Ulster Project - History

History

After living in Connecticut through a pastoral exchange program with The Reverend Steve Jacobson, rector of St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Manchester, Connecticut, Rev. Waterstone witnessed the freedom and safety of exchanging ideas and viewpoints in the United States. Upon his return to Ireland, Canon Waterstone found a willing group of teenagers to spend part of their summer with host families in the U.S. He recruited various Catholic and Protestant clergy to support the idea of a project based on reconciliation, trust and the destruction of stereotypes. Fr. Jacobson traveled from the United States to meet with Richard Cardinal Conway in Belfast to gain Roman Catholic support and approval for the project. Returning to America, Fr. Jacobson raised an initial $20,000 to finance the expenses of the Irish guests. He and Dr. Eamon Flanagan developed community support and organized housing with host families. Mr. Odis Coleman, Youth Director of St. Mary's Parish, directed the activities and learning experiences of the American and Irish teenagers during their six week program. The program was repeated two years later before being adopted by Pacem in terris of Wilmington, DE with the financial support of the Raskob Foundation and Mr. and Mrs. Charles Robinson.

After successfully bringing the project to the U.S., Canon Waterstone concentrated on expanding the project to cities across the U.S. This allowed for more opportunities for Northern Irish teenagers to be involved and to learn of the similarities and differences between their religious affiliation, as opposed to the prejudices and bigotry that was so prevalent in the 1970s.

Currently, the project brings teens from eleven cities in Northern Ireland, including Banbridge, Belfast, Derry, Omagh, Coleraine, Strabane, Sion Mills, Limavady, Portadown, Castlederg, Enniskillen and Cookstown. The teens from Northern Ireland will live with their host families for the month of July, becoming an extra son or daughter of the family with whom they are staying. The Northern Irish teens are selected for this experience based on recommendations from their clergy and teachers, often completing an application and interview. The host teens and families in the U.S. are selected in much the same manner, with an application process and home interview to ensure the willingness of the family to participate and to also prepare them for the hectic schedule that will be followed during the actual project.

Once selected for the project, the Northern Irish teens will meet extensively to form strong bonds with each other before leaving the country. As they will be far from the comforts of home, with only the rest of the teens and two counselors to guide them, they must trust each other implicitly before leaving the country. They begin meeting in January and continue to nurture their friendships until the project starts in July.

In the United States, there were as many as 29 cities and 17 states hosting the Northern Irish teenagers, including Youngstown, OH, Milwaukee, WI, New Orleans, LA, Lafayette, LA, Lake Charles, LA, Arlington, TX, Atlanta, GA, Salt Lake City, UT, Alliance, OH, Cincinnati, OH, Massillon, OH, Canton, OH, Tucson, AZ, Delaware, North Shore, IL, DuPage County, IL, Madison, IN, Decorah, IA, Hutchinson, KS, McPherson, KS, Greenville, NC, Pennsylvania, Chattanooga, TN, Kingsport, TN, Knoxville, TN, Memphis, TN, Nashville, TN and Oak Ridge, TN. Each of these cities/states hosts a variable number of teens, from eight to eighteen, based on their ability to secure the appropriate number of host families and raise the amount of funds necessary to host the project. In 2006, 256 Irish teens visited the United States and participated in the project.

In 2009 only 19 cities are still involved in actively bringing Teens to the United States. The other cities have stopped bringing Teens across and some have disbanded altogether. False perceptions of peace, hampered by a faltering world economy have led many projects to either decrease the number of teens that they sponsor for the trip, or stop hosting Northern Irish teens altogether.