day 9

2009-06-09T14:38:00.000-07:00

Day 9 was quite an adventure for us Young Ambassadors over here in the Emerald Isle. It started with a trip to Stormont that national capitol of Northern Ireland in Belfast, continued with a tour of West Belfast and the struggles between Unionists and Nationalists throughout the late 20th century and ended with some laugh therapy...trust me...you won't want to miss this one!

The Young Ambassadors had the great privilege of presenting Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness with a Wisconsin Blue Book, the reference book for Wisconsin government.

We then found our way into the building and took a tour of the old Senate chambers, the Great Hall and the Assembly chambers. The Assembly was actually sitting in session so we had the opportunity to go in the "Strangers Gallery" to watch. Unfortunately, we couldn't take any pictures but we did get to hear the MLA's debate "college discounts for older people"...such politically correct terminology!

As we were leaving, MLA Basil McCrea form the Ulster Unionnist Party happened to come across us just as we were leaving. He ended up taking us on a behind the scenes tour of Stormont to see the media room, members lounge, members dining room, front balcony, BBC Office and radio & print offices. Lastly, we ate with him at the cafeteria in the basement.

We then continued on a trip with our tour guide Phillip to see the remnants of the conflicts between Catholics/Nationalists and Protestants/Loyalsts, as well as the efforts for peace that have made international headlines in recent decades.

We then spent about an hour in Belfast getting dinner, shopping and checking out the city. Bobby and I will be heading back up to Stormont tomorrow to work with some of the MLA staff in the capitol.

After leaving Belfast, the group took a bus to visit ole' Stanley's house. At Dr. Stan's house we were introduced to laughter therapy and a bongo drum session....it certainly was an experience. We drove out into the middle of an old RAF field and we're lost (hence the picture below)...thankfully Dr. Campbell came by with Gail, Graham and Kate to rescue us and find Stan's home. We learned about the "craic" from Stanley and watched Jim do some classy moves with the laugh therapy. We also played a session of bongo drums with Dr. Campbell leading us on the large free standing bongos.

Hope you had a great day and a better tomorrow,

- Kyle

Ireland: Day 8

2009-06-08T10:55:00.001-07:00

Today was a placement day, where we all were to work by 9:00 AM. Again, I hopped on the 8:00 AM bus to Downpatrick. About 7:54 AM I heard the doorbell ring and someone knock at the door...I knew it was the girls of the group all ready to go, waiting on the untimely gentlemen of the group. None of the guys came down to open the door because we were all hurryingn to get our acts together so we didn't miss the bus. Go figure, the women are prepared and the men scurry at the last minute to get ready...replicate real life at all???

Regardless, we caught up with the young ladies at the bus stop and rode our daily bus to Downpatrick. Those of us that didn't need to get to a placement right away had breakfast at the Oakley Fayre...a small bakery downtown. One will notice that this is one of the few places that is open before 9:00 AM downtown. The windows on all the shops are protected by large metal garage doors that are raised and lowered accordingly when the shop opens and closes.

Around 9:00, I headed over to Margaret Ritchie's office where I met up with Maria..the only staffer working today. Maria talked with me a "wee" bit about how the weekend was and what we had planned for the rest of the week...and then the phones began to ring. Maria said, "Well Kyle, do you feel comfortable answering the phones for me?"...and I said, "Yeah that shouldn't be a problem"...even though I had absolutely no clue on what I was doing!

Answering the phones made for some very interesting conversations and experiences. I must say that I was very nervous about looking like an idiot when talking on the phone with these people, but I should've learned already that those that are afraid of failure become complacent and rarely rise to greater heights. I ended up truly enjoying the experience and the time flew by! Here is a picture of my desk...a little smaller than the one in Madison, but it'll do for another week.

The most memorable phone call was a woman who had a question regarding her inspection from the housing executive. Because many of the individuals that the office works with use government run and subsidized housing, the individuals renting from the government need to get approval before any repairs are made to the property. Also, the government will provide repair and "redecoration" grants to these rentors in order to make the changes themselves.

Ms. Fitzgerald was such a pleasant woman. She could tell that I was struggling a bit with spelling her street name as well as getting the correct number of numerals in her home phone number. As she begins to tell me the city she says, "You know...why don't I just spell it...that accent seems to tell me that you're not too familiar" I said, "Yes mam, I'm sorry I do have a little bit of a hard time," "Oh no problem at'tall," commented Ms. Fitzgerald, "Are you from Boston? Because..." and the conversation just sprouted from there. As I would have a hard time identifying the difference between Northern and Republic Irish accents...so did Ms. Fitzgerald judging a Boston and Midwestern American accent. She was such a pleasant woman.

Then Patsy, a local Councillor from the Down District Council stopped in to see Margaret. We got a chance to talk a little about America and his experiences. It seems every Irishman knows Chicago or more commonly around here, "Oh...you mean the Windy City"...and so did Patsy.

After Patsy came in I had the chance to go to lunch with Councillor Chairman Colin McGrath. Chairman McGrath works full time for the Patrician Youth Centre as a full time youth worker in educational, sporting and fine arts programming. Colin took us to Denvirs Restaurant just a short walk from the SDLP office. We had some great discussions revolving around local politics, education and career paths. Joining us were Meghan, Jim and Bobby. We had some great conversationsn about journalism and the political scene...who truly holds ther power...just ponder it ;-)

We left the restaurant around 2:30 PM and I returned to the office as Maria was meeting with a constituent and pulling double duty answering the phones. Sometimes, I don't know how those ladies can work so hard. It's an intense job and they are working with so many lives in the community.

For instance, we had a young girl come into the office who was looking for housing because her mother kicked her out of the house. Remember how I talked about the housing system and how one accesses government housing. They need to accumulate points to put themselves higher on the list to acquire government housing. Apparently, someone in the department had made a mistake and hadn't given this young girl her points for being homeless. This consists of 70 of the 100 points that one would need to get housing...so this was a fairly significant mistake.

