Project Children: Defusing the Troubles

0:00:13 > 0:00:15Greenwood Lake,

0:00:15 > 0:00:19a world away from a place called Belfast, Northern Ireland.

0:00:19 > 0:00:21Those kids, the kids running in the water, swimming,

0:00:21 > 0:00:23they're from Belfast.

0:00:25 > 0:00:28A far cry from the bleakness and the gulf of hatred

0:00:28 > 0:00:31that separates Catholic and Protestants.

0:00:31 > 0:00:34- I don't want to go home. - Why?

0:00:34 > 0:00:38I don't know. I want to see my mother, but I don't want to go home.

0:00:40 > 0:00:42Are you afraid sometimes at home?

0:00:42 > 0:00:43- Sometimes.- Why?

0:00:43 > 0:00:47In case I get beat up, something like that.

0:00:47 > 0:00:50And what else can happen?

0:00:50 > 0:00:52Anything else that you think of?

0:00:52 > 0:00:54Get shot, things like that.

0:00:54 > 0:00:56Do you see lots of shooting at home?

0:00:56 > 0:00:59- Hmm, yeah.- Does it scare you?

0:00:59 > 0:01:01Yeah, I guess so.

0:01:01 > 0:01:04- Why-why are they doing that at home? - I don't know.

0:01:05 > 0:01:09It's just... It's just going back to a bloody place.

0:01:09 > 0:01:12A place where people get killed for just...for nothing.

0:01:15 > 0:01:19Six weeks in America, swimming, baseball and soccer,

0:01:19 > 0:01:20hills, trees, lake,

0:01:20 > 0:01:22friendship and peace,

0:01:22 > 0:01:26and then back to Belfast and the Troubles -

0:01:26 > 0:01:28bombing, shooting, endless death.

0:01:30 > 0:01:32GLASS SHATTERS

0:01:49 > 0:01:52Hatred comes from suspicion and fear,

0:01:52 > 0:01:58and it is taught by the example of the parents, politicians...

0:01:58 > 0:01:59Teach the people to hate.

0:02:01 > 0:02:04Well, the love should come from the parents,

0:02:04 > 0:02:05from the example of the parents.

0:02:05 > 0:02:08But the example that the children are getting in Belfast

0:02:08 > 0:02:11is to hate, because the parents hate.

0:02:14 > 0:02:16What we are doing in Belfast

0:02:16 > 0:02:20is that we're rearing another generation of bigots,

0:02:20 > 0:02:22who are learning to hate.

0:02:24 > 0:02:28And if the both sides would get down on their knees

0:02:28 > 0:02:30and ask God to forgive them...

0:02:30 > 0:02:35And I hope and pray that Catholic mothers and Protestant mothers

0:02:35 > 0:02:39realise that, because it's the children that are the future.

0:03:01 > 0:03:03I came here in 1962.

0:03:05 > 0:03:10When I arrived here, I was 17 years old.

0:03:10 > 0:03:1320 in my pocket, barely able to write my name.

0:03:13 > 0:03:16I mean, I had worked in a farm before I came,

0:03:16 > 0:03:22and it really was the land of opportunity, for me, anyhow.

0:03:24 > 0:03:26I had an opportunity to go back to school

0:03:26 > 0:03:29and get my high school diploma.

0:03:30 > 0:03:34I got my citizenship and became a police officer.

0:03:34 > 0:03:36That was my dream.

0:03:39 > 0:03:44In 1969, Denis Mulcahy took an oath to protect and serve

0:03:44 > 0:03:46the citizens of New York.

0:03:46 > 0:03:50The young recruit from County Cork in Ireland would later become

0:03:50 > 0:03:54one of the NYPD's most decorated bomb disposal experts.

0:03:54 > 0:03:58This is the neighbourhood that I spent 20 years here

0:03:58 > 0:04:00in the bomb squad.

0:04:00 > 0:04:02This is where I reported daily.

0:04:04 > 0:04:08There were an endless number of threats to face in New York City,

0:04:08 > 0:04:10but Denis's unique line of work

0:04:10 > 0:04:12meant he also took a professional interest

0:04:12 > 0:04:15in what was happening elsewhere in the world,

0:04:15 > 0:04:19and at that time, Ireland was never far from his thoughts.

0:04:19 > 0:04:22OFFICER SHOUTS ORDERS

0:04:22 > 0:04:27You'd read about and you'd hear about devices going off in Ireland.

0:04:27 > 0:04:30You were always curious as to what kind of a device it was,

0:04:30 > 0:04:33you know, how it was set up, how it was meant to go.

0:04:33 > 0:04:36OFFICER SHOUTS ORDERS

0:04:36 > 0:04:40I was somewhat fascinated with explosives,

0:04:40 > 0:04:45and that's what led me to joining the bomb squad.

0:04:45 > 0:04:47OFFICER SHOUTS ORDERS

0:04:47 > 0:04:50There used to be a joke between bomb techs -

0:04:50 > 0:04:54when you cut a wire, you can hear it,

0:04:54 > 0:04:55but if you cut the wrong wire,

0:04:55 > 0:04:58you're never going to hear it.

0:04:58 > 0:05:01EXPLOSION

0:05:01 > 0:05:03GLASS SHATTERS

0:05:05 > 0:05:10# The whole world's sitting on a ticking bomb

0:05:10 > 0:05:14# The whole world's sitting on a ticking bomb

0:05:14 > 0:05:19# So keep your calm and carry on

0:05:19 > 0:05:23# The whole world's sitting on a ticking bomb

0:05:23 > 0:05:26# The sun may never rise again... #

0:05:26 > 0:05:28In the early 1970s,

0:05:28 > 0:05:33Belfast was rapidly becoming one of the most bombed cities in the world.

0:05:38 > 0:05:43The centuries-old conflict in Ireland was coming to a head.

0:05:43 > 0:05:46Northern Ireland was part of the United Kingdom

0:05:46 > 0:05:49in which the Catholic, Nationalist minority were engaged

0:05:49 > 0:05:52in a civil rights struggle with the Protestant, Loyalist majority

0:05:52 > 0:05:57that had spiralled out of control into bloody violence.

0:05:57 > 0:06:00GUNFIRE

0:06:00 > 0:06:03Dozens, scores, perhaps hundreds of young Catholics,

0:06:03 > 0:06:07young Nationalists, decided to join the IRA,

0:06:07 > 0:06:12their rationale being the only way we are going to get equality

0:06:12 > 0:06:15is by using violence, by using weapons,

0:06:15 > 0:06:17by using guns and by using bombs.

0:06:21 > 0:06:22GLASS SHATTERS

0:06:22 > 0:06:24SCREAMING

0:06:24 > 0:06:26Whatever about the rights and wrongs of the politics,

0:06:26 > 0:06:28it was a dangerous place to grow up.

0:06:31 > 0:06:34When I was around eight years old, there were two sports.

0:06:34 > 0:06:36One was football, the other one was rioting.

0:06:38 > 0:06:43The night that my father died, our house was petrol bombed.

0:06:43 > 0:06:46This group kicked the door in, got him to say a prayer in the

0:06:46 > 0:06:49Roman Catholic prayer book, and then shot him in the back of the head.

0:06:52 > 0:06:54Life was about survival.

0:06:55 > 0:06:58It was amazing the amount of young kids, you know,

0:06:58 > 0:07:01that were getting hurt, that were getting hit by plastic bullets.

0:07:04 > 0:07:06My childhood was very much...

0:07:06 > 0:07:08It was a world of fear.

0:07:12 > 0:07:13Here they come!

0:07:16 > 0:07:19There was a war, essentially, going on, around us,

0:07:19 > 0:07:21which we were all too conscious of.

0:07:21 > 0:07:23It just seemed like reality to us,

0:07:23 > 0:07:25that while you were out playing with other kids

0:07:25 > 0:07:29that you would be playing in the midst of a patrol of soldiers

0:07:29 > 0:07:31in full combat gear.

0:07:33 > 0:07:35Young people, young children,

0:07:35 > 0:07:38saw horrific things and were conditioned by this.

0:07:41 > 0:07:43Schools were segregated,

0:07:43 > 0:07:46you had Catholic schools and you had Protestant schools.

