June 9, 2019

Today I became a Viking. But first I was a tourist.

The morning took our group back to Belfast where we went to the St.George Market for sweet treats and handcrafts. The old warehouse building turned into an indoor market reminded me greatly of the Milwaukee Public Market. The lively building was bustling with tourists and locals alike as people sampled the various foods and (like me) gawked at the beauty of the jewelry.

Talking with the other ambassadors we kept commenting about how nice Belfast was in the sense that there was no honking of cars or a rushed feeling of the people. It most definitely is a working, busy city but everyone seemed to have a polite calm to them which seems different from some other cities in the United States.

Following our morning of shopping we jumped back into the van and got pumped up for a day of training like a Viking. We roared into the driveway of a house with Eye of the Tiger blaring from our speakers and were greeted by a horde of people with long beaded beards and axes in their hands. The Magnus Vikings are a lively group of locals who either can trace their lineage to Vikings or are just fascinated by the history or these legendary fighters. The first step of viking training was warm ups and stretching before learning the basic steps and battle defenses.

Our group of young ambassadors now feels fully prepared for battle! I was quite satisfied with my axe throwing skills and I wonder how it would relay to playing darts. The vikings were so fun to spend time with and were so incredibly hospitable to us and I am very grateful!

June 8, 2019

Today was the Garden Party! The morning was spent getting the St.Patrick Centre all swept and prepped for the fundraiser for the MYMY charity. I was honestly quite nervous for the party because I did not think I would know anyone there. It was quite the opposite. As people from the community and the young ambassador work placements started to arrive I was shocked to see how many of them I had meet throughout my first week in Downpatrick. Dermott and Helena from Glebe house, Councilors Brown and Andrews, former MP Margaret Ritchie, Eamon, and many more people showed up to support the cause and the chat with us. It was incredible to feel like a regular member of the community and to reflect on all the connections I had made in just the first week.

Great conversation, networking, and laughing continued throughout the afternoon and following the conclusion of the party Dr. Tim Campbell took all of us Young Ambassadors to Belfast for a quick tour of the city and lay of the land. We stopped at the Titanic quarter and saw the original rooms where the plans were drafted which is now a hotel. Just a few buildings down is the sound stage for Game of Thrones which was of high interest to some of the other Ambassadors, but as someone who has never seen an episode, it was just a big block building.

The whole of Belfast is a truly amazing city where the results of the Troubles/Conflict are still very present. Driving through different neighborhoods it was plain to see what political and social stances people took. Some neighborhoods had memorials to victims of the IRA with union jacks flying at every house while just across a gate and down the road, Irish flags flew above murals of Nelson Mandela and other leaders who fought for their people’s freedom.

Our driving tour of Belfast ended with a pint of Guinness at the Crown Bar, just across the street from the Europe Hotel which I heard is the most bombed hotel in the world.

June 7, 2019

Today was such an adventure and I learned more about the ancient history of Ireland than I ever thought I would. Michael, Lexi, and I were taken to the Navan Fort for a tour of their “living history” exhibit and it was amazing! Sitting in a replica Celtic dwelling the two actors explained so much about the way of life at that time, from what they wore to how they cooked to the yearly pre-christian rituals they participated in. The surprising lesson I will most definitely retain from them will be the multitude of uses for simple plants. As we walked around the garden the Druid showing us around kept pointing out plants and flowers and naming the medicines they are now replaced by. We joked that we really don’t need pharmacists, we just need a nice garden.

Following our step back in time we were taken up a series of steps to the top of one of the oldest archaeological sites in Northern Ireland. Deep below a giant hill are the remains of a spiritual site dating back to 95 A.D., that is older than the pyramids and Stonehenge! This site was said to be the pagan spiritual center of the whole of Northern Ireland because there are stones from the site that were not local to the surrounding area. From the top of this hill we had a glorious view of the Mourne mountains and Slemish, which is were St.Patrick was said to have tended sheep.

