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The Newsletter of Northern Ireland Children's Enterprise
Our newsletter is called NICE Times, and usually that is all we include - stories of golf outings, fundraising events, summer fun & pictures of happy people doing good work.But recent times dictate that this issue be different, as these times are so very different. This summer Northern Ireland has seen its worst violence in thirty years, and the recent attacks upon America are unprecedented. The mission of NICE to promote peace, reconciliation, and understanding becomes even more important in these troubled times.
Message from NICE Chairman Don Murphy
The tragedy of September 11 has changed life in America forever. We offer our deepest sympathies and our heartfelt condolences to all those who lost family members, loved ones, friends, neighbors, or colleagues. We remain eternally grateful for the unwavering courage and selfless dedication shown by our firefighters, police officers, and emergency service personnel throughout the ordeal.
All of us at NICE mourn the loss of one of our host fathers, Lt. Vincent Gerard Halloran of the FDNY. Vinnie and his wife Marie have taken in children from Belfast for the past five years. Our hearts go out to their children, Jake, Conor, Aidan, Kieran, Declan, and the child to be born in May. We appreciate the many donations sent to NICE in his honor, and know that all funds will be used to continue the work the Halloran family participated in - work of peace and reconciliation that takes on new meaning to Americans now.
Terrorism like this is something new to our shores, but it is something the children of Northern Ireland have known for many years.
We extend to all of you our very best wishes for a happy, healthy and, above all, peaceful New Year.
A NICE summer usually includes a trip
to New York City. Pictured above are
Stephen McGarrigle of Belfast
with his host Patrick Tobin of Nyack.
Report from the Executive Director, Northern Ireland
by Carmel McCavana
Everyone here in Northern Ireland and particularly those of us involved with NICE watched the events unfold in the USA on September 11th with a sense of disbelief and horror. The futile waste of human life was hard to comprehend; our hearts ached for the victims, their families and friends. Violence has been part of our lives for so long we know how this tragedy has affected not just those directly involved, but also the whole community. Every one of us has had personal feelings of anger, sorrow and grief to deal with. Not a single person has been left unscathed by these terrible events, and indeed the whole world has been altered forever. Here in 'Australia House' we opened a book of condolence so that people could come in and express their feelings in a permanent way; the book is also our way of showing some solidarity with our American friends. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of those suffering, particularly Marie Halloran and family who have given so much to NICE in the past.
Happenings in Northern Ireland
Two headlines jumped out at me this morning as I read our local daily newspaper. One was: "It's more like Belfast than Beirut" a story about how in the past four months 107 families have been made homeless in North Belfast by the continuing rioting and civil disturbance in their area. The other headline was "Peaceline fence raised 30 ft" which told of a peaceline (one of many in Belfast separating Catholic and Protestant areas) being raised to prevent further violence between the two communities. So the situation here continues to have its ups and downs with a lot fear, animosity and hatred on both sides still around.
There are of course good news stories to report also. We in NICE continue to work at reconciling the differences between people. One course we are running this winter for our adult volunteers is titled 'Building Community Relationships'. During the course the group explores their differences looking at issues that effect them such as religion, politics, justice, culture etc. One session involved bringing in spokespeople from the Orange Order and the GAA to look at how their organisations have impacted other communities in different ways. In another session we had political prisoners from Loyalist and Republican organisations telling their stories. The course helps people to understand each other through debate and discussion in a safe and constructive way and gives them an insight into how the violence of the last 30 years has affected us all differently. It is helping to break down the barriers of fear and mistrust that have been built up over the years and is continuing to introduce Catholics and Protestants to each other for the first time even though they are adults.
In early December we had a visit from 25 students from the Peace and Conflict Resolution Studies of The American University in Washington. The group was made up of young people from all over the USA who were here on a three -week study visit to look at the whole area of peace and reconciliation. After meeting and talking to some of our youth volunteers aged 17-19, they said it was the best day of their visit to Northern Ireland so far. They spent time talking to each other about their hopes and fears for the future, and were able to talk to our young people directly about what they were doing to promote reconciliation and peace through their involvement in NICE. They treated us all to pizza afterwards and said it was the best pizza they had tasted- so Belfast has really come a long way!!!
I want to take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you a happy and above all a peaceful Christmas and New Year. Our work goes from strength to strength, we have had a very successful year and thank all of you for continuing to support our work through your kindness and generosity.
All of us at NICE offer our heartfelt appreciation to Fred McCarthy for his generous donation to our program. Fred recently designated NICE in his gift of $50,000 to the American Ireland Fund, resulting in a $45,000 donation to NICE.
Last year Fred donated over $100,000 to the newly formed NICE Foundation. The goal of our foundation is to raise a $3 million endowment to insure that the work of NICE continues in perpetuity. We are still a long way from reaching that goal, and would appreciate any help you could give.
Fred McCarthy and Don Murphy
NICE Chairman Don Murphy has also specified NICE in his gifts to the AIF of $35,000, as well as his gift of $10,000 to the Australian Ireland Fund. This is in addition to over $20,000 Don and his wife Mary Jo have made to our organization in contributions to golf outings and general support.
We remain grateful to NICE Board member Bill Griffin for his continued support and invaluable advice as we continue our fund drive to establish this endowment.
Our good friend Bill Cullen appeared on a recent episode of the Jerry Kelly Show on Belfast television to promote his new book It's a Long Way from Penny Apples. According to Don Murphy, it's a great read, and should be targeted for a movie. Hopefully an Americanized edition will be printed in the future. Bill has donated all of the proceeds from the book to the Irish Youth Foundation, with a portion directed toward NICE. During the television program, he presented a check for £10,000 to Carmel.
Myles and Jane Dempsey decided to remember their friend Ruth McCourt of County Cork with a donation to NICE. Ruth and her 4-year old daughter Juliana were killed Sept. 11 on United Airline Flight 175 from Boston. The Dempseys decided that a fitting tribute to mother and daughter would be to sponsor four weekends for all the children at the NICE center in Ballycastle in their memory.
Thanks also to Alice Walsh, one of our host mothers, for her work on our grant request package. Alice is pictured below with her husband Dave, son James and guest from Belfast, Lee Newell.
Arrival day: Pictured above is the Walsh
family with their guest Lee Newell
Golf News
2002 promises to be a most exciting year for our golf enthusiasts. Presently we have ten outings planned for the year, at courses ranging from the west coast of California to the east coast of Ireland.
Some dates have changed from those previously announced, so be sure to check with us before making your travel plans. Our first outing of the year is one that was rescheduled. It will be held on Monday, Feb. 25 at Bear Lakes in W. Palm Beach, FL. This date coincides with the events of The American Ireland Fund and the Ireland U.S. Council for Business and Industry that will be held later that week in Florida.
Just a few weeks later we will be returning to Naples, Fl, for the fifth annual outing at Pelican Marsh Golf Course on April 1.
May 6 is the date for the second annual Silicon Valley outing in Los Gatos, CA. The next week will be our first outing in Louisiana, at Olde Oaks Golf Club in Bossier City, on Thursday, May 16. Right after that we will have our first golf outing in Ireland, on Monday, May 20 at Portmarnock Golf Links just outside Dublin. Perhaps you would like to join us at the outing, then travel north to visit our facilities in Belfast and Ballycastle. Give us a call soon as that tournament is booking up quickly!
Peter Murphy, Mark Sullivan, Don Murphy, Jean Murphy, David Feherty, Gerry Gorman
at the 2001 NICE Golf Tournament at Mount Kisco Country Club
We have much to be grateful for as we begin the new year. The NICE program has been able to grow and to expand thanks to the generosity of our many supporters. We received donations and general support for the program of nearly $60,000 this year. However, since the annual expense of our program is in excess of $300,000, once again it is the golf tournaments that have made our work possible.
The first NICE golf tournament was held at Mt. Kisco Country Club in 1989, followed by the first one in Mahopac in 1992 and then Boston the following year. Those three tournaments funded the program until 1998, when the fourth tournament was added in Naples, FL. We are now planning ten tournaments for 2002.
We are tremendously grateful to all of the golfers and sponsors who so generously donate their time and money to our cause. In 2001, our 8 tournaments raised $473,035 with expenses of $177,848. This includes the Greater Philadelphia tournament, which was cancelled this year due to the tragic events of September 11. Many of our supporters decided to donate what would have been their golf fees, and chairman Mark Sullivan decided to go ahead with a silent auction. As a result, the outing that never happened had a net profit of nearly $30,000.
The chart below shows the net profit of all tournaments since 1996. Those bars are sure to go even higher in 2002, with new tournaments in Louisiana and Ireland. This will allow the program to expand and work with even more people in the future. We hope to see you at one or more outings this year!
NICE MAKES A DIFFERENCE
The children who make the trip are aged between 9 and 12 years, an age when they are still very impressionable. Some have said these youngsters are too young to be aware of the prejudice and segregation that envelops their society. Yet this year we have learned from our own children how much they absorb of current events overheard on television or from adults' discussions. How many times did we hear toddlers talk about "the bad men who knocked down the buildings", or listen to pre-schoolers worrying about planes falling from the sky, or see youngsters attending the funeral of a schoolmate's parent? For how long will these children remember these events as part of childhood? In Northern Ireland, it is not only the children, but their parents as well who have known violence as a constant part of childhood.
The most infamous picture coming out of Northern Ireland this summer was the continued protests in front of Holy Child Primary School, where little girls were led to school each morning by their parents, passing by crowds of angry, shouting protesters who were upset these children were walking through their neighborhood. The girls' tear-stained faces and palpable fear made an indelible impression. Images like this can be replaced by those of children having fun while getting to know and respect each other in a safe environment. Our volunteers and supporters continue to make an incredible difference in the lives of the children of Northern Ireland, helping them to overcome memories of hatred.
Our summer visitors arriving at Kennedy airport in New York
| Monday, Feb. 25 | Third Annual NICE Golf Outing at Bear Lakes Country Club in West Palm Beach, FL |
| Monday, April 1 | Fifth Annual NICE Golf Outing at Pelican Marsh Golf Club in Naples, FL |
| Monday, May 6 | Second Annual NICE Silicon Valley Golf Outing at LaRinconada Country Club in Los Gatos, CA |
| Thursday, May 16 | First NICE Outing at Olde Oaks Golf Club in Bossier City, Louisiana |
| Monday, May 20 | First NICE Golf Outing in Ireland at Portmarnock Golf Club in County Dublin |
| Thursday, June 20 | Fourteenth Annual NICE Golf Outing at Mount Kisco Country Club, NY |
| Monday, July 15 | Tenth Annual NICE Boston Golf Tournament at Wollaston Country Club in Milton, MA. |
| Monday, July 29 | Eleventh Annual NICE Golf Outing at Mahopac Country Club, NY |
| Monday, Sept. 23 | Third Annual NICE Golf Outing at Waynesborough Country Club in Paoli, PA |
| October TBA | Third Annual NICE Golf Outing at Presidio Golf Club in San Francisco, CA |
For further information, just call (914) 271-1040 or email kate@nicekids.org
Northern Ireland Children's Enterprise
P.O. Box 802
Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520
(914) 271-1040
(914) 271-5417 fax
www.nicekids.org
Please call us with any comments, suggestions or questions.
Kate Cunningham
Executive Director USA
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