October 24, 2002 - The Belfast Newsletter: Nepal RPCV James Walsh's Visa Programme provides opportunities for young Northern Irish people

Peace Corps Online: Peace Corps News: Headlines: Peace Corps Headlines - 2002: 10 October 2002 Peace Corps Headlines: October 24, 2002 - The Belfast Newsletter: Nepal RPCV James Walsh's Visa Programme provides opportunities for young Northern Irish people

By Admin1 (admin) on Friday, October 25, 2002 - 11:28 am: Edit Post

Nepal RPCV James Walsh's Visa Programme provides opportunities for young Northern Irish people





Read and comment on this story from The Belfast Newsletter on Nepal RPCV James Walsh's Visa Programme that provides opportunities for young Northern Irish people to live and work in the USA, and to return to their motherland equipped with a new sense of social awareness and armed with a newly acquired range of skills to invest in the Province.

If the programme turns out to be a success and has a positive effect on Northern Ireland, then maybe we could bring out young people from the Middle East or the former Yugoslavia.

Read the story at:


Head for a 'hub' city for a new way of life*

* This link was active on the date it was posted. PCOL is not responsible for broken links which may have changed.



Head for a 'hub' city for a new way of life

Oct 24, 2002 - Belfast News Letter, The

Author(s): Matt Mccreary

On a bustling side-street in central Boston in what is known, perhaps nostalgically, as the Irish Immigration Center, a new initiative to solve Northern Ireland's social problems is quietly going ahead.

The Walsh Visa Programme provides opportunities for young Northern Irish people to live and work in the USA, and to return to their motherland equipped with a new sense of social awareness and armed with a newly acquired range of skills to invest in the Province.

It all began in 1998 when Republican Congressman James Walsh put forward legislation for a working visa programme. Walsh, a former Peace Corps volunteer, wanted to continue the work started by former President Bill Clinton towards long-term peace in Northern Ireland.

He hit upon a very simple idea - to take working-class youths out of the ghettos and sectarian hothouses, which afforded them little opportunity for employment or personal growth, to a neutral ground hoping that it would help disaffected youths to see that, as one organiser puts it, "we're much more similar than we are different".

It was a bold, and wholly new, idea but it found approval in Clinton's democrat administration and an initial three-year pilot programme was launched. Patrick Riordan, a Kerryman and now an American citizen, has worked for the programme since the beginning. He said: "There has always been support here for peace efforts in Northern Ireland but, when Clinton became involved, he brought a whole new dimension to it. He raised the bar, in effect."

So what exactly does the programme entail? Mr Riordan says: "Basically, we recruit groups of around 20 people aged between 18 and 35 and bring them to one of our five "hub" cities in the eastern United States. We help them find employment with local companies and assist them in getting a visa. The idea is that, after three years' work, they will return to Ireland and re-invest the skills they have acquired out here."

It would seem that distance lends a greater perspective to the problems here in Northern Ireland. Mr Riordan says: "We want to bring the next generation out here, onto a neutral ground and help them build conflict resolution skills. We're not saying that we can resolve the problems of Northern Ireland overnight, but this generation, when they return, will hopefully have a ripple effect on future generations in Ireland."

The first batch of people is due to return to Ireland next March and Patrick and his colleagues at the Irish Immigration Center are keen to see the results. But is Ireland ready for these people to return?

"It's a good question," says Mr Riordan. "The people we are sending back are a lot more confident and assertive than they were when they arrived. They can now deal with situations as they arise such as problems with supervisors, negotiating a pay rise and so on. The effect these people will have on Northern Ireland remains to be seen, but it can only be positive."

The range of jobs available to participants is varied - from hands-on professions, such as horticulture, to careers in finance and investments. Tom McCloskey, a native of troubled north Belfast, has been in Boston since March and now works for a finance company based in New England's grandest office building, the Hancock Tower.

"I came to America because I wanted to get the best possible training in the world, training which I could put to good use back home," he says. "The opportunities for advancement here are excellent - I've already been promoted and hope to go even further."