Some of the other things that Maria deals with are what the Irish call DLA appeals or Disability Living Allowances. These allowances are determined by the courts and are intended to only sustain living while someone is under disability. Basically, Maria represents her constituent in a court like setting that represents the appeals board for the DLA process. She develops a case with the constituent and then presents the case to the board. I was truly amazed on how much responsbility is put on her shoulders...but she certainly can handle it. I think if you met this young woman you would say the exact same thing!

Maria started to tell me some of the stories though about individuals trying to cheat the system. She said that for the housing allowancnes, individuals don't need to prove that they spent the money, therefore at times people were taking advantage of the system and using the money for other purposes.

One of Maria's most memorable moments was when someone was living on government housing and called looking for her repair grant through the state to fix something in the house. The women called Maria complaining that her grant check had not come in the mail yet, and her comment was, "I'm going on holiday (vacation) and that money would be very useful"...Maria couldn't help but think how someone could be living in government housing while heading off to vacation using the money intended to remodel the home.

I felt bad for Maria because I kept asking her questions regarding the political process, political culture and her career path that I don't think she had the opportuninty to get much work done. Sorry Maria, but I truly ennjoyed the great conversation!

As I left work around 4:30 PM I stopped at the post office to pick up an international calling card and some postage stamps. Left the bus depot around 5:00 PM and got home around 5:20 PM. After getting home it was work time again...kitchen needed cleaninng, clothes needed a wash and I was hoping to get the chance to write out some postcards for family.

One load of laundry made it into the wash before we were all summoned by Dr. Campbell to talk a walk around Dundrum Bay. Adam, our good friend from Downpatrick joined us and continually humored us throughout the walk.

As we were walking along a Nantional Trust nature trail we came up to a cattle yard. The trail ran right through a pasture in which we walked right past grazing cattle. The trail took us all the way out to the beach on the coast. It was just like the golf course at Whistling Straits...tall grass lining a gorgeous coast.

It was a fairly low tide still so we were able to actually walk on out onto the beach. As we walked, Kate noticed a sign posted on the beach...it said, "Caution: Britsh Army Firing Range...Leave Premises when Warning Flags Appear". We were in the middle of a firing range on the beach! That was quite random, but I think they had the day off because we had no warning flags go up. We walked along the beach and then went back to the apartments.

After our walk, Dr. Campbell left and we went to the Mourne Seafood Bar in Dundrum. I had Seafood Chowder; Trout with Advocado and White Beans and a Coke. It was a fantastic dinner and was made from local seafood...it cost about 25 pounds ($40), but it was a great treat for all of us to experience some of the local seafood on the coast.

Another sidenote...Coca Cola in Northern Ireland is bottled with real sugar, America uses High Fructose Corn Syrup. Apparently, there are large tariffs on sugar in America so it is more expensive to bottle with sugar instead of the corn syrup. Random fact of the day!

After leaving the Mourne Seafood Bar, some of us headed home to catch up on work and sleep while others headed to the pub for a couple drinks. I got the chance to talk with mom and dad as well as some other friends from home last night. The first time I've been able to talk to themn in over a week...it was great to hear their voices...yes, even you Ms. Laura Barquest! Ireland has been beautiful, but I'm not going to lie I miss long, straight roadways and six cylindner vehicles!

It was again another great day and I'm looking forward to our trip to Belfast and Stormont tomorrow...apparently some laughter therapy is on the agenda as well for tomorrow evening...I don't known how that's going to go but you'll be sure to hear more in tomorrow's post.

Thanks and have a great evening America!

- Kyle

P.S. So you remember that golfer we saw in the middle of the bay a couple days ago during low tide, so Bridget today said "Guys there's a tractor in the middle of the bay". Sure as all heck, some tractor was tooling along in nthe middle of the bay. Again, I had to get a picture of this because it was unbelieveable...

Ireland: Day 7

2009-06-07T16:25:00.000-07:00

So today we all were going to take a relaxing day and have a traditional Irish meal with an Irish family. I went with Mr. Jack Ferris to his home just north of Downpatrick. Mrs. Ferris had made a fantastic lunch and dinner for us. Jack picked Allie, Bobby and myself up around 11:30 AM and took us out to the ranch.

In order to get to the house Jack took us on the ferry that went from Castleward to Portferry. The ferry operated every ten minutes and saves cars an hour long drive around the peninsula. Because, as mentioned before, the Stranford Lough has such strong tidal currents boats must time their journeys in and out of the Lough to coincide with the tides. Even engine powered boats have difficulties going against the tide. When we returned home, the ferry coming to pick us up was being pushed sideways by the tremendous current.

Around 2:00, we all went out to Mount Stewart which is a beautiful home owned by many political dignatries in Britain for over two centuries. The house is located across the Strangford Lough from Castleward.

The house, now owned by the people of Northern Ireland through the National Trust is the home of beautiful gardens, the Temple of the Winds, the famous George Stubbs painting "Hambletonian", and now the resting place of the 22 chairs used in the Congress of Vienna which recreated European's culture after the fall of Napoleon. Also, the gardens were named European's Inspirational Garden in 2003.

Jack took us on the tour of the house and it was really neat to see the architecture and archaeic nature of all the accessories within the house. Also, the tour guide talked about how members of the trust worked to conserve different parts of the house as best as possible. They are so strict with the house that they don't even allow photography in the house.

Gardens wrap around the entire house, ending with the beautiful Temple of the Winds. In one end of the gardens, Jack told us about the legend of the Red Hand of Ulster. The Red Hand of Ulster is the centerpiece to the Flag of Ulster. The legend says that Heremon, Heber and Ir who were the sons of King Milesius of Spain were sent by their father to inhabit the lands in Ireland in 504 BC. Apparently, one of the boys had cut off his hand and threw it onto the shore to be the first to claim the land in Ireland. The garden reflects this by growing red flowers in the shape of a hand. Unfortunately, when we were there this was under construction but it added a neat twist to the tour.

