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The Newsletter of Northern Ireland Children's Enterprise

The following week we will have our annual picnic for all the host families and children. It's an afternoon filled with fun and games, and a chance to make new friends and catch up with old acquaintances.

The summer visit always seems to pass too quickly!

These girls had a great time last year at the annual family picnic.

This summer the children will be with us for five weeks, from June 30th to August 3rd.

NICE Golf
Golf tournaments have been a vital (and fun!) source of our fundraising efforts since 1988. Last year, nearly $350,000 was raised by the Northern Ireland Children's Enterprise through golf outings.

NICE Executive Director Carmel McCavana, former President of Ireland Dr. Patrick Hillery, Dr. Maeve Hillery, Rusty Staub, and NICE founder and chairman Don Murphy

In February 2000 the First Annual NICE Golf Tournament in Palm Beach, FL was held at Bear Lakes Golf Course. Drs. Hillery served as co-chairs for the event. Rusty Staub was the winning bidder on the golf trip to Ireland donated by Owenoak International, featuring some of the finest courses on the island, such as Portstewart, Royal Portrush Dunluce, Royal Co. Down Championship, Baltray, Co. Lough, and Portmarnock Golf Club. We are also very grateful to Mike Gibbons of Estee Lauder, Joe and Eileen Cornacchia, and Pat Rooney for their invaluable assistance organizing this tournament.

Don Murphy, Creighton Schneck, Carmel McCavana
and Mike Moriarty at Bear Lakes

Later that week, the Third Annual NICE Tournament in Naples, FL was held at Pelican Marsh Golf Club under the direction of the inimitable Amby Redmond and his committee.

On Thursday, June 8, Michael J. Del Priore of J&W Seligman & Co. will chair the Twelfth Annual NICE Golf Outing at Mount Kisco Country Club, an event that usually sells out well in advance. The highlight of the day is always the clinic given by NICE golf spokesman and CBS commentator David Feherty prior to the start of the tournament.

The Eighth Annual NICE Boston Tournament will be held on Monday, July 10 at Wollaston Country Club in Milton, MA. John Gallagher, Mark Holland, and Tom O'Donnell round up the crew at Loomis Sayles to coordinate a great day of golf.

Our NICE volunteers and host families always enjoy the outing at Mahopac Golf Club; this year will mark the Ninth Annual event on Monday, July 31, chaired by Dick Talty and Jerry McCarthy.

Monday, September 18 will be the Second Annual Philadelphia Tournament at Whitemarsh Valley Country Club in Lafayette Hill, PA co-coordinated by Mark Sullivan and Mike McCloskey of Chartwell Investment Partners.

This year will mark the First Annual NICE Golf Outing in San Francisco, CA at the Presidio Golf Course on Thursday, October 12, organized by Bill Norris of Montgomery Asset Management.

From the Chairman
Donal J. Murphy
I am delighted to report on the progress of Australia House. We have been very fortunate to find Gráinne McKenna, who has brought her considerable talents to NICE. We now have several groups of people who work on cross community projects using our facilities as a meeting place. At the same time, as Carmel points out in her article, our own staff is keeping the facility fully utilized with new and continuing programs.

What does all this mean? NICE started many years ago as a summer program in NY, and then progressed to include a weekend program with the purchase of our Ballycastle House. It is now a seven-day a week program with the addition of Australia House in Belfast.

When Mary Jo and I became involved in bringing Jim Mullen to our home in 1979 (one of 23 children whocame that year) we never thought that in the year 2000 there would be over 3,000 people in Northern Ireland who have benefited from this project on an annual basis. We are humbled by the thought, and extremely appreciative of the efforts and support of so many wonderful people who have opened their homes, hearts, and pocketbooks to our program. Without your help none of this would be possible.

NICE would not be what it is today without the leadership, dedication and imagination of our Executive Director in Belfast, Carmel McCavana. Additionally, she has been instrumental as a fundraiser. Congratulations to Carmel for her continued success in securing funding, including one grant from the Department of Education in NI to help subsidize salaries, and another from Children in Need to improve the landscaping and garden at Australia House.

We also appreciate the good work of Assistant Director Bobby Halliday, who organizes all the children and chaperones for weekend programs at our residential facility in Ballycastle.

Our New York office is expertly handled by Kate Cunningham, our USA Executive Director. Kate has done an outstanding job of organizing and coordinating the golf tournaments, the auction trips to Ireland, the foundation, host family activities, and whatever else I “dump” on her desk. Kate's cheery pleasant personality makes NICE really “nice”!

We have built a solid organization with a dedicated team that will continue our mission. We have two facilities that are among the finest of their type, and we have come a long way.

The challenge we face today is the establishment of the NICE Foundation, with a goal of raising four to five million dollars. That amount would generate the $250,000 needed to cover our current annual operating expenses. Already $600,000 has been committed. To all of you who have responded to our solicitation, we thank you. We ask that you continue to remember NICE as you plan your annual budget for gift giving. The opportunity for peace in Northern Ireland has never been closer. Your participation has helped draw the two communities nearer to that goal.

Thanks to Martel's Restaurant in Manhattan for hosting their First Annual Green Tie Fundraiser for the benefit of NICE. We really appreciate their efforts on behalf of our program. If you're in Manhattan, stop in for lunch at Martel's!

Report from the Executive Director in Northern Ireland, Carmel McCavana
Good News from Northern Ireland
It's great to be able to report good news from Northern Ireland, to report on the positive developments in NICE and in the general political situation. With so much uneasiness and stalling surrounding the Good Friday Agreement over the last few months, it looked as if the political stalemate was due to continue. But the recent news has given new impetus to the push for lasting peace and it looks likely that our new Assembly, which had been suspended for a few months, is now going to reconvene. It means the people of Northern Ireland can work together in a new power sharing assembly bringing equality, justice and prosperity to the whole community.

Bringing People Together
Our work in bringing people together is now more important than ever. The divisions and hatred that have torn this country apart for so many years still exist. If lasting peace is to be achieved there is an enormous amount of healing and reconciliation that needs to take place in the next few years. We in NICE have the capacity to play an important role in this healing process and have built strong foundations over the last few years to enable this to happen.

Recent Happenings
The last few months have been a particularly busy time, and with the summer just around the corner things are going to get even more hectic. Bobby Halliday, our Centre Director in Ballycastle, has been busy working at getting young people together at the Centre at weekends. We are now running at full capacity, thanks in no small measure to our small army of volunteers who give up their time to run the programs. The young people now meet in Belfast in Australia House during the week, where they continue the friendships made during the weekends. One of the activities is an art project in which a group of young people is giving one of the rooms an Australian theme. They researched the idea and under the guidance of community artist Jim Russell, they have painted maps, animals and other things representing all aspects of Australian culture on the walls. The mess will be worth it in the end, or so I am told!! A group of sixteen of our young people also took part in a project painting a wall mural in Belfast City centre with young people from other youth groups, as part of a project called Global Harmony. One of our young people, Michael Twomey, has been chosen to represent NICE on an exchange program to Czechoslovakia this summer - so we are spreading our wings all over the globe! There has also been great interest in our Belfast headquarters as a neutral meeting space for other groups working in the area of community relations. We have facilitated conferences for victims support groups, inter church groups, community relations training groups and many others.

Adult and Parents Work
A vital aspect of our work is working with parents and adults, building up a network of volunteers. As the project continues to grow this puts a strain on our present resources. We want to continue to be able to fully utilize the Centres in Belfast and Ballycastle, and so recruiting and training new volunteers is vital to sustain this growth. At present we are running courses for a group of teenagers who will help us out over the summer months. They will be trained on all aspects of youth work, in child protection, community relations, health and safety, and games and outdoor work. Gráinne McKenna, our Centre Manager in Belfast, has also been training a group of adult volunteers who are completing a training program in “Building Community Relationships”. This involves an in-depth look at many of the issues surrounding division and difference in Northern Ireland, and developing their own understanding of conflict and division. The course will give them the skills and confidence to work with young people in a more sustainable and meaningful way. The course is accredited by the Open College Network in Northern Ireland, and will give participants a recognized certificate at the end of their studies. Gráinne is working to accredit all our training in this way so that not only are people gaining skills and experience but also their training is being formally recognized.

Thanks, Kelly
Finally before I go to work on the latest group of young people traveling to the USA this summer, I want to say farewell and thanks to Kelly Henry, one of our Youth Volunteers. Kelly has been working for us as our Youth Project co-coordinator for the last year and is leaving at the end of the summer to go to University in England to study Social Work. I want to thank her most sincerely for all her hard work over the past few years and wish her every success for a successful career.

Pictured below:
Some of the children at Australia House in Belfast, after a drama
they presented before Australia's High Commissioner Philip Flood.

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