And he has enjoyed the experience of living in the USA, too. "There's so much to do here and it really opens your eyes to other cultures and ways of life."

Before going out to Boston, Tom attended the mandatory eight- week pre- departure training period which takes place at a number of centres around Ulster. During this period candidates are visited by representatives of the programme who fly in from the States to advise and direct them on the different lifestyles they will face abroad. Thomas Keown, from Kilkeel, has worked as an employment placement officer for the programme for over a year.

"The work ethic in America is noticeably different," he says. "Candidates are required to be particularly hard-working, dedicated and punctual. Basically, we provide a support network for those going out, help them to find employment and ensure that things run smoothly in the first few months."

Patrick Riordan says: "Many of those going out will have had little or no experience of travel or life in another country. We help them with the practicalities such as writing a CV suitable for an American employer, techniques for interview and helping to find suitable accommodation, which is often a problem."

The programme is not, however, a ticket to a holiday camp. "This programme," says Mr Riordan, "is not for people who just want to come out to the USA and see how it goes. We discourage that a lot. You must find a job which suits you before you come over and which you will be able to do - you can't just take anything to get out here.

"If you lose your job, you have 30 days to find another which, given the current downturn in the American economy, is becoming increasingly hard."

So what does the future hold for the programme? The opening of a new hub agency in Syracuse, New York complements the existing hub cities of Colorado Springs, Washington DC, Pittsburgh and Boston, and the programme co-ordinators continue to receive applications from young people back home. But it remains to be seen how the programme could be affected by the election of George W Bush, whose involvement in the peace process has been, at best, cursory compared with that of his predecessor.

So, while the future existence of the programme is far from assured, the signs, at least, are good.

"If the programme turns out to be a success and has a positive effect on Northern Ireland, then maybe we could bring out young people from the Middle East or the former Yugoslavia," Mr Riordan says.

"After all, there's more to define people than just their address back home."

l If you are interested in applying for the programme, ask for details at your local job centre or visit the website at www.walshvisa.net. You must be aged 18-35 and have been resident in Northern Ireland, or one of the border counties, for at least six months prior to your application. You must also have been unemployed for at least three months prior to your application.

Refer This Article to a Friend



Click on a link below for more stories on PCOL

Top Stories and Discussion on PCOL
Dodd's Amended Bill passes in SenateElection 2002:  RPCVs run for office
Peace Corps Volunteers Safe in Ivory CoastA Profile of Gaddi Vasquez
Sargent Shriver and the Politics of Life911:  A Different America
USA Freedom Corps - "paved with good intentions"PCV hostage rescued from terrorists
GAO reports on Volunteer Safety and SecurityPeace Corps out of Russia?
Help the New Peace Corps Bill pass CongressUSA Freedom Cops TIPS Program


Top Stories and Discussion on PCOL
Senior Staff Appointments at Peace Corps HeadquartersFor the Peace Corps Fallen
Senator Dodd holds Hearings on New Peace Corps LegislationThe Debate over the Peace Corps Fund
Why the Peace Corps needs a Fourth GoalThe Peace Corps 40th plus one
The Case for Peace Corps IndependenceThe Controversy over Lariam
The Peace Corps and Homeland SecurityDirector Vasquez meets with RPCVs
RPCV Congressmen support Peace Corps' autonomyPeace Corps Expansion:  The Numbers Game?
When should the Peace Corps return to Afghanistan?Peace Corps Cartoons



Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Service; Peace Corps - Congress; COS - Nepal

PCOL1332
27

.

By Anna Kennon on Thursday, April 10, 2003 - 3:26 pm: Edit Post

This article was brilliantly written. I think it gives hope for unemployed workers. There should be more programs like this all over the world.


Add a Message


This is a public posting area. Enter your username and password if you have an account. Otherwise, enter your full name as your username and leave the password blank. Your e-mail address is optional.
Username:  
Password:
E-mail: