Children for Peace in Ireland

History of the Program

Background

During a 1999 meeting of the Padraig Pearse Division of the Ancient Order of Hibernian's (AOH) in Kansas City a motion was put forth that the practice of bringing young people from Northern Ireland to the Kansas City area should be resurrected.  There had been a program in place for three years (1989-90-91) in which an organization called "Ulster's Children for Peace"sponsored 8 Protestant and Catholic young people from Northern Ireland, over a 3 year period.  This Program was organized and headed by Phil Chaney.

The 1999 motion passed unanimously and established the A.O.H. Children for Peace in Ireland Committee.  In July 2004, AOH Children for Peace in Ireland became an entity of its own, and was Incorporated in the State of Missouri as a 501(c)(3) non-profit, Public Charity, Corporation.  This Program, headed by Executive Director, Tom Quinn of Overland Park, Kansas has hosted more that 120 young people from Belfast & Derry along with 14 different adult chaperones.

In 1998, contact was established in Belfast by Dennis Conaghan, a Kansas City School Teacher at Notre Dame de Sion high school, with Mrs. Marie Moore, at that time the Deputy Lord Mayor of Belfast.  Dennis discussed his interest in the project with Moore who suggested that he get in touch with Tom Quinn of the AOH in Kansas City.  Shortly after his return, Conaghan and Quinn, along with Phil Chaney, got together and drew up the blueprint for what is now an important and thriving Program.

The Program Begins

The first visit during July of 2000 consisted of 2 boys and 5 girls.  The second (2001) was a contingent of 8 girls.  The Program has grown to where there are now 16 young people coming to Kansas City each summer.  Half of the young people are Catholic, half are Protestant, half are girls and half are boys.  More education is added to the Program each year.  The young people from Northern Ireland will get together at least 6 times before coming to Kansas City.  This gives them the opportunity to know each other and have an understanding of their differences before coming to America.

In 2006 the Program took a big step forward by appointing, Raymond Stewart and Dominic Mooney as the Northern Ireland coordinators.  Both Dominic and Raymond have had many years experience working with young people and promoting peace and understanding in the Belfast communities.

The CFP Management Team consists of a Board of Directors and an Executive Director as well as being benefited by the 2 Northern Ireland Coordinators (Raymond Stewart & Dominic Mooney)

The goal of the Program is to establish a network of individuals in Northern Ireland and Kansas City to facilitate and promote peace and understanding among the youth in the respective communities.  We will do this by establishing ongoing Programs to keep participants actively involved for many years.  This can be accomplished by effectively working through the Northern Ireland and Kansas City coordinators to ensure that the Program is "fresh", running in an effective and efficient way and addressing the needs of the focus groups.

Program Costs

The cost of running the Program has increased drastically since the first year.  The first year of the Program we had to raise approximately $28,000.  This year (2010) it will take a little more than $100,000 to keep the Program running in an effective way.  There are now many costs involved in running the Program.  Some of the expense categories required to run the Program are:

Airfare, Summer Activities, Bus Transportation for activities, Insurance for the young people, Education Residential's in Northern Ireland, Legal & Professional fees, Storage Locker, Supplies, Printing, Postage, Advertising, etc.

Of course, the dearest wish and ultimate goal is that these friendships formed in the heart of America will grow and mature throughout the lives of the young people from America and Northern Ireland.  This worthy Program of tolerance, understanding and fellowship will be successful only with the support of our friends and neighbors in Belfast, the Kansas City area and throughout the USA and Northern Ireland.