The whole tour of the grounds just gave me a better appreciation of the rich archaeological history Ireland holds beneath the earth.

June 6, 2019

I still cannot get over how many castles and ruins there are around every corner here. Today we started our day in Castlewellan. A beautiful town that boasts a strong nationalist history which could be seen around every corner. The rest of the day was spent learning about the process of closing up a campaign. Campaign posters are put up on street lights which is quite a change from the US, but even more interesting was that political parties can be fined if their posters are still up a week after the election. The process of taking down these posters took us through the Mourne mountains and into more rural towns and villages that each had their own personality and political make up.

This evening I had the amazing opportunity to go to Queen’s University in Belfast for a lecture generally about the way that money is created. I jumped on this chance to learn about views on economics and monetary policy here in Northern Ireland. The lecturer, a professor at Queen’s, took the conversation in a direction that I was not expecting. While I thought this would be a general explanation of how money is printed and why (despite some people’s beliefs) you can not simply print more money, it ended up extending to the history of money in Ireland and the future of the Eurozone. In a turn that he acknowledged was quite cynical, the speaker concluded that we are on the ‘cusp of a crash bigger than 2008’ and that the Euro has to fail because there can be no monetary union without a fiscal union as well. This was such an eye opening experience because it highlighted once again that there is no such thing as a simple answer, everything relates back to greater historical and political issues. I also left Belfast with a long reading list of titles that the speaker suggested which I feel are worth sharing here:

• “The Lost Science of Money” Stephen Zarlenga
• “Progress and Poverty” Henry George
• “The Creature from Jacko Island” G. Edward Griffin

June 5, 2019

For those of you that have been blessed with living a “Love Island” free life; your time is up. Love Island is an extremely popular UK TV show that combines all the worst aspects of reality TV into one villa with 10 swimsuit clad men and women for a summer. The only entertaining factor is hearing the gossip and unintelligent conversations that occur. After watching our second episode (our house of Young Ambassadors has become a bit addicted) last night, I was left disheartened and discouraged. Not only did the couple I was rooting for get separated but I was left wondering if this is the future of our interactions. Will all our conversations sound like that? Are we going to devalue talking with our neighbors? Thankfully, today proved me wrong. While shadowing Councilman Patrick Brown, member of the Alliance party of Northern Ireland and throughout my own interactions I was reminded of the power of presence and conversation.

            The conference room of the DEA (District Electoral Area) for Rowallane seemed like the farthest place from Love Island as everyone sat down for their monthly meeting to discuss proposals and budgets for the year. Present were the 5 councilmen for the district (including Patrick) and some involved residents that had issues to voice. The topic that brought forth the most discussion was how to engage more youth in community centers to keep them off the streets or engaging in “anti-social behavior”. All the people present showed genuine concern for the children and young adults in their communities and together they brainstormed many practical and effective ways to proceed with changes. This was done without politics. During the conversation not a single person brought up a political party or position, for that time they were all just citizens reminiscing about what they did during their childhoods and working to think of ways to improve those memories for the future.

            After this meeting we headed back to Newcastle for lunch but not before stopping at MYMY; a mental health and wellbeing clinic that our Garden Party will be fundraising for on Saturday. This organization works without government funding to offer a place for different community groups to meet and support one another including Gamblers anonymous and grief counselling. The lady we met with at the center was so proud of the difference it has made in the community, something that further hit home the idea that one conversation can make all the difference in someone’s life.

        The afternoon’s activities made me think about what presence looks like in a community and feels like for an individual. Simply on the walk to lunch Patrick stopped to talk with three different people he had met while canvassing, each time greeting them by name and asking about some detail in their lives. Besides the mark of a good politician and an outgoing personality, the genuine nature of Patrick’s interactions reminded me of what it feels like to be in a place where people know my name. Regardless of whether you live in a town like Newcastle or a city like Milwaukee, feeling like you belong is a powerful feeling that can make or break your time there.