We ended the night with a fantastic dinner of beef, champ, carrots, peas and raspberry desert with fresh raspberries...and of course a glass a wine and Guiness. We were so appreciative of the Ferris family for inviting us into their home and teaching us all the tips and tricks of English Cricket.

Jack then took us home around 9:30 PM and the group hung out and talked until the wee hours of the morning. It was a very relaxing day for us and we're all looking forward to a big week of work, visiting Stormont in Belfast and a day in Dublin.

Ireland: Day 6

2009-06-07T03:37:00.000-07:00

So I told you all how I haven't experienced rain at all yet in Ireland...obviously I spoke too soon. Waking up this morning to light showers was a little disappointing as I quickly forgot how lucky we were to have five beautiful days of clear skies. Anyways, it didn't lower our morale because today we all were going to Belfast and finnally end up seeing Giant's Causeway. We were excited to get on our way.

Our group really has been coming together strongly. It's really neat to see how we look out for each other and we can assume each day how we can help each other. As I'm writing this we're all sitting around each other on a couch watching the E-trade Baby commercials...when your Ambassador comes back ask them to sing you Jim, Bob and Kyle's rendition of "Take These Broken Wings"...

So this morning we hopped on a shuttle to get to Belfast. We arrived there about 10:00 AM and boarded a coach tour set up by Dr. Campbell. The tour was going to take us to the Carrickfergus Castle, Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge, Dunluce Castle, Bushmill's Distillery and Giant's Causeway on the Antrim Coast.

As we began the tour we ran along the northeastern coastal road. It was quite a windy road, but there were certainly some beautiful sights along the way. The waters in the coast were crashing against the rocks and made for a fantastic sight. We saw the port in Belfast, small fishing communities and salmon farms. Our bus driver made the drive quite interesting as well by making comments on random animals throughout the trip. He had a microphone on the entire trip and fully utilized it!

Some of the groups favorite comments had to be "Nice horses...looks like those ones are playing with themselves" and "Poor pigeon...looks like he didn't make it". I know it's probably an inside joke to the group but I hope you can appreciate the randomness of these comments throughout our eight hour tour.

So the first stop that we made was to Carrickfergus Castle, built right on the Belfast Lough in the late 1100's and early 1200's by John de Courcy. It was a miliatry stronghold as well as an indicator of military strength for over 800 years.

Our next stop was about a two hour drive down the coast to the Carrick-a-rede rope bridge. The bus driver reassured us not to worry...only a dog has died crossing the bridge...we all looked at each other like what are we getting ourselves into!

Before the bridge, we stopped at a medium sized restaurant right outside of the park entrance. It provided for a beautiful view of the agriculultural, religious and coastal attributes of the area. Also, it showed some cultural traditions as seen in the picture below.

Next we finally headed up to the bridge. This area is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Northern Ireland and provides a breathtaking view of the Irish coast. The area surrounded by the Carrick-a-rede rope bridge is also of special interest to biologists and geologists across the world. To cross the bridge it costs four pounds ($6.40), but if you just want to walk up to the bridge you can see the park for free. The first section of the park before the bridge consists of a 3/4 mile walk along steep cliffs.

So now came the hard part, crossing the rope bridge! So you may be asking...Kyle I've heard enough about this rope bridge; what in the world is it. So I'm going to tell you ;-)! The rope bridge was a bridge that linked Carruck-a-rede (coastal road meaning rock in the road which Scottish fisherman used to travel down during salmon season) to the Carrick Island. It has existed for 350 years because of the tremendous accesbility to a plethra of migrating Atlantic salmon that the island offers. The bridge is about 30m above the sea and is literally two ropes strung across a set of rocks. Take a look at Meghan climbing down the stairs to get to the bridge...the stairs were the first challenge...

And then there was the bridge...

I was a little nervous to take the first steps on the bridge, but after a few steps I started to build up some confidence. And then of course, needed to pretend I was really cool and that I wasn't nervous at all...so I decided to turn mid bridge and take a picture. I got the picture but got much shakier after having to turn only 90 degrees to my left...then realized that was an extremely dumb move. But a got a good picture out of it...

Finally we all crossed and Dr. Campbell was there to meet us and take our picture as we crossed. It was much easier on the way back!<

The island provided us a great opportunity to get to see the coast. It was quite windy and the grass was really slippy...apparently Doc Martins don't have very good grip on Irish grass ;-) Here is the sign that welcomed us onto the island...makes you feel really safe doesn't it???

We were able to get some really good pictures of the group on Carrick Island. Pictured below is Maren, Mame, Megan, Bobby, Bridget, Jim, Graham (Dr. Campbell's son), myself and Allie.

On our walk back we were able to get some really good looks at the southern part of the coast.

Next we ventured along the coastal road to Dunluce Castle, believed to have been built in the 14th century. It's easy to see how beautiful the coastline is here in the picture here right alongside the castle. The bus stopped along the road and we were able to snap a quick picture of this beach just north of the Dunluce Castle.

The next stop was Bushmills distillery. In 1608 the British granted a royal license to the district of Bushmills provided them the opportunity to distil whiskey or as appropriate named in the Gaelic language, 'usice breatha'...the water of life. The Bushmills distillery is the oldest one in the world. At any one moment in time 190,000 barrels of whiskey sit on the premises in one of the northernmost cities on the island.

As explained to us on the tour, the difference between Irish "whiskey" and Scottish "whisky" is a.) the Scottish drop the "e" b.) more importantly, the Irish always distill their whiskey three times where Scottish whiskey only needs to be distilled twice. This provides for a smoother taste and better whiskey. Some of the fellas tried out a shot of whiskey while some of the ladies decided it would be a better idea to grab some Whiskey Cheesecake and Irish Coffee...by the puckered look on some of the guys' faces it looked like the girls may have enjoyed their purchase much more ;-)

The last stop that we made on the tour before heading home was to Giant's Causeway. The causeway is an immense display of the forces of nature on itself. It consists of over 6 km of cliffs that are nearly 90 meters tall . The national trust in Northern Ireland built an 8 km road along the coast to provide sightseers to see the most famous natural sight in Northern Ireland. As youc an see it's a spectacular display of God's creation!

The causeway consists of basalt columns that line the coast. The columns look like stepping stones and the legend of the causeway is that the giant Finn MacCool used this as a roadway to cross over to Scotland via the island of Staffa in the Hebrides.

Then we left the causeway and headed back to Belfast. As the bus driver gave us his final talk on the microphone he had thanked us about forty times for being a great tour. He said that he was going not going to be talking for the rest of the ride to provide us with a little rest and relaxation. So we thought we were going to finally get that...but then he comes on the air and says, "And does anyone enjoy Lionel Richie?"...we all just started busting out laughing...it was a classic moment. So we had the opportunity to Mr. Ritchie for about 2 hours. I can't say that I remember much of it because I slept for just about the entire time. I'm sure those that were coherent were very appreciate of Lionel's greatest hits!!!

So we arrived in Belfast, and God bless him, our bus driver thought it would be a great idea to drop us all off individually. He was being a very kind soul but we had been on a bus for almost 9 hours and we were ready just to get off. Not to mention, that we had a mini bus that had been waiting for us for almost 40 minutes. And it's not like you can just call any old cab for 12 people.

Anyways, Dr. Campbell goes to tell the bus driver that we were going to be late for our cab if we didn't get dropped off soon. Remember how I said that the bus driver really enjoyed talking on his microphone, well it didn't stop after the Lionel Richie or pigeon killing incident...he began to think aloud to the whole bus on how he was going to get us where we needed to be. Also, he was trying to rationalize why he got us there so late while combininng some Lionel Ritchie songs hummed aloud...quite the experience. I know it may not be that great of a story, but if you were there you would've realize why I had to write something about it.

Finally, we got off the bus and started walking to where we were supposed to meet up with our cab. We finally get to the spot and realize that the cab has left. So Dr. Campbell looks up the number for the cab company and asks us if he can use one of our cell phones to call. He basically looked into the blank eyes of nine Americans who have been cell phone deprived for almost a week in the United Kingdom...it was almost as if we didn't even know what he was talking about.

Finally, we found the cab down a side street and he had actually been lost as well. Worked out for everyone I guess. So we started the journey home.

As we are on our way home, we dropped off Andrew (the education coordinator for the St. Patrick's Centre) and headed back to Dundrum. The van driver told us that he didn't know if he'd be able to make it to Dundrum because he had a fuel leak and used up 3/4 of a tank of diesel to get from Belfast to Downpatrick (about a 45 min. drive). I seriously couldn't think that our transportation situation could've got more interesting until that moment. Anyways, the driver gets us back to Dundrum just fine and we all went home for a well deserved rest.

Jim and I picked up some chicken breasts from the local grocery store, thinking that everything would be closed by 9:00 PM. We started the chicken on the grill, which here consisted of a disposable aluminum tray filled with coals and wax paper...interesting I know. 10:24 PM rolled around and we finally were able to eat.

It was undoubtedly a stressful end of the day...but I completely forgot about it after going over the pictures from the day (like the one's below of Jim...doesn't he make a great little mermaid!). The experiences we had and the places we went were breathtaking. Ireland, again, exceeded any expecation I could imagine.

>

Hope you had a great Saturday and we'll see you tomorrow!

- Kyle

Final note: So I've been seeing these around Northern Ireland everywhere I go and had to get a picture before I didn't see one again. This is looking through the front of the bus at a construction traffic light. Instead of having signal men out on the road, the Northern Ireland government has utilized a stop light that is connected at both ends of the construction. Looks like a potential option of saving $44 an hour for two guys to stand and flip a sign around. Maybe a new development in Wisconsin government...we'll see I guess!!!

Ireland: Day 5

2009-06-05T09:35:00.000-07:00

Again another beautiful morning in Northern Ireland! The temperature was about 18 degrees celsius (about 65 degrees farenheit) and we have experienced temperatures equivalent to 70 - 75 degrees farenheit for the past four days...I thought we were in Ireland??? Even the locals are shocked at how nice it has been all week. Apparently, some of the Ambassadors said there was rain at their placement sights, but I haven't even experienced a drop of rain here in Ireland yet.

Today I hopped the bus with Bobby Hamill at 8:00 AM to head to Downpatrick. I don't know if I've mentioned this yet, but the schoolchildren from the surrounding areas all ride the public buses for free to their schools. Because they have the 11+ policy in which that then determines their secondary or grammar school, they need to be able to get to any school in the area. With such a well established public transportation system, the school district is able to provide this service.

Arriving in Downpatrick a little early, around 8:30, we went to Subway (I know...travel all the way to Ireland and eat at Subway...I don't get it either ;-)) Anyways, it is one of the few places in the area that we know that we can get a quick cup of coffee, so Bobby and I both ordered the 99p (99 Pence or .99 pounds)breakfast sandwich and a cup of coffee (black coffe or white coffee...white is basically coffee with cream).

As were sitting on the steps of the St. Patrick Centre with our sandwiches we run into Jack (the Chairman of the St. Patrick's Centre Board) as well as Andrew (the Education Coordinator for the St. Patrick's Centre). We talked with both of them about how things have been and told them about what our plans were for the day. Both Jack and Andrew are going to be taking some Ambassadors home on Sunday to feed them a traditional Irish dinner. I'm going with Jack and am really looking forward to the opportunity. Jack is a retired headmaster from the Down High School. He is also a former professor of mathematics at the University of Chicago. He was also the men's rugby coach for the University when he was in the states.