Following a misty run and a home cooked Italian meal I prepared to join the group of other Young Ambassadors for an evening of Cadbury milk chocolate and mind-numbing Love Island. However, after talking about our interactions at various sites, we just couldn’t stand the idea of sitting to watch people our age fail to form a sentence without “like” …like a million times. We decided to head down to the local pub in hopes of feeling more connected to the pulse of the town. There we found ourselves in a lively conversation with a young couple that were curious about our adventures and thoughts of Down. We ended up on the topic of TV shows and both parties realized that we had talked right through the show we were discussing. I ended my night not with more despair but with a renewed spirit to find conversation and with an invitation for us to visit the couple next week to share some drinks, conversation, and then to watch their favorite show, Love Island.

June 4, 2019

A gorgeous little town set on the edge of the Irish sea with pastel buildings dotting the one main street. In the distance are the Mourne mountains peeking out behind a wall of mist that leaves a dewy haze over the town. In a second-floor office just past a small reception desk is where I spent the day, overlooking the quaint town of Newcastle, Down. Here I learned what the political process is daily. There were actual constituents entering the office, actual emails being dealt with, and press releases to write. And I got to write one of those press releases. Be sure to check the Down Reporter next week for an urgent update on the status of public benches in the Village of Spa. I was shocked to realize how writing 200 words about benches was exponentially more difficult than I thought, and even more difficult than discussing the levels of political tension in this post-conflict zone.

Today was a very important day because it reminded me of what the political system looks like outside of the greater political questions at hand. In Northern Ireland, as in most parts of the world, there are many large discussions that are dividing the people and while political parties are engaged in these debates, they are still able to help individuals in their communities.

June 3, 2019

Today was my first day learning about politics in Northern Ireland, and goodness, there is a lot to learn. The first political party I talked with was the Social Democratic Labour Party (SDLP). I spent the day with Dominic, a constituency assistant for the SDLP in Downpatrick. He helps represent Colin McGrath, a member of the legislative assembly. Colin was not in the office because he is currently taking part in talks near Belfast to get the legislative assembly up and running. It has been inactive for two years.

Dominic gave a great explanation of the many political parties in Northern Ireland and their current beliefs today. He shared how historical events formed these parties, creating nuanced differences between them.

Here in Northern Ireland, many hot-topic issues are similar to the United States, but Brexit holds the endless attention of the region. The majority of the people in Northern Ireland (and in Scotland) voted to remain a part of the European Union. Wales and England voted to leave and together they had the majority. Northern Ireland is in an especially difficult position because it is the only part of the United Kingdom that directly borders an EU country.

Politicians are now debating what Brexit will look like. Many of the Irish are worried about the future of their travel and trade on the Emerald Isle. How Brexit is resolved will impact what passports citizens in Northern Ireland carry. As it stands now, citizens in Northern Ireland are able to carry both a UK and an Irish passport but some may choose to carry only one or the other. According to Dominic, the day after the Brexit referendum there was a drastic increase in the number of requests for Irish passports by people who had either never gotten a passport or only carried a UK one. I saw this first as Dominic received a phone call regarding the passport office at that moment.

Later in the afternoon I got the chance to speak with Margaret Ritchie, former MP for South Down and former leader of the SDLP. She explained what a “normal” day for a member of Parliament looked like and the many different roles she has held throughout her many years of politics.

Overall I think that I am beginning to grasp the complexity of politics here. Dominic and Margaret brought up the idea that there is no simple issue; every issue in Northern Ireland has multiple layers that are steeped in tradition and history. These subtleties, I think, are difficult to comprehend from an international perspective.

June 2, 2019

Today brought me to Mass, donkeys, fairy doors, and more; yet there was a theme that continued through all my conversations. The era of the Troubles in Northern Ireland is something that is clearly present on the minds of the young and the old alike.

Following a lovely Mass at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, the wonderful and incredibly gracious sibling duo of Eamon and Maureen drove us through the endless countryside to Glebe House for its “fun day” fundraiser.