Then I headed down to the office around "half nine" (9:30 AM). I walked into Minister Ritchie's office and it was an absolute whirlwind of activity. Minister Ritchie and her staff were working furiously on various projects and catching up on business after a very busy election day.

My first assignment was to go with the minister to visit Abby Field; an alternative assisted living home for elderly individuals. We had the opporunity to meet with Geraldine, Mary and Peter (not pictured). They began to tell us about the great things that Abby Field does as well as the benefits that residents receive by living in a community like this. They said that their demand continues to grow, but they lack the capital funding to increase facilities. Minister Ritchie's role, again, is the Minister of Social Development which strives to address the housing crisis in Northern Ireland, encourage social responsibility and create vibrant communities throughout the country. To see the Department of Social Development's website please visit: http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/index/about_dsd

Then the Minister and I walked back to her office and had another meeting with some individuals from another housing development within the national health system. Their concern was that their facility was going to be closed down and that their residents may not get the care that they need. Minister Ritchie did a fantastic job working with these individuals. Many times in the political scene, we see constituents complain about a situation but they don't offer viable solutions to the problem. Minister Ritchie very kindly asked these individuals to bring forth a draft of what they would like to see happen to their facility and their residents. She had told them that she would work hard to get them answers to their problems, but she needed them to work with her. It was great to see someone care so genuinely about their constituents, but also empower those individuals to help themselves with their own situation.

After this meeting, I came back to the office and was able to talk with the minister's staff for awhile. We discussed policymaking techniques, legislative procedure and they even learned about the Wisconsin Governor's former ability to cross out letters and multiple sentencnes in bill, respectively called the "Vanna White Veto" and "Frankenstein Veto". Before I even knew it, 12:15 rolled around and Bobby was at the door to go to lunch. So I left the staff, see pictures below, and went to lunch.

Bobby and I walked around Downpatrick for awhile trying to decide a place to eat. We walked around and I had made a comment regarding a pizza shop called, "Lone Star Pizza: Great Pizza. Texas Style". I had said that I really hope that people in Northern Ireland don't think that Texas is truly famous for it's pizza!!!

Anyways, the story gets quite humorous when we walk into an Italian restaurant to grabn some lunch and get stopped at the door by the owner, an Italian immigrant that started a pizza and pasta joint in downtown Downpatrick. His store didn't open until 5:00, but I just had to ask him about Lone Star Pizza. He went off on how that American started this chain and what kind of "crap" that guy served in his restaurant. It was absolutely hilarious.

Then I continued to ask him about his relationship with that owner. Apparently, the guy that owns the Lone Star Pizza is an American who wanted to buy out the Italian's store. He had named a price and apprently the American didn't bite...developed some hard feelings between the two. Then we got onto the topic of politicians and the Italian was telling us about how he has to vote every five years or else he will lose his ability to vote, but he hates politicians. His solution to this dilemma is that he votes for the write in candidate and writes, "You all are just a bunch of idiots!"...again this was a hilarious rampage that we were able to witness. We left with a great laugh, empty stomach, a new friend and another fantastic Irish experience.

Bobby and I finally settled on eating at The StrEat...a deli style fastfood chain in Northern Ireland. We ran into Jim and Meghan who had gotten off early for their lunch break after a tour of the old jail in Downpatrick.

I stuck around the StrEat for awhile and then headed back to the office. I sat down and read the Irish Times for awhile, as the Minister and her staff were extremely busy. While I was in the office for those short two hours after lunch, the office had about six different appointments with constituents. One of the appointments was someone who was looking for housing. I believe I've mentioned this before, but the Minister's office also provides housing for low or no income individuals in Northern Ireland.

This process is determined through a point system that allows individuals to receive points based on their situation (i.e. 70 points for being homeless, 5 points for each child, etc.) The more points someone has the higher priority they have for public housing. Also, this housing program allows individuals to rent and then if the house goes up for sale rent paid already on the house can be credited back to the buyer for purchase. The Minister attempts to balance the types of housing available because, as the mission states, the goal is not only to provide housing for the poor but also to make the cities more vibrant and lively.

After leaving work around 4:00, I headed back on the bus to get to Dundrum where we were first staying. I initially hopped on the wrong bus and the bus driver was kind enough to tell me I was in the wrong place. That's one thing I've learned in this week abroad...being independent doesn't work as well abroad. One relies on many others to make foreign travel successful...and don't be afraid to look like you don't know what you're doing, because (as in my case) you probably don't!

I headed back home and relaxed a bit reading the local La Crosse and Milwaukee news online. After awhile, Mame (a student here that works at the National Heritage Trust in Washinngton, D.C.), brought one of her coworkers from the Northern Ireland Trust to see our place and meet the American students studying here. The National Trust here is going to sponsor a trip for us American Ambassadors to see the western part of Northern Ireland next week Tuesday. It should be a great trip!

After awhile, we all went our separate ways and got ready because Dr. Campbell was coming by with Mr. Jack Ferris to take us sightseeing in the Downpatrick. We visited many historical sites along the Trail of St. Patrick including; The Cistercian Abbey of Inch (where the legend of St. Patrick and the snakes was written), the Struell Wells and St. Patrick's Memorial Church in Saul (first Christian church built in Ireland in 432 A.D.). The sights were breathtaking...notice some of the pictures from St. Patrick's Church. I've made the comment several times tonight that I don't think we could've had a better night to see St. Patrick's Church. I know heaven will be fanastic, but if it looks anything like what we saw on the hill outside St. Patrick's Church I would be completely content. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

When we were in the Silent Valley I had a woman interview me from the BBC. She asked me what my perceptions of this place were as someone who's never been to the Silent Valley before. I told her how it's something that is unfathomable until you actually get to see it in person. Pictures do absolutely no justice to the beauty. That statement defined tonight. Beautiful is a strong word...but this was an absolutely beautiful scene.

Til tomorrow...

All the best,

- Kyle

Ireland: Day 4

2009-06-04T09:41:00.000-07:00

It's unbelieveable that it's already been four days that I've been in Ireland. Today is June 4th and the European Union Election day. There is a little media coverage, but not much for this election. Typically, the European Union election has the lowest turnout out of the three main types of elections (EU, national and local elections).

Jim McLaughlin, Bobby Hamill and I caught the 10:10 AM bus into Downpatrick to meet with Colin McGrath from the SDLP. Bobby and I walked to Eddie McGrady's office in Downpatrick. Mr. McGrady is a member of parliament in Westminster and serves the Southern Down district to the British government. We met up with Colin McGrath, the chairman of the Down District Council, and he took us to the polling stations where we were going to help the SDLP with their elections.

When we first showed up to the polling station we saw these campers outside with political propoganda all over them. Apparently it is a custom to park a small camper outside the polling station in order to be able to campaign right outside the building. Also, Bobby did some "canvassing" (campaigning) during his time working for the SDLP. You can see that they had campers for both the SDLP as well as Sinn Fein.

The election process for many years experienced a lot of unethical, unjust and inappropriate operations. Staff members at polling stations would stuff the ballot boxes with false ballots. Individuals would vote multiple times with many different names. Anyways, the reason that we were there was to check off people that voted and to ensure that people did not vote twice. This practice has died down tremendously now, especially with European Union elections.

Contrary to America politics, Northern Ireland experiences low turnouts in it's European Union elections but the highest turnouts in it's local elections. American general presidential elections typically draw many more people than local political elections. It would be interesting to see what this is attributed to. I imagine that it's the local community pride that is experienced here than can be a testament to the high local turnout rate. Something to look into in the future. A gentleman at the polling station said that a typical local election draws 70% - 75% of the electorate. That's impressive!

The gentleman I was sitting next to, a member of Sein Finn, was telling me a story about a guy he knew that would steal people's names and vote 7 or 8 times every election. One time the guy spent all day voting at random voting booths and then finally came back to his home district to vote. Turned out, someone else had stolen his vote right from underneath him! I guess it serves him right but it still makes you think about how archaeic the process has been very recently.

Talking to the man from Sinn Fein, I was able to hear a lot about the Unionists and Nationalists in the country as well as the perspective of "The Troubles" from a member of Sein Finn. "The Troubles" is what the local people call the conflicts between the Unionists and Nationlists throughout the late 1900's. Many people, including myself, falsely attributed the conflict solely to religious battles. "The Troubles" have mainly to do with those that want Northern Ireland to stay part of Great Britain and those that want it to be joined into a united Republic with Ireland. The picture to the right is a picture of the city of Clough, a strongly protestant and unionist city just south of Downpatrick. As you can see, some members of the city have gone into a construction area and spraypainted "NO SURRENDER" on the walls of a stone fence. This isn't past history, it's very recent and at times very surreal.

As I was working in the voting booths, a Police officer from the Northern Ireland Police Service came in asking for the person in charge of the polling station. A man that was a staff member went out with him and then grabbed another staff member with him on the way out. They were gone for about 10 minutes and then came back. The man in charge said that there was a bomb threat at another polling station and the police officer need to document the entrances and exits to the building (a Catholic grammar school). Afterwards, I moved to another polling place where I talked to some individuals about the bomb threat. They had told me that in the day, members of different politically parties (esepcially Sinn Fein) would leave bomb threats at polling stations that they knew there was a heavy concentration of opposing candidates (i.e. the Sinn Fein would threaten a booth that would turnout a high concentration of UUP members). He said, at times the threats stopped working so then a group would actually go through with a bombing. This was a part of "The Troubles" that is so frustrating to the Irish people.

After working at the polling stations, Bobby and I met back up with Jim and Meghan. Jim and Meghan are working for the Down Recorder and we had a chance to actually see their office and workspace. We then went to a small deli, grabbed a sandwich and headed home with all the schoolchildren that rode the bus to Dundrum and Newcastle.

Lastly, on our walk back to the main city we saw one of the hospitals in Northern Ireland for the Southern Down district. Northern Ireland is part of the British national healthcare system, but from those I've talked to it seems that they get a lot less medical attention here then they do in England. Below is an example of the hospital we saw and you can see that hospitals in America wouldn't become in this bad of shape. This hospital is an active hospital and we saw someone going into it as we were walking by.

Obviously, healthcare in America is very expensive and our system may not work as well as it could. To the contrary, the people in Northern Ireland realize that the American healthcare standards are much higher than that of Northern Ireland. Something does need to be done, but we certainly do not want to lose what we have now. Apparently Michael Moore didn't have the chance to visit this hospital when he made Sicko.

Today certainly has been a long day. Tomorrow I will be heading back to Ms. Margaret Ritchie's office downtown to work again. She is an extremely pleasant and wonderful woman. I've really appreciate the time I've had to work with her.

The people that we run into have genuine conversations with you and trully wonder how you are enjoying their country. Their prideful of their home country and want you to see the beauty of it.

Til then...cheers,

- Kyle

While I was writing this one of the girls, Allie, came into our apartment and said that there was a guy playing golf in the middle of the bay. Sure enough, where the tide had gone out there was a gentleman doing some driving range practice. Check it out!

Ireland: Day 3

2009-06-03T10:49:00.000-07:00

We made the weekly news this morning in the Downpatrick Down Recorder, a newspaper that's over 200 years old and has been in one family for the entire time. Below you can see the picture on pg. 23 of the newspaper. Our 15 minutes of fame! Click on the picture to get a closer look!

Today we began our day by visiting the Silent Valley in the Moutains at Mourne. These mountains are just south of Newcastle and are visible from miles around. The view outside our apartment faces the northern side of the mountains.

During our visit we worked with the Mourne Heritage Trust, an organization that works to educate and revitalize the areas around the Mountains at Mourne. We worked with a ranger named David, who studied at the Queen's University in Belfast graduating with a degree in geology, and his dog Fran.

During our short time there, we removed an invasive vine plant that is growing in the river valley of this area. Apparently the vine is foreign to the ecosystem and is inhibiting the growth of the river system. Talking with David, he said there is tremendous potential to reviatlize the fish and bird population once this plant is taken from the river valley. As you can see, the picture on the top is what the forest looked like before...and the one on the bottom is what it looked like after.

After working on the forest, Dave took us to go see the damn within the Silent Valley which was built in the early 1900's to supply Belfast with freshwater. The pictures don't even begin to show how tremendously beautiful this area is as well as the size of the mountains.

All the pictures above are pictures of the water system developed by the Irish to supply Belfast with water, but these utilities are solely for any overflow. The top two pictures shows the tunnel that overflow water would come through from the damn to fill the river system. The bottom picture shows the "sinkhole" that is built right into the water so that any water that went above the appropriate water level would fall into the "sinkhole" and exit out through a tunnel into the combined Kilkeel and Annalog rivers.

The picture below is a picture of me sitting on the wall that is the final block of the damn. Behind you can see the mountains as well as the backlogged water from the Kilkeel and Annalog rivers. I'm facing the Belfast Water Service Mourne water facility as well as the backside of the damn. The backside of the damn is all grass and the grass needs to stay cut so that they can see if the damn is leaking...unbelieveable! If I had to guess... I would say that the wall that I'm sitting on is about 5/8 - 3/4 of a mile long. That's a tremendous area for potentnial failure!

Lastly, talking to some locals we found that in the 1990's many tourists weren't allowed to see the damn. They were told that it was for maitenance but everyone knew it was because Northern Ireland was protecting itself from potential IRA bombings of the damn. They realized that if the IRA were to bomb the damn, it would be tremendously detrimental to all the people in Belfast as well as the rest of Northern Ireland.

Leaving the damn and Mourne Heritage Trust, we decided to stop along the road and take pictures of the countryside. We saw the traditional and stereotypical stonefences built throughout all of the Irish countryside. These fences are freestanding and are not joined together with any type of binder or adhesive. There are holes between the rocks and actually the holes are necessary for the fence because it allows wind to pass throw the stone fences. These fences are literally everywhere along the eastern side of the Mourne Mountains and very few people still hold the skill of building stone fences. These fences are extremely dependable and can hold up for hundreds of years.

We then went to Castleward where we had a luncheon with the Down Volunteers, a volunteer center in Downpatrick. I talked with several individuals at the Volunteer Center about volunteerism in Northern Ireland as well as about corporate sponsorshinp for volunteerism. We then took a walk around the old castle, as well as around the Stragford Yacht Club. We found that Stragford was named from the Vikings whom called the area "strong fjord" because they couldn't row against the strong current in the inlet from the Irish Sea. Today, the government has actually put in wind turbines underneath the water in the Strangford Lough to provide electric power to the country.

While walking along the bay area, we saw several boats as well as the slips used by the Stragford Yacht Club. The first thing I noticed was a long concrete boat ramp called a "slipway". The reason that the slipway is so long is because of the effects that the tides have on the water. The picture below shows the Strangford Lough area at the lowest water level. The tide comes all the way back up to the grass and changes twice a day.

We then left the Castleward as well as Stragford Lough to go home. We stopped to Buch Head Inn in Dundrum and Dr. Cambell took us out for dinner. It was a great place and then we stopped again at The Dundrum Inn for a pint before heading home for the night.

It certainly was a long day and it's great to be home. I commented on the way down to one of the guys from Marquette, "It's weird how we see Dundrum as home right now."

It's so cliche to say that everyone is so nice to us and helping us, but we truly feel that the people here have been extremely accomodating. We are so gracious for the Irish people and cutlure. It's amazing how much more respect people have of others when they begin to live in a slightly slower pace society.

Tomorrow is the European Union election day. Work starts at 10:30 AM for me...really early right ;-)

For now...cheerio!

- Kyle

P.S. This scene made me ask Dave, our park ranger, about the hunting and fishing in Northern Ireland. He says that as far as big game, there is no hunting, but there are some private upland game bird farms. Also, there are some rainbow trout in the streams around the island.

Ireland: Day 2

2009-06-02T10:13:00.000-07:00

Day 2 started with our first trip on public transportation here in Northern Ireland. We had to hop on a bus at 8:10 AM to make it into Downpatrick. We are staying in Dundrum (which I soon learned talkin to the locals to emphasize the second half of Dundrum) and it is about a 15 - 20 minute drive from Downpatrick.

We arrived at the St. Patrick Centre to see Dr. Campbell and to be sent to our placements. I'm working with Minister Margaret Ritchie with the Social Democrat and Labour Party...I know, it sounds appropriate for me doesn't it ;-)

Minister Ritchie is also a member of the executive branch of the Northern Irish Goverment and serves as the Minister of Social Development.

Here is a website to see her biography:
http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/members/biogs_07/ritchie_m.htm

I showed up to the office around 9:45 AM and began work with Maria, one of the Minister's head staff members. Maria took me with her to the Northern Ireland Electoral Office in Banbridge, directly west of Downpatrick. We had a great car ride and talked about politics, religion, school, family and many other things. I learned several things throughout my car ride including her perception on universal healthcare, government housing, American politics and working as a legislative staff member.

On the way to Banbridge I found out that Maria, 25 years old, had just received her driver's license about four months ago. While trying to park in a parking lot she made the comment, "I really like my car because it has great bumpers...I can run into anything and it doesn't damage things she runs into. It was a funny moment. We also ran into, (figuratively...not literally), what Maria called a cliche "Irish Traffic Jam". A farmer had stopped us in the middle of the road with a long wooden paddle to allow his cattle to cross the road. She said it wouldn't have been a true Irish countryside road trip without seeing cattle or sheep crossing the road along the way.

We stopped at the Northern Irish Electoral Office in Banbridge and dropped off paperwork that showed who would be working for the SDLP at the polls checking off individuals who would be voting in the election. They use this data then to determine which wards had high turnouts and then hopefully determininng early who would win the election.

The European Union elections will be held on Thursday, June 4th 2009 and I, along with Bobby Hamill from UW-Eau Claire, will be working with the SDLP at the election booths. They will not know from the government who won the election until Monday, but they will use this data to hopefully understand earlier.

The political world is very intriguing here. I first thought that it would be very beneficial having multiple political parties. They have basically two major sepeartions between political parites determined by their stance on becoming a unified island with the Repulic of Ireland. The nationalists consist of two major parties (Sinn Fein and the SDLP) and they want to end British rule in Northern Ireland and nationalize with the Republic. The unionists consist of the Ulster Unionist Party and the Democratic Unionist Party (UUP and DUP). The major differences between these two parties within each branch are their demeanor in political action (i.e. the IRA was considered the "military arm" of the Sinn Fein).

Partisan politics is very prevalent in Northern Ireland and it seems that those here are much more willinng to identify and stay faithful to their party. Talking to people it seems that they care more about what the party's original core values are instead of the current work of the party. For example, the Democratic Unionist Party controls the Assembly and has been very inactive with debatable legislation. One of those instances includes the 11+ test which determines the fate of those in primary school to whether they will attend a secondary or grammar school (secondary means that individuals will typically move directly to the workforce...grammar school is like a college prepatory school).

After work was over at 4:00 PM, I ventured back to the St. Patrick Centre to meet up with Dr. Campbell and the rest of the crowd. Only Bridget was done so her and I went to the bus stop to catch our bus home. We were sitting there for about twenty minutes and finally realized that our bus had already come and gone!!! We had completely missed the bus!

That gave us an excuse to walk around Downpatrick for 35 minutes and to even grab a pint of Guinness before hopping on the 5:35 bus back to Dundrum.

Returning from Downpatrick, we went to Newcastle to the beach and area shops. Shops in the area seem to close at 5:00 PM so we had very few options for shopping. But, there were surely pubs open so we were sure to go in for a couple pints. Bartenders in the area were extremely helpful and had fun with their customers...we found that much more pleasing than the pompous attitude of the typical bartender in college towns.

We ended up eating dinner in Newcastle and then finishing the night at a pub across the street from our apartment called "The Dundrum Inn". We actually had to bang on the door of the bar because they had closed at midnight, but they let us in and we had a couple drinks along with a little takeout for the apartment. :-)

I'm just finishing this up on Wednesday afternoon and I'm looking forward to telling you about our adventure in the Mountains at Mourne as well as our lunch and tour at Castle Ward

Welcome to Ireland!

2009-06-01T09:01:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon and "how've ya been keepin'...

Working with Dr. Tim Campbell at the St. Patrick Centre in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland one will find themselves hearing these words often.

I left La Crosse on Sunday morning at 8:30 AM to drive to Allie Donnegan's house, (one of the Minnealopis Youth Ambassadors). Allie's parents then took us out for lunch and finally to the airport for our flight to O'Hare. We left Minneapolis around 3:50 and arrived in O'Hare aroundn 4:15

Then we met up with the rest of the crew in O'Hare for our 7:15 PM flight to Dublin. After a short layover we started boarding a very packed Boeing 767. After a 7 hour plane ride, we arrived this morning in Dublin around 8:30 AM local time (2:30 AM CST). The flight wasn't too bad and the crying babies were definitely kept to a minimum.

After arriving inn Dublin, we found an airport that didn't seem too busy at all...until we got to customs. We waited for a little over an hour to get through so they could stamp our passport. When I walked up to the counter and handed over my passport, the gentleman behind the counter said, "So ya know where your O'Briens are from...hey young lad?" I knew then and there that it was just the beginning of a great trip!

Dr. Campbell and Adam picked us up from the airport in a passenger van. We drove up to Downpatrick from Dublin, going past Oldbridge Village where the Battle of the Boyne was fought in 1690. Driving along the M1 Northern Highway we went through many small villages and towns. Schoolchildren were out and about everywhere...all in school uniforms.

We then arrived at the St. Patrick Centre in Downpatrick to receive a briefing on Northern Ireland history and the conflicts that still exist in the country today. We were also welcomed by Jack Ferris, Chairman of the Board for the St. Patrick Cenntre.

Next we went to our waterfront townhouses in Dundrum, a small village on Dundrum Bay. We first got to go see the Dundrum Castle as well as the Mountains of Mourne. We checked into our rooms and then went on an excursion to Newcastle which is a small coastal town just south of Dundrum. There is a fantastic beach there as well as a view of the entire bay all the way to the Isle of Man. The downtown life in this area seems to be very prominent and the group is looking to go down there somewhere later in the week.

One of the funniest moments of this day was when two young guys came up to Dr. Cambell in a desperate need for help. The one gentleman had on a yellow safety vest with 'Enforcement Officer' written on it. The other had a t-shirt with the County Down symbol. The second man asked Dr. Campbell if he had seen a "woman wearing a white overcoat with a large husky". Dr. Campbell politely said no sorry I can't help you. We all looked at Adam and he says, "Chasin after her because her dog pooed on the trail". Apparently, dog's using restroom on the walking trails has been such a huge problem that enforcement has increased and there is a $50 fine for letting your do do it. It was a great moment...one of those that you probably had to be there to see how funny it was.

Next, we came home and I slept for about 45 minutes...and it was one of the best naps of my life. I was so extremely tired....and a fresh shower and clothes felt fantastic.

Later tonight we went back to the St. Patrick Centre for a reception for the Young Ambassadors as well as the hospitality folks in the area (B&B owners, etc.)

Finally, we came home and went to bed. It was an exciting day and I'm very much looking forward to working with Ms. Margaret Ritchie from Northern Ireland's Parliament.

For now goodnight and see you tomorrow!