The Glebe House is a charity that works to engage and educate children and adults from both Catholic and Protestant backgrounds in Northern Ireland. It was founded after the Troubles and receives funding from the EU to help cross-community understanding. They have found that it is crucial to reach out to under-served members of the community because they can be more at-risk group for radicalization. The Glebe House’s goals of community engagement and education through a nonviolent means reminds me of the Marquette Center for Peacemaking back home in Milwaukee where we reach out to community members to help them address issues they see in their community while educating children on what it means to be nonviolent.

With the general mission for Glebe House being reconciliation following the Troubles, some older volunteers brought up the past quite quickly in conversation. While not diving too much into specifics of political parties, they talked about how the Troubles impacted their lives and the community. They then shifted to talk about the role Brexit is having on the local parties; parties that first gained importance during the Troubles.

Later, while helping run donkey rides, conflict between Catholics and Protestants came up in the context of education. I was comparing schooling systems between the US and Ireland with two local volunteers my age and one major difference became clear. Instead of having public and private schools like we do in the US, here, the schools are considered either Protestant or Catholic. This caught quite me off guard. I am used to the idea of the government providing secular education. However, my new friends explained that Catholic schools are run by the Church while Protestant schools are still generally run by the government. Neither education was especially religious and that the differences between the schools were more social than religious. They also told me that it is not uncommon for children to switch between the different schools, depending on their long-term academic goals and location. The way they talked, it seemed like this is a change from their parents generation. They also expressed how the Glebe House has had such a crucial role in their childhoods which just demonstrated the importance of the mission there.

After a fun-filled afternoon we were back in the car with Eamon who continued to share his gift of storytelling. We took the scenic ride back (although it is scenic no matter where you go) stopping at the Strangford marina and the Ballynoe stones that, no doubt, held magic around every corner. Our final stop was just on the outskirts of Downpatrick–the Downpatrick race track. We admired the majestic horses grazing near the grandstand of the track as Eamon explained the track’s troubled past. During the Troubles, a horse race was scheduled to be a fundraiser for the British army. The night before the race, IRA members placed a bomb at the track. Tragically, the bomb went off early, killing two IRA members and one track worker. After this, the track was a sore spot for the community for many years. However, as yet another example of the power of community, it is now back in full use. Not only do residents come to watch horses speed uphill to the finish line but they also come to build community and heal from that troubled time.

June 1, 2019

Do you ever have that moment where you feel like you are in a movie? That is what it feels like to arrive in Downpatrick. The endless rows of colorful houses offset by the rolling green hills of Ireland creates a scene out of a Hollywood set. In fact, the house where we are staying could definitely be used for a Victorian era movie, complete with marble fireplace and gold lamps.

On my first stroll through the town it was easy to see the historical significance Downpatrick holds in the county and the region. Old historical markers explain the background of the courthouse, cathedral, and even newspaper building in town. Each building holds its own interesting role in the town and if you were to add all these roles together you would get more than enough material for a Hollywood film. I was surprised how many shops closed before 5 on a Saturday, a stark change from the United States’ “shop till you drop” mentality. Sunday I expect many stores to be closed (with the exception of the St. Patrick’s Centre which Dr. Campbell has mentioned is open every day of the week). The scene is clearly all set, but no movie is complete without a cast.

The people we have met so far are unbelievably welcoming and joyful. Within a brief conversation you can get a true sense of the love people have for their country and their community; they are not acting.

Withing my first 24 hours here it has become very clear to me that, contrary to initial thoughts, Downpatrick is too good for a Hollywood movie, it has to much history and heart to be summarized in a two hour script or to be staged in any way. Downpatrick is a place to experience, not a place to see.

May 31, 2019

Before leaving for this adventure, my family took me to the original family homestead in Empire, Wisconsin. This sign marked the land that was deeded to my great, great, great grandfather John McCroy, in 1848, the year that Wisconsin was founded. We know that John McCroy lived in Belfast before travelling to America through records at a church in Belfast. 171 years later, I have arrived in Northern Ireland.