0:07:46 > 0:07:49Protestant children never met Catholic children,

0:07:49 > 0:07:52and Catholic children never met Protestant children.

0:07:52 > 0:07:55To each, the other side were the enemy.

0:07:59 > 0:08:01On the Catholic, Nationalist side,

0:08:01 > 0:08:05the enemy wasn't just the Protestants.

0:08:05 > 0:08:09Increasingly as the conflict evolved, the enemy was the Brits.

0:08:13 > 0:08:16It's important to remember, as well, the Troubles were exciting,

0:08:16 > 0:08:20if you were, say, 13 years old and you were in a working class area.

0:08:20 > 0:08:24But with the Troubles going on all around you, you could come out,

0:08:24 > 0:08:27sort of, on the house and just hurtle down Rossville Street

0:08:27 > 0:08:31with a stone in your hand, taking on the British Army.

0:08:31 > 0:08:32If you were in your early teens,

0:08:32 > 0:08:35that was quite a thing, quite a thing.

0:08:35 > 0:08:37CHILD SHOUTS

0:08:39 > 0:08:43Nobody ever got used to the violence that engulfed the community.

0:08:43 > 0:08:46Six and seven-year-olds who were playing Cowboys And Indians,

0:08:46 > 0:08:51you know, could find themselves playing Soldiers And Civilians

0:08:51 > 0:08:53in a deadly game.

0:08:53 > 0:08:55EXPLOSION

0:08:58 > 0:09:03It's a short step from throwing stones at an army vehicle

0:09:03 > 0:09:07to actually picking up a gun and shooting the inhabitants

0:09:07 > 0:09:10or making and planting a bomb that would blow up the vehicle,

0:09:10 > 0:09:13a very short step, because once young people,

0:09:13 > 0:09:18children in particular, have become inured to violence,

0:09:18 > 0:09:22that's where you had the seeds being sown for the conflict,

0:09:22 > 0:09:26the violent conflict that continued for the next 20, 30 years.

0:09:27 > 0:09:31- NEWSREEL:- ..two bombs which went off were detonated at the car.

0:09:31 > 0:09:34- NEWSREEL:- ..one man was killed, two policemen were seriously hurt.

0:09:34 > 0:09:36- NEWSREEL:- ..the outlawed Irish Republican Army...

0:09:36 > 0:09:38- NEWSREEL:- ..shattered windows as far as half a mile away,

0:09:38 > 0:09:40and a large plume of black smoke...

0:09:40 > 0:09:42- NEWSREEL:- ..as it exploded, witnesses said it shook the earth.

0:09:42 > 0:09:44- NEWSREEL:- ..authorities believe the Irish Republican Army

0:09:44 > 0:09:46set off a car bomb...

0:09:46 > 0:09:48- NEWSREEL:- ..this is not just a British problem,

0:09:48 > 0:09:49this is an international problem.

0:09:49 > 0:09:52We have a situation which is explosive...

0:09:52 > 0:09:54Every evening when you put on the six o'clock news,

0:09:54 > 0:09:58the headlines was Northern Ireland.

0:09:58 > 0:10:01- NEWSREEL:- ..among the dead are Protestants and Catholics.

0:10:01 > 0:10:02Some are children.

0:10:02 > 0:10:04- NEWSREEL:- ..the bomb was meant for men inside,

0:10:04 > 0:10:07but it killed two little girls.

0:10:07 > 0:10:09It went off at eight o'clock, Halloween night.

0:10:09 > 0:10:14I was a student in Oxford when the Troubles began in the late '60s,

0:10:14 > 0:10:18and it was still hot in '75.

0:10:18 > 0:10:20A lot of people were dying.

0:10:21 > 0:10:24A lot of grudges being built

0:10:24 > 0:10:26on that shed blood.

0:10:27 > 0:10:30SHOUTING AND BREAKING GLASS

0:10:30 > 0:10:34There was a great need to take the kids out of Northern Ireland,

0:10:34 > 0:10:38and we were seeing that need on television every day.

0:10:40 > 0:10:43What do you think is going to happen in the future?

0:10:43 > 0:10:45What will it be like to grow up here?

0:10:45 > 0:10:48- I don't think the Troubles will end. - You don't?

0:10:49 > 0:10:51What do you think will happen?

0:10:51 > 0:10:54I think they will just keep going on and on.

0:11:04 > 0:11:08The sleepy villages of upstate New York were a world away from

0:11:08 > 0:11:11the sectarian violence unfolding on the streets of Northern Ireland.

0:11:14 > 0:11:17Denis and his brothers Tom, Pat and John,

0:11:17 > 0:11:20had all emigrated to America in the early 1960s,

0:11:20 > 0:11:24joining a wave of immigrants leaving Ireland

0:11:24 > 0:11:25in pursuit of the American Dream.

0:11:27 > 0:11:30Working in the police and fire departments of New York City,

0:11:30 > 0:11:35the brothers settled 60 miles away in the small town of Greenwood Lake.

0:11:35 > 0:11:37And, along with their new American neighbours,

0:11:37 > 0:11:39formed an Irish cultural society.

0:11:39 > 0:11:41Oh, look who's here, the old man!

0:11:41 > 0:11:44- Hey, how are you doing?- Not bad!

0:11:45 > 0:11:49Their initial idea was to promote and host Irish events,

0:11:49 > 0:11:51but nightly news reports

0:11:51 > 0:11:54showing children caught up in the Northern Ireland Troubles

0:11:54 > 0:11:57convinced of the group that they needed to intervene in some way.

0:11:57 > 0:12:00I have one short announcement.

0:12:00 > 0:12:02This is actually the table.

0:12:04 > 0:12:08In August 1974, around the Mulcahy family kitchen table,

0:12:08 > 0:12:11the charity Project Children was born.

0:12:14 > 0:12:18- Do you recall the first meeting that we had?- Yes, I do. Very well.

0:12:18 > 0:12:22We had a meeting in your basement.

0:12:22 > 0:12:25We had John Mulcahy, Pat Mulcahy, Tom Mulcahy, Denis Mulcahy,

0:12:25 > 0:12:29Duke Hoffman, Michael and myself.

0:12:29 > 0:12:31That's the first one I remember.

0:12:31 > 0:12:33At that meeting,

0:12:33 > 0:12:37we came up with this idea that if we could just bring

0:12:37 > 0:12:39some of these kids out of there for the summer,

0:12:39 > 0:12:44put them into homes here, it might have some type of an effect on them.

0:12:44 > 0:12:45It was very basic.

0:12:45 > 0:12:48We said we would bring the first kids out of Belfast,

0:12:48 > 0:12:52that we would make contact with some schools there,

0:12:52 > 0:12:55and of course that the programme would be 50-50 -

0:12:55 > 0:12:58we would bring both Catholic and Protestant kids out of there.

0:12:58 > 0:13:02Whilst the newly formed group had a plan, they had no money

0:13:02 > 0:13:07for such a costly venture, so the fundraising had to start in earnest.

0:13:09 > 0:13:12It was decided that evening

0:13:12 > 0:13:15that we would start off by having a 50-50.

0:13:15 > 0:13:19Because 50-50 meant each person at the meeting

0:13:19 > 0:13:21would put in five dollars.

0:13:21 > 0:13:25It came to 50, and the draw would be...

0:13:25 > 0:13:28The person winning would get half.

0:13:28 > 0:13:33I happened to win it, and I said, "No, leave the 50",

0:13:33 > 0:13:36and that's where we started. 50.

0:13:37 > 0:13:3950 was a decent start,

0:13:39 > 0:13:43but the newly formed charity would need another 1,500

0:13:43 > 0:13:47if they wanted to bring six kids to America for the summer.

0:13:48 > 0:13:50Back in the '70s, money was tight.

0:13:50 > 0:13:52Greenwood Lake is middle income families,

0:13:52 > 0:13:55there's nobody extremely rich here

0:13:55 > 0:13:58that you're going to get any huge donations from.

0:13:58 > 0:14:02Pat Mulcahy, who had donated his winnings from that first meeting,

0:14:02 > 0:14:05took on the task of approaching the wider immigrant community

0:14:05 > 0:14:07for the money the charity needed.

0:14:07 > 0:14:10I went to this Irish-American organisation,

0:14:10 > 0:14:14and I explained to them what Project Children was all about.

0:14:14 > 0:14:17I got a very, very cold reception.

0:14:17 > 0:14:22The question was, "Are you bringing Protestant children?"

0:14:22 > 0:14:24And I said, "Oh, yes.".

0:14:24 > 0:14:27All children in Northern Ireland...

0:14:27 > 0:14:29mean the same to us.

0:14:31 > 0:14:36And, well, "No, you won't be getting any help here."

0:14:37 > 0:14:39So I, I was...

0:14:39 > 0:14:42I was totally dumbfounded.

0:14:45 > 0:14:50When I left the meeting, coming home, I was so down,

0:14:50 > 0:14:52and so depressed about it

0:14:52 > 0:14:56that I honestly felt like just throwing in the towel.

0:14:59 > 0:15:02The group's ambitions of bringing children to America

0:15:02 > 0:15:04had suffered an early blow.

0:15:04 > 0:15:08But opposition to their plans should not have been entirely unexpected.

0:15:08 > 0:15:10Let's pray for a united Ireland!

0:15:10 > 0:15:12Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.

0:15:12 > 0:15:17There were a lot of people active in the US, in Irish affairs,

0:15:17 > 0:15:18not always for the better.

0:15:20 > 0:15:24I think there was a degree of ignorance on the part of the

0:15:24 > 0:15:28Irish-American community, who saw the problem in black and white.

0:15:28 > 0:15:30Simplistic terms.

0:15:30 > 0:15:32The enemy were the Brits.

0:15:32 > 0:15:35The enemy were the Protestants.

0:15:35 > 0:15:37It was as simple as that.

0:15:37 > 0:15:40# Armoured cars and tanks and guns

0:15:40 > 0:15:42# Aimed to take away our sons

0:15:42 > 0:15:45# But every man must stand behind

0:15:45 > 0:15:47# Stand behind the wire... #

0:15:47 > 0:15:50In the early 1970s, NORAID,

0:15:50 > 0:15:53established to help prisoners in Northern Ireland,

0:15:53 > 0:15:55were secretly raising money for the IRA,

0:15:55 > 0:15:59who were engaged in the violent struggle against the British state.

0:15:59 > 0:16:01Irish-America, NORAID,

0:16:01 > 0:16:05provided the finance for the sinews of war for the IRA

0:16:05 > 0:16:08through the 1970s and beyond.

0:16:08 > 0:16:14NORAID's main way of raising cash was by having these huge dinners

0:16:14 > 0:16:16at hundreds of dollars a plate.

0:16:16 > 0:16:19I remember being at one dinner and the money flowed into the coffers.

0:16:19 > 0:16:24I don't think many people there would be that concerned about

0:16:24 > 0:16:27whether the money went to support IRA prisoners,

0:16:27 > 0:16:28or went to buy weapons.

0:16:28 > 0:16:30'Here on the streets of Northern Ireland,

0:16:30 > 0:16:32'the security forces certainly have

0:16:32 > 0:16:35'no doubt what happens to that money from the United States.

0:16:35 > 0:16:38'It goes to buy these, the weapons used by the IRA.

0:16:38 > 0:16:41'Many of the M60 machine guns and the Armalite rifles

0:16:41 > 0:16:44'come from the United States, bought with American dollars.'

0:16:44 > 0:16:49Through the 1970s, it's estimated that 2,500 weapons,

0:16:49 > 0:16:52many of which were high velocity rifles, the Armalite,

0:16:52 > 0:16:55and about one million rounds or more of ammunition,

0:16:55 > 0:16:58were shipped from America into Northern Ireland.

0:16:59 > 0:17:02Whilst Americans with sinister motives were getting involved

0:17:02 > 0:17:06in the Northern Ireland conflict, on a political level,

0:17:06 > 0:17:09successive US presidents had declined to intervene

0:17:09 > 0:17:12in what they saw as affairs of the British government.

0:17:12 > 0:17:15We were always in the thick of it, psychologically,

0:17:15 > 0:17:16the Irish-Americans were.

0:17:16 > 0:17:19But there was a reason the United States had always stayed out,

0:17:19 > 0:17:23even though we have the largest Irish diaspora in the world

0:17:23 > 0:17:24by a long ways,

0:17:24 > 0:17:29and, after fighting our first two wars against the British,

0:17:29 > 0:17:32we had become the closest of allies,

0:17:32 > 0:17:37and in the Cold War it mattered a lot that we were always together.

0:17:40 > 0:17:44The British view of Northern Ireland was, "This is our problem.

0:17:44 > 0:17:46"You keep your noses out of this."

0:17:46 > 0:17:49Be it Dublin's noses or America's noses.

0:17:49 > 0:17:51Not your problem, our problem. We will deal with it.

0:17:51 > 0:17:55As radical fringe groups filled the vacuum

0:17:55 > 0:17:57created by American political inaction,

0:17:57 > 0:18:00it was perhaps not surprising

0:18:00 > 0:18:03that Pat Mulcahy had been publicly reprimanded

0:18:03 > 0:18:08for daring to include Protestant children in the charity's plans.

0:18:08 > 0:18:12It was maybe 30, 40 people at the meeting,

0:18:12 > 0:18:16and I was so let down because nobody spoke up.

0:18:16 > 0:18:19I took that personal. I took that personal.

0:18:19 > 0:18:21We're talking about children.

0:18:23 > 0:18:27But privately, those same people who were afraid to speak up

0:18:27 > 0:18:29were now having second thoughts.

0:18:31 > 0:18:33The phone started to ring.

0:18:33 > 0:18:37I must've got at least 10 calls from people that were at the meeting,

0:18:37 > 0:18:42that would say, "Send me... Keep a table of tickets for me

0:18:42 > 0:18:46"for the dance. Send me so many raffle tickets."

0:18:46 > 0:18:51And apologising for the way I was treated.

0:18:51 > 0:18:55And I knew this is...

0:18:55 > 0:18:59It's a river that won't be stopped.

0:19:02 > 0:19:06Pat's success in persuading ordinary Americans to donate money

0:19:06 > 0:19:09meant the charity could now bring six kids,

0:19:09 > 0:19:11both Catholics and Protestants,

0:19:11 > 0:19:13out of harm's way for a summer.

0:19:14 > 0:19:16In Greenwood Lake,

0:19:16 > 0:19:20the same families who made up the Gaelic Cultural Society were now

0:19:20 > 0:19:24preparing to open their homes to kids from the streets of Belfast.

0:19:24 > 0:19:28Delivery driver Duke Hoffman and his wife Carol

0:19:28 > 0:19:30were host family number one.

0:19:30 > 0:19:32We were sitting around the table and someone said,

0:19:32 > 0:19:35"Would you take a child?" I said, "I can't see why not.

0:19:35 > 0:19:37"Let me give my wife a call

0:19:37 > 0:19:38"and see what she says about it."

0:19:38 > 0:19:41So I called her up and she says, "What do you want now?"

0:19:41 > 0:19:44And I said, "There's a reason why I'm calling you.

0:19:44 > 0:19:46"The project is going to get started.

0:19:46 > 0:19:52"They want to know if we would host a child from Ireland, Belfast."

0:19:52 > 0:19:55"OK," but she says "on the one stipulation.

0:19:55 > 0:19:59"I want two kids. And they have to be boys." And...

0:19:59 > 0:20:02One can be a Protestant,

0:20:02 > 0:20:04and one can be a Catholic.

0:20:04 > 0:20:08Because I'm Protestant and you're Catholic, and he said OK.

0:20:08 > 0:20:12The Hoffmans' quiet bungalow on the edge of a lake

0:20:12 > 0:20:15in upstate New York would be home for two boys

0:20:15 > 0:20:19from Northern Ireland during the summer of 1975.

0:20:19 > 0:20:22It was a picture postcard image that couldn't have been more

0:20:22 > 0:20:25at odds with the violence engulfing Belfast.

0:20:34 > 0:20:38Dennis Mulcahy was keen to target children who had most to gain

0:20:38 > 0:20:40from a summer holiday in America.

0:20:40 > 0:20:43So he enlisted the help of local school teachers

0:20:43 > 0:20:46to identify potential "project children".

0:20:47 > 0:20:50Well, first of all I taught some of the children,

0:20:50 > 0:20:52and I would have talked to their parents,

0:20:52 > 0:20:54and I suppose I sold the project.

0:20:54 > 0:20:57I said, "Look, your child is going to go to a family in America.

0:20:57 > 0:20:59"They're going to live, have a normal family life.

0:20:59 > 0:21:01"There's not going to be shootings or bombings.

0:21:01 > 0:21:06"For six weeks, you know one of your family is safe."

0:21:09 > 0:21:12Of course, some parents were, "God, no! I wouldn't let my child

0:21:12 > 0:21:16"go to the youth club up the street, never mind go to America."

0:21:16 > 0:21:20You know, some stranger come up to them and ask them, you know,

0:21:20 > 0:21:23"Do you want to be a part of this programme?

0:21:23 > 0:21:26"It involves travelling to America, living with a family,

0:21:26 > 0:21:30"and that family may be Catholic, may be Protestant," you know,

0:21:30 > 0:21:31they weren't sure.

0:21:31 > 0:21:32And they didn't mind.

0:21:34 > 0:21:38You know, when you look back, it was very trusting of people to do it.

0:21:38 > 0:21:42But the tension and the atmosphere of society then,

0:21:42 > 0:21:45people were terrified for their children then

0:21:45 > 0:21:48and they were willing to take the risk.

0:21:49 > 0:21:52I think that set the scene for parents willing to trust us

0:21:52 > 0:21:53to take them to America.

0:21:56 > 0:21:59What did we do with the book? What did I do with the book?

0:21:59 > 0:22:01There it is.

0:22:01 > 0:22:05It's amazing how young some of these kids were.

0:22:05 > 0:22:09We've got some scotch tape on it, keeping it together.

0:22:09 > 0:22:12We brought six kids that first year,

0:22:12 > 0:22:15starting with Kevin Brady, John Cheevers.

0:22:18 > 0:22:24In June 1975, the first Project Children group left for America.

0:22:25 > 0:22:29Nine-year-old Kevin Brady and John Cheevers, 11,

0:22:29 > 0:22:33were young boys from either side of a divided Belfast.

0:22:33 > 0:22:36The first time they'd ever met someone of a different tradition

0:22:36 > 0:22:40was when they met each other on the very first Project Children flight.

0:22:45 > 0:22:49I remember distinctly messing around with the chairs

0:22:49 > 0:22:52because they went back and forth.

0:22:52 > 0:22:55The seat in front kept coming back and forward, the kid in front.

0:22:55 > 0:22:57It seemed to be like a big armchair.

0:22:57 > 0:22:59He was a Catholic in front, his name was Kevin.

0:22:59 > 0:23:01It seemed to be something to have fun with.

0:23:01 > 0:23:03He kept on doing this on purpose.

0:23:03 > 0:23:04I pressed it at the wrong time,

0:23:04 > 0:23:07just as John was getting into his tapioca pudding.

0:23:07 > 0:23:10It went into my face, I was covered in it.

0:23:10 > 0:23:12He wasn't too happy at all.

0:23:12 > 0:23:14I tapped him on the head and he got up.

0:23:14 > 0:23:17He knew where I was from, and I knew he was from, and I said,

0:23:17 > 0:23:20"You've got to stop this with the seat," and he went back and forth,

0:23:20 > 0:23:23we ended up throwing punches at each other and then we were pulled apart.

0:23:27 > 0:23:31Oblivious to the tension developing on the flight,

0:23:31 > 0:23:33Denis and his neighbours from Greenwood Lake

0:23:33 > 0:23:37were eagerly awaiting their young visitors from Belfast.

0:23:38 > 0:23:42Well, there was a lot of anticipation because, again,

0:23:42 > 0:23:44a lot of things go through your mind, you know,

0:23:44 > 0:23:48is the kid going to like your family, will you like the child?

0:23:48 > 0:23:49All of that simple stuff.

0:23:49 > 0:23:51I wasn't nervous.

0:23:51 > 0:23:55I was saying, "Who am I going to get? Who are the two kids?"

0:23:55 > 0:23:58I was looking forward to it because boys are boys,

0:23:58 > 0:24:00same challenges and so forth, and I said,

0:24:00 > 0:24:03"We've got to give these kids a good time."

0:24:04 > 0:24:07For John and Kevin, adversaries on the flight,

0:24:07 > 0:24:11their dream summer in America was getting off to a difficult start.

0:24:11 > 0:24:14We got off the plane, and nobody was really talking.

0:24:14 > 0:24:20I just felt completely lost, and like, "Where am I?"

0:24:20 > 0:24:23So I'm waiting to be introduced, and am standing looking at him,

0:24:23 > 0:24:25thinking, "I hope I don't end up with him."

0:24:25 > 0:24:28The thought just crossed my mind, you know.

0:24:28 > 0:24:32As they were sort of pairing the kids off, I thought to myself,

0:24:32 > 0:24:35"Well, I wonder if I am going to be paired with this fellow."

0:24:35 > 0:24:37I don't think he liked me,

0:24:37 > 0:24:40and I didn't really like him too much either.

0:24:40 > 0:24:41When John and Kevin came in,

0:24:41 > 0:24:44you could see they were a little stand-offish.

0:24:44 > 0:24:46They were Catholic and I'm Protestant,

0:24:46 > 0:24:47and this probably was in their mind,

0:24:47 > 0:24:50and, "I'm not supposed to be talking to you,

0:24:50 > 0:24:52"and you're not supposed to be talking to me."

0:24:52 > 0:24:56All of a sudden, "You two are going to be staying with Carol and Duke."

0:24:56 > 0:24:59I looked at him, and I was like floored.

0:24:59 > 0:25:02I said, "I can't believe this."

0:25:02 > 0:25:05I wasn't really looking at him, I was just thinking,

0:25:05 > 0:25:08"Oh, my God, I'm going to have to spend six weeks with this guy."

0:25:10 > 0:25:14Imagine a Catholic and a Protestant boy coming and they have

0:25:14 > 0:25:17a fight on the aeroplane, and then they come into our house.

0:25:17 > 0:25:19How is that going to blend in?

0:25:21 > 0:25:26We ended up in a limousine together, and I was transfixed, looking out.

0:25:26 > 0:25:29You could see the Manhattan skyline and stuff.

0:25:30 > 0:25:34I'll never forget, we're coming over the big bridge,

0:25:34 > 0:25:37and everything I had eaten on the plane

0:25:37 > 0:25:39decided to come up at that one time.

0:25:39 > 0:25:42And I threw up in the back of a limousine.

0:25:42 > 0:25:45Slapping my knee, "I'm glad it happened to you", you know.

0:25:45 > 0:25:48"Come on, you're making a fool out of yourself." I'm not being sick.

0:25:48 > 0:25:52I was watching the Manhattan skyline and he's throwing up.

0:25:55 > 0:25:58Project Children thought bringing kids out of Northern Ireland

0:25:58 > 0:26:02would help ease the tension they were experiencing at home.

0:26:02 > 0:26:03But, for John and Kevin,

0:26:03 > 0:26:07moving into their new American home was only making things worse.

0:26:09 > 0:26:12To share the same room as a Catholic,

0:26:12 > 0:26:14share the same bedroom, you know.

0:26:14 > 0:26:18I'm not walking around in my underwear in front of

0:26:18 > 0:26:20a Catholic, do you know what I mean?

0:26:20 > 0:26:22I was... I could not fathom it.

0:26:22 > 0:26:24It was kind of like, I guess I was in a state of shock.

0:26:26 > 0:26:29So we started unpacking our suitcases, and my thought was,

0:26:29 > 0:26:32"OK, well, I'm going to be sharing a room with an alien

0:26:32 > 0:26:34"because I don't know this guy."

0:26:34 > 0:26:35He may as well be from Mars,

0:26:35 > 0:26:39as much interaction as we may have had in Belfast.

0:26:39 > 0:26:41There was tension in the bedroom, there definitely was.

0:26:41 > 0:26:43You could cut it with a knife.

0:26:43 > 0:26:45Will the six weeks make a difference?

0:26:45 > 0:26:48At Greenwood Lake, they hope it will.

0:26:48 > 0:26:50- John, who's your buddy here?- Kevin.

0:26:50 > 0:26:53- Is he a buddy from back home?- No.

0:26:53 > 0:26:57- No?- I don't see him much.- Why don't you see your buddy back home?

0:26:57 > 0:26:59Because he lives...

0:26:59 > 0:27:03I'm a Protestant and he's a Catholic, you live in areas.

0:27:03 > 0:27:05- You don't live next to each other. - Yes.

0:27:05 > 0:27:09- Well, are you afraid sometimes at home?- Sometimes.- Why?

0:27:09 > 0:27:13In case you get beaten up, something like that.

0:27:13 > 0:27:15Yeah. And what else can happen?

0:27:17 > 0:27:20- Anything else you can think of? - Get shot, things like that.

0:27:22 > 0:27:27I was born in a wee house, 17 Ballymena Street, Oldpark Road.

0:27:31 > 0:27:34When I was a wee boy, a lot of riots started.

0:27:34 > 0:27:36Protestants and Catholics

0:27:36 > 0:27:39used to fight at the bottom of my street every night.

0:27:40 > 0:27:45Just rioting, violence, vigilantes, seeing people getting beat up.

0:27:45 > 0:27:48Watching the paramilitaries march through the streets.

0:27:48 > 0:27:50Quick march!

0:27:54 > 0:27:55It was crazy.

0:27:55 > 0:27:58I mean, we used to have the bottom and the top of my street

0:27:58 > 0:28:02cordoned off with barbed wire and these things they pulled across.

0:28:02 > 0:28:05It was horrible. Like a no-man's-land, and all bricked up.

0:28:05 > 0:28:07There must've been a couple of hundred houses in the street,

0:28:07 > 0:28:10and there was only like probably 15 or 20 people living in the street.

0:28:10 > 0:28:12That was just life.

0:28:13 > 0:28:17Every day, you know, when are you going to be attacked?

0:28:17 > 0:28:19EXPLOSION

0:28:19 > 0:28:22It's just, you shouldn't go back to the bloody place.

0:28:22 > 0:28:25Because in Ireland, if I talk to a Protestant

0:28:25 > 0:28:27and some Catholic boy sees me, they might beat me up.

0:28:30 > 0:28:33I grew up in the New Lodge Road area of Belfast.

0:28:33 > 0:28:36I think my first memory was getting up in the middle of the night

0:28:36 > 0:28:39because I had a headache, and my mum,

0:28:39 > 0:28:43she gave me a little pill, and I was getting a glass of water,

0:28:43 > 0:28:47and looking out of that window and seeing about four different

0:28:47 > 0:28:54major fires going off at the same time that had been started by bombs.

0:28:57 > 0:29:00I remember my mum being very, very protective of us,

0:29:00 > 0:29:03trying to keep us inside the house as much as possible.

0:29:03 > 0:29:06But, I mean that was impossible, basically.

0:29:08 > 0:29:10We had gunfire.

0:29:10 > 0:29:15We had guys in tanks, and Saracens, there was just a war going on.

0:29:16 > 0:29:18GUNFIRE RESONATES

0:29:18 > 0:29:20I was very young.

0:29:20 > 0:29:25I remember participating in riots where people were killed,

0:29:25 > 0:29:29where people were maimed, and people were badly, badly injured.

0:29:33 > 0:29:36I was very lucky that nothing ever happened to me.

0:29:36 > 0:29:41In the American suburbs of 1975, the Hoffmans had no time

0:29:41 > 0:29:44for divisions created by the violence in Northern Ireland.

0:29:44 > 0:29:48I said, "You're not in Belfast. You are here in America.

0:29:48 > 0:29:50"You are in my house and I'm a Catholic,

0:29:50 > 0:29:53"and I love you just as much as I love Kevin.

0:29:53 > 0:29:54"And Carol does the same thing -

0:29:54 > 0:29:57"she loves Kevin as much as she loves you.

0:29:57 > 0:30:01"Your faith has no bearing on it. We are all one in this household."

0:30:07 > 0:30:10Ironically, it was confrontation that made them question

0:30:10 > 0:30:13their suspicions of each other.

0:30:13 > 0:30:15The reason that I wanted the two boys

0:30:15 > 0:30:19is because my best friend at the time was living next door,

0:30:19 > 0:30:20and she had two boys.

0:30:22 > 0:30:24Walt and Philip lived next door,

0:30:24 > 0:30:27and they called us Uncle Duke, Aunt Carol.

0:30:29 > 0:30:31Duke was like a surrogate father to us,

0:30:31 > 0:30:34and Carol like a surrogate Mom, you know?

0:30:34 > 0:30:36It was really an excellent relationship,

0:30:36 > 0:30:38they took real good care of us.

0:30:41 > 0:30:45Duke took them everywhere. Took them camping and stuff,

0:30:45 > 0:30:47and...so, we came, they were kind of cut out of the picture,

0:30:47 > 0:30:49we were getting all the attention.

0:30:50 > 0:30:52And when they got here,

0:30:52 > 0:30:55we started to see that they started to invest more time

0:30:55 > 0:30:56in John and Kevin.

0:30:56 > 0:30:59Can't say we were crazy about it, you know?!

0:30:59 > 0:31:00At first they liked us,

0:31:00 > 0:31:02they were OK for the first day or so,

0:31:02 > 0:31:04and they started getting jealous.

0:31:04 > 0:31:06Hey, how would you feel?

0:31:06 > 0:31:09You come into a house and I'm your best pal,

0:31:09 > 0:31:11and all of a sudden I'm sitting with the other kid, here,

0:31:11 > 0:31:13talking to him and forgetting about you.

0:31:13 > 0:31:15You wouldn't like it, neither.

0:31:18 > 0:31:22The only exposure we had had at the time to Irish accents

0:31:22 > 0:31:25- was the Lucky Charms leprechaun. - Yeah.- You know?

0:31:25 > 0:31:28And he spoke clearly enough in the commercials

0:31:28 > 0:31:29that we could understand it.

0:31:32 > 0:31:36Even the way he said "Kevin". Like, "Come on, Kavin."

0:31:36 > 0:31:38- Like, "Kavin" - it's not...- Kavin.

0:31:38 > 0:31:42It's Kevin, for us, it's not Kavin, John, it's Kevin.

0:31:43 > 0:31:45"Catch yourself oan, Kavin."

0:31:45 > 0:31:46Kavin, it was Kavin.

0:31:46 > 0:31:48"Catch yourself oan, Kavin."

0:31:50 > 0:31:54Kevin, he talked fast. He would - "Sorry, what you say?"

0:31:54 > 0:31:56The other guys, they would laugh. "What is he saying?"

0:31:56 > 0:32:00I said, "You shouldn't laugh, cos they're going to resent that."

0:32:03 > 0:32:07So, we'd had enough, and I stood up for Kevin outside the front door.

0:32:07 > 0:32:08Walt and I were going to get into it,

0:32:08 > 0:32:09and he was a lot bigger than me -

0:32:09 > 0:32:13but then Duke came out, and Duke seen what was going on.

0:32:13 > 0:32:16"I don't want you fighting any more. It's a done deal, it's over."

0:32:16 > 0:32:17Duke put an end to it,

0:32:17 > 0:32:20but that thing of us having to...

0:32:20 > 0:32:23I'm sticking up for a Catholic kid and he's sticking up for me,

0:32:23 > 0:32:25and looking out for one another.

0:32:25 > 0:32:28It definitely drew us together.

0:32:28 > 0:32:31So, we kind of united a little bit,

0:32:31 > 0:32:37because we were both the aliens in a strange place.

0:32:37 > 0:32:40MUSIC: Do Anything You Wanna Do by Eddie & The Hot Rods

0:32:40 > 0:32:44After their rocky start, Kevin and John put their differences aside

0:32:44 > 0:32:47to enjoy a sun-drenched summer in New York.

0:32:49 > 0:32:52# Gonna break out of the city... #

0:32:52 > 0:32:55Played baseball and played soccer - we've done everything.

0:32:55 > 0:32:58# Searching for adventure.... #

0:33:00 > 0:33:03We swam together, ran together, ate breakfast together -

0:33:03 > 0:33:06breakfast, lunch and dinner - we did everything together.

0:33:07 > 0:33:09It was like a six-week adventure.

0:33:11 > 0:33:13We got to go to the Statue Of Liberty.

0:33:13 > 0:33:15It just took my breath away.

0:33:15 > 0:33:18# Why don't you ask them... #

0:33:18 > 0:33:21Being able to eat outside, here, on a picnic table.

0:33:21 > 0:33:22Eating pizza.

0:33:22 > 0:33:26I remember the first time - it was a Tuesday, and she was making chicken.

0:33:26 > 0:33:29And I was shocked. I mean, chicken on a Tuesday!

0:33:29 > 0:33:31That was something we had on a Sunday.

0:33:33 > 0:33:36It was just a completely different experience.

0:33:36 > 0:33:38It definitely... It changed me.

0:33:40 > 0:33:43The kind of conflict taking place in Northern Ireland,

0:33:43 > 0:33:48part of that conflict was based on not knowing who the other side was.

0:33:48 > 0:33:50Demonising them.

0:33:50 > 0:33:52Well, it was very hard to demonise John Cheevers

0:33:52 > 0:33:54after I spent six weeks with him.

0:34:01 > 0:34:04The modest success of that first summer convinced Denis

0:34:04 > 0:34:06of the benefit of his idea,

0:34:06 > 0:34:09and he was now keen to expand the ambition of the charity.

0:34:11 > 0:34:15So, in 1976, we increased our numbers to 21,

0:34:15 > 0:34:17which was a big jump from six.

0:34:19 > 0:34:23In '77 we did close to 100 kids.

0:34:23 > 0:34:27Then we expanded out to Monroe, which is our next town.

0:34:27 > 0:34:29You know, up to Middletown.

0:34:29 > 0:34:32Then across the river to Poughkeepsie.

0:34:34 > 0:34:36The organisation was starting to grow,

0:34:36 > 0:34:38bringing more and more children.

0:34:40 > 0:34:41Looking back at it now,

0:34:41 > 0:34:43it sure did take a life of its own,

0:34:43 > 0:34:47but back in them days, you just went from day to day and year to year.

0:34:47 > 0:34:50You didn't really give it too much thought.

0:34:51 > 0:34:53This year-on-year expansion

0:34:53 > 0:34:56meant children from all across Northern Ireland

0:34:56 > 0:34:58were getting the chance to enjoy a peaceful

0:34:58 > 0:35:01summer in the American suburbs -

0:35:01 > 0:35:03but it was an experience that began

0:35:03 > 0:35:05before they had even left home.

0:35:11 > 0:35:15My only experience of aeroplanes was what I saw on television.

0:35:15 > 0:35:18It tended to be people like businessmen with briefcases

0:35:18 > 0:35:20or, as I thought of them then, attache cases.

0:35:22 > 0:35:24So, when I was getting ready to go,

0:35:24 > 0:35:25I insisted, you know,

0:35:25 > 0:35:28that I had to be dressed properly to be on this plane.

0:35:28 > 0:35:30It's a very serious thing, a very formal thing,

0:35:30 > 0:35:31getting onto this plane.

0:35:31 > 0:35:33I've got to look the part.

0:35:33 > 0:35:34So, we went out shopping,

0:35:34 > 0:35:37and I asked for the most American-looking suit

0:35:37 > 0:35:39that you could possibly find.

0:35:41 > 0:35:44And I also got myself an attache case.

0:35:44 > 0:35:45Now, there wasn't anything in it,

0:35:45 > 0:35:48but it just seemed to go with the suit.

0:35:48 > 0:35:50Cos you just don't know when you need an attache case, right?

0:35:54 > 0:35:57I was nine year old, I couldn't wait to go.

0:35:57 > 0:36:00I just thought, "Jeez, America, six weeks, during the summer."

0:36:00 > 0:36:02I can remember getting my jeans and my tops

0:36:02 > 0:36:04and all my clothes

0:36:04 > 0:36:06for going away to America.

0:36:08 > 0:36:11Every child there was dressed in their Sunday best.

0:36:11 > 0:36:14Everybody was well groomed

0:36:14 > 0:36:17and looking neat and tidy.

0:36:18 > 0:36:22And you'd see this particular flight number, and you just said,

0:36:22 > 0:36:24"Memo to self, bed early the night before,"

0:36:24 > 0:36:27because you needed to be in the whole of your health

0:36:27 > 0:36:29when you were doing that flight,

0:36:29 > 0:36:32because these kids ran you up - it was a workout.

0:36:32 > 0:36:34CHILDREN CHATTER AND SHOUT

0:36:34 > 0:36:39The first hour or two of that flight was chaotic.

0:36:39 > 0:36:42Their attention span, like any child, you know -

0:36:42 > 0:36:44you can amuse them for five minutes,

0:36:44 > 0:36:47and then it was like, "Miss, Miss!"

0:36:47 > 0:36:50and it was, "Coke, coke!" and, "What's this, Miss?"

0:36:50 > 0:36:53and every button was pushed, and seats were flying back.

0:36:54 > 0:36:57If I could have your very special attention...

0:37:00 > 0:37:02Everybody had to go to the bathroom,

0:37:02 > 0:37:03because everybody just had to see

0:37:03 > 0:37:05what the bathroom on a plane looked like.

0:37:05 > 0:37:07They murdered the call bells.

0:37:10 > 0:37:14You can't actually get more neutral than flying in a plane,

0:37:14 > 0:37:19and we were united just in a common experience that was forward-looking,

0:37:19 > 0:37:22that was all about the summer that we were about to have.

0:37:24 > 0:37:27And I remember everybody trying to press themselves

0:37:27 > 0:37:31up against the window to get their first glimpse of America.

0:37:31 > 0:37:33I'm surprised the plane didn't tilt over!

0:37:34 > 0:37:37Over 400 children from areas of Northern Ireland

0:37:37 > 0:37:39most affected by the violence

0:37:39 > 0:37:42arrived in America last night for an extended holiday.

0:37:46 > 0:37:48And they'd get to New York,

0:37:48 > 0:37:51and, of course, everything was so strange.

0:37:55 > 0:37:58And as soon as the door opened, hearing bagpipes,

0:37:58 > 0:38:03and just this huge giant of a man leading this mass band of bagpipers.

0:38:07 > 0:38:10And so, when we landed, we had come to another world.

0:38:10 > 0:38:15We'd left all of that behind, and we didn't know what we were going to -

0:38:15 > 0:38:17but it was really exciting.

0:38:19 > 0:38:21I'd only seen America on TV.

0:38:21 > 0:38:25You know, I knew about skyscrapers and the Big Apple

0:38:25 > 0:38:29and, you know, the Cosby Show and ET, and, you know, I...

0:38:29 > 0:38:31What I knew about America was Hollywood, really.

0:38:31 > 0:38:33- REPORTER:- For three hours before the children arrived

0:38:33 > 0:38:35at New York's Kennedy Airport,

0:38:35 > 0:38:37the temporary foster parents were waiting.

0:38:37 > 0:38:41Some had Irish connections, but many were just ordinary Americans

0:38:41 > 0:38:44who had heard about life in the tougher areas

0:38:44 > 0:38:45of Belfast and Londonderry

0:38:45 > 0:38:48and, in their words, wanted to give the kids a break.

0:38:48 > 0:38:50We're going to let her unwind a bit.

0:38:50 > 0:38:53The pool, the beach, the Statue of Liberty, the Circle Line tour

0:38:53 > 0:38:56of Manhattan, horseback riding - you know, the works.

0:38:56 > 0:38:59I want her to go back a very, very happy little girl.

0:38:59 > 0:39:00They'll get away from the way they live,

0:39:00 > 0:39:04and get a chance to see that not every place is like that.

0:39:04 > 0:39:07I think one of the best things is to treat them like your own children -

0:39:07 > 0:39:10people who maybe fuss about them too much at the beginning

0:39:10 > 0:39:12may run into little problems - or spoil them at the beginning.

0:39:12 > 0:39:13I think the big thing is,

0:39:13 > 0:39:16you take them into your home and you treat them just like your own.

0:39:27 > 0:39:33This is at the Kennedy Airport, New York City, 1981,

0:39:33 > 0:39:39and our child there is number 33, Seamus Morris,

0:39:39 > 0:39:42and then behind him is my wife, Nancy.

0:39:44 > 0:39:48In 1981, Seamus Morris arrived.

0:39:48 > 0:39:51Seamus was very friendly,

0:39:51 > 0:39:56very outgoing, and very active.

0:39:56 > 0:40:01Liked to play sports, soccer - anything he played at, he excelled.

0:40:04 > 0:40:06Now, this is Seamus.

0:40:06 > 0:40:08You can see he's a pretty good diver.

0:40:08 > 0:40:11He gets at least 8.5!

0:40:11 > 0:40:13Nice pool in the background.

0:40:13 > 0:40:15The pool's been around for about 40 years now.

0:40:21 > 0:40:22This was it.

0:40:23 > 0:40:25This was the place.

0:40:25 > 0:40:31This was where we'd come, where Seamus would come,

0:40:31 > 0:40:34and spend our days here.

0:40:34 > 0:40:36Spend the entire summer here.

0:40:36 > 0:40:38And it was awesome.

0:40:38 > 0:40:41He was a friend, and more than that,

0:40:41 > 0:40:43looking back on it,

0:40:43 > 0:40:45he was like another brother to me.

0:40:48 > 0:40:52I'll always remember my time in America. Just everything about it.

0:40:52 > 0:40:54You know, things were tough,

0:40:54 > 0:40:58and to get to go on a plane for the first time,

0:40:58 > 0:41:00and to be heading to America,

0:41:00 > 0:41:03it was just something else.

0:41:03 > 0:41:07And it was just a world away from Ardoyne.

0:41:09 > 0:41:12Conor Morris, Seamus' younger brother,

0:41:12 > 0:41:14was also a Project Children child.

0:41:16 > 0:41:17So, this is where it happened.

0:41:17 > 0:41:19Just down here.

0:41:20 > 0:41:25The car was driving down, er...

0:41:25 > 0:41:29this street. We were coming out of the wee shop here, and...

0:41:31 > 0:41:36..the car slowed, and we had to stop to let the car go by,

0:41:36 > 0:41:41and all I heard was the rattle.

0:41:43 > 0:41:45Er...

0:41:45 > 0:41:46And this is the plaque.

0:41:49 > 0:41:52- ARCHIVE REPORTER:- The shooting happened shortly before noon.

0:41:52 > 0:41:56A car drew up in a Catholic area of northwest Belfast.

0:41:56 > 0:42:00Eyewitnesses said a number of men got out of the car wearing masks.

0:42:00 > 0:42:02There were two bursts of automatic fire

0:42:02 > 0:42:05aimed at a group of people standing on the pavement.

0:42:05 > 0:42:07A 17-year-old youth died immediately.

0:42:08 > 0:42:11A beer lorry attempted to ram the gunmen's car.

0:42:11 > 0:42:14One of the men in the cab was shot, and died later in hospital.

0:42:14 > 0:42:17At first, I didn't realise what it was.

0:42:17 > 0:42:19It was the rattle of gunfire.

0:42:19 > 0:42:23I'd got my head down and bolted.

0:42:23 > 0:42:24I turned back to see...

0:42:26 > 0:42:28..had Seamus got away?

0:42:28 > 0:42:30Well.

0:42:30 > 0:42:32Unfortunately, he didn't.

0:42:33 > 0:42:39I ran over to him and I knew straight away that he was dead.

0:42:39 > 0:42:41The blood pumping out the back of his head.

0:42:46 > 0:42:48Conor and Seamus were best friends.

0:42:48 > 0:42:51They just weren't brothers, they were best friends.

0:42:51 > 0:42:52Done everything together.

0:42:52 > 0:42:55Played Gaelic together, played pool together every day.

0:42:55 > 0:42:58You know, where one was, the other one was.

0:42:58 > 0:43:00Best friends.

0:43:00 > 0:43:02Um...

0:43:02 > 0:43:03Tough on Conor.

0:43:10 > 0:43:13I had to leave him and go up and tell my mother.

0:43:13 > 0:43:16I had to tell her that Seamus was dead.

0:43:21 > 0:43:23Mummy was devastated.

0:43:23 > 0:43:26Seamus was Mummy's wee blue eye.

0:43:26 > 0:43:28She loved him.

0:43:28 > 0:43:31He was her oldest son, you can imagine.

0:43:31 > 0:43:34I'm not saying she had any favourites,

0:43:34 > 0:43:37but obviously he was her first child, and, you know,

0:43:37 > 0:43:39she knew he was going places, and...

0:43:41 > 0:43:43She was just devastated.

0:43:48 > 0:43:50I was home, and the phone rang,

0:43:50 > 0:43:57and I picked up, and it happened to be the aunt of Seamus Morris,

0:43:57 > 0:44:01and she told me point-blankly

0:44:01 > 0:44:04that Seamus had been killed in the streets of Belfast.

0:44:06 > 0:44:10My mother wasn't home, so I had to wait for her to arrive,

0:44:10 > 0:44:14and when she did, I told her that Seamus had been killed.

0:44:17 > 0:44:22Peter told me, and I broke down.

0:44:22 > 0:44:26Peter will tell you, I collapsed.

0:44:26 > 0:44:28I was heartbroken.

0:44:39 > 0:44:42She took the news very hard.

0:44:42 > 0:44:45She pretty much immediately collapsed.

0:44:45 > 0:44:49She... She cried. She broke down...

0:44:52 > 0:44:56..and she became hysterical.

0:45:00 > 0:45:03I had never seen my mother react to anything like that before.

0:45:03 > 0:45:07It was... It really felt like she had lost her own child.

0:45:09 > 0:45:11Because I felt...

0:45:12 > 0:45:14..if we had taken them...

0:45:17 > 0:45:19..in...

0:45:19 > 0:45:22he wouldn't have been killed.

0:45:23 > 0:45:27But you did so much for him, Nancy, at the same time, didn't you?

0:45:28 > 0:45:30I thought we did.

0:45:32 > 0:45:35- JIM:- We took it very hard.

0:45:35 > 0:45:42It just...was mind-boggling that something like this could happen.

0:45:42 > 0:45:45I didn't understand it. I really didn't.

0:45:46 > 0:45:53I couldn't understand why someone would kill a...a boy.

0:45:53 > 0:45:56Cos, to me, he was still a boy.

0:45:56 > 0:45:58And why would they kill him?

0:45:58 > 0:46:00I didn't understand that.

0:46:02 > 0:46:04Didn't make any sense.

0:46:10 > 0:46:13Looking at the Troubles, you know,

0:46:13 > 0:46:14what was going on in Northern Ireland,

0:46:14 > 0:46:19and the number of people that were getting hurt and killed at the time,

0:46:19 > 0:46:22I know that by just bringing the kids out of there,

0:46:22 > 0:46:24that we saved a lot of kids' lives.

0:46:24 > 0:46:28However, we didn't save everybody.

0:46:28 > 0:46:31We did lose a number of kids after returning.

0:46:33 > 0:46:35You can't save everyone, Denis, you know? You can't.

0:46:35 > 0:46:38No, but you try. You try.

0:46:40 > 0:46:42These six weeks have been so great...

0:46:43 > 0:46:46But tomorrow, Sunday, is going home day -

0:46:46 > 0:46:50and then, back to Belfast, and the Troubles.

0:46:50 > 0:46:53Bombing, shooting, endless death.

0:46:53 > 0:46:56Jim Van Sickle, NewsCenter 4.

0:47:01 > 0:47:05Sending those first children back home in 1975,

0:47:05 > 0:47:07having treated them as one of the family,

0:47:07 > 0:47:11was an emotional experience for their American parents.

0:47:11 > 0:47:14As Seamus Morris' murder would ultimately prove,

0:47:14 > 0:47:17Northern Ireland was not a safe place.

0:47:20 > 0:47:22Carol and Duke took us to the airport,

0:47:22 > 0:47:25there was...tearful goodbyes.

0:47:25 > 0:47:29Carol and Duke were crying, they were really sad to see us go.

0:47:29 > 0:47:31I was sad, you know?

0:47:31 > 0:47:33I think I might have shed a couple of tears myself.

0:47:33 > 0:47:35We were heading home.

0:47:39 > 0:47:43Taking the kids back to the airport was tough,

0:47:43 > 0:47:47and when they went home, it tore us apart.

0:47:50 > 0:47:52Hey, when they kids came over here...

0:47:55 > 0:47:56- VOICE BREAKS:- I get emotional!

0:47:56 > 0:47:59But when these kids came over here...

0:47:59 > 0:48:02that was our family. We started a family.

0:48:02 > 0:48:03And I treasure that.

0:48:04 > 0:48:07And bringing them back to the airport...

0:48:08 > 0:48:12Just seeing people cry, I was the biggest crier there.

0:48:12 > 0:48:13And you want to know something?

0:48:13 > 0:48:16It was emotional, very emotional, to let them go.

0:48:16 > 0:48:20I knew they had to go, cos they had family...

0:48:20 > 0:48:24but when they came here, we had two children.

0:48:27 > 0:48:30Still the Troubles were ongoing.

0:48:30 > 0:48:32It was kind of tough,

0:48:32 > 0:48:35where you're leaving go of that young person

0:48:35 > 0:48:37that you had all summer,

0:48:37 > 0:48:40and you weren't sure what you were sending them back to.

0:48:40 > 0:48:44So, that was... You know, it was quite emotional, at the airport.

0:48:48 > 0:48:51The kids got very close to each other while they were here,

0:48:51 > 0:48:54and I guess, going through their mind, also,

0:48:54 > 0:48:56was, when they got home,

0:48:56 > 0:48:59would they ever have an opportunity to see each other?

0:49:00 > 0:49:03I spoke to them, I said, "Will you guys communicate back...?"

0:49:03 > 0:49:06"No." Kevin would say, "No, no.

0:49:06 > 0:49:09"They'll beat me up if they found out I was talking to John.

0:49:09 > 0:49:10"That's a no-no."

0:49:10 > 0:49:13He says, "No," and John says, "It can't, it won't happen."

0:49:17 > 0:49:21And then we're on the plane, and we're back home,

0:49:21 > 0:49:24and the weirdest part was when Kevin and I said goodbye.

0:49:24 > 0:49:28Both of us knew at that time that this was it.

0:49:28 > 0:49:31I turned, and... He turned and walked away, and I walked away.

0:49:35 > 0:49:39So, even though we were very close together geographically,

0:49:39 > 0:49:42I mean, he may as well have lived in South Africa,

0:49:42 > 0:49:44for as many times as I was going to see him.

0:49:44 > 0:49:47It seemed a little bit cruel at the time,

0:49:47 > 0:49:49that we could not remain friends -

0:49:49 > 0:49:50but that was the reality.

0:49:50 > 0:49:52There was nothing you could do about it.

0:49:52 > 0:49:56And I was nine years old, so...

0:49:56 > 0:49:59Nothing was going to change because a nine-year-old wanted it to change.

0:49:59 > 0:50:02MUSIC: Suspect Device by Stiff Little Fingers

0:50:05 > 0:50:07# Inflammable material is planted in my head

0:50:07 > 0:50:10# It's a suspect device that's left 2,000 dead

0:50:10 > 0:50:13# Their solutions are our problems

0:50:13 > 0:50:15# They put up the wall

0:50:15 > 0:50:17# On each side time and prime us

0:50:17 > 0:50:20# And make sure we get ... all #

0:50:22 > 0:50:26By the early 1980s, the Troubles had been raging for over ten years,

0:50:26 > 0:50:29and were reaching a new critical phase.

0:50:31 > 0:50:33# They deal us to the bottom

0:50:33 > 0:50:35# But what do they put back? #

0:50:35 > 0:50:38And by the grace of God,

0:50:38 > 0:50:40nobody will silence me!

0:50:40 > 0:50:41# Don't believe them

0:50:41 > 0:50:43# Don't believe them

0:50:43 > 0:50:44# Don't be bitten twice

0:50:44 > 0:50:49# You gotta suss, suss, suss, suss suss, suss, suspect device

0:50:49 > 0:50:53# We're a suspect device if we do what we're told... #

0:50:53 > 0:50:55The story of ten Republican prisoners

0:50:55 > 0:50:57starving themselves to death

0:50:57 > 0:51:01was focusing international news headlines on the hunger strikes.

0:51:01 > 0:51:04# We're gonna blow up in their face! #

0:51:07 > 0:51:09Stand by in 12.

0:51:09 > 0:51:12In three, two, one... Music, mic, cue it.

0:51:16 > 0:51:188:16 right now.

0:51:18 > 0:51:20Fighting and violence have been a way of life

0:51:20 > 0:51:22in Northern Ireland for many years now.

0:51:22 > 0:51:23The issues are complicated...

0:51:23 > 0:51:25As Project Children expanded,

0:51:25 > 0:51:28the kids who had arrived in America for a holiday

0:51:28 > 0:51:31were now finding themselves part of the daily news cycle.

0:51:31 > 0:51:33All around America, people wanted to know,

0:51:33 > 0:51:35"Why are these children here, and who are they?

0:51:35 > 0:51:37"Where are they from, and what's the story?"

0:51:37 > 0:51:38And children loved it.

0:51:38 > 0:51:42Bernadette McDonnell and Keith Dixon are two of the 160 children

0:51:42 > 0:51:44who arrived from Belfast last week.

0:51:44 > 0:51:47Good Morning America was the biggest breakfast programme in America -

0:51:47 > 0:51:49and to think, we were going to be on that!

0:51:49 > 0:51:52They were going to talk about Project Children. Happy days!

0:51:52 > 0:51:53It meant the whole of America

0:51:53 > 0:51:56was seeing our programme for what it was,

0:51:56 > 0:51:57and we were delighted with that.

0:51:57 > 0:52:00But the charity that had always steered clear

0:52:00 > 0:52:02of taking a political line on the violence

0:52:02 > 0:52:07unwittingly found themselves at the centre of international controversy.

0:52:07 > 0:52:11- Now, your dad, I think we should, your dad is in prison, right?- Yes.

0:52:11 > 0:52:13- And he is also one of the hunger strikers, isn't he?- Yes.

0:52:13 > 0:52:15They wanted to know what was happening in Ireland,

0:52:15 > 0:52:18and what was happening with the hunger strike,

0:52:18 > 0:52:22and why my daddy was doing what he'd done, and how did I feel.

0:52:22 > 0:52:24Bernadette's father, Joe McDonnell,

0:52:24 > 0:52:27was the fifth Republican prisoner

0:52:27 > 0:52:32to protest his treatment in the Maze prison by going on hunger strike.

0:52:32 > 0:52:35The Republicans were demanding status as political prisoners,

0:52:35 > 0:52:37but these demands were repeatedly rejected

0:52:37 > 0:52:41by then-British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

0:52:41 > 0:52:45Crime is crime is crime. It is not political, it is crime.

0:52:45 > 0:52:48Can anybody help the situation, do you think, in Northern Ireland?

0:52:48 > 0:52:54Well, if the people of America would write to President Reagan,

0:52:54 > 0:52:57he might phone Mrs Thatcher,

0:52:57 > 0:53:01and then the pressure would be put on Mrs Thatcher,

0:53:01 > 0:53:03and she will have to do something.

0:53:05 > 0:53:08Young Bernadette's seemingly innocent response

0:53:08 > 0:53:12left Project Children open to accusations of political bias.

0:53:13 > 0:53:15It looked like it was political,

0:53:15 > 0:53:18it looked like we were putting that child up - and we weren't.

0:53:18 > 0:53:21Project Children wasn't political. It didn't want to be political -

0:53:21 > 0:53:23but when you consider the children that we were taking

0:53:23 > 0:53:24came from political backgrounds,

0:53:24 > 0:53:27and those children brought that baggage with them.

0:53:30 > 0:53:32I didn't think it was going to cause any trouble,

0:53:32 > 0:53:36or, you know, papers would have picked it up different,

0:53:36 > 0:53:38or put headlines to things -

0:53:38 > 0:53:42it was just me telling them ones what was happening to my family.

0:53:45 > 0:53:49After 61 days on hunger strike, Joe McDonnell died,

0:53:49 > 0:53:53and Bernadette's American holiday was cut short.

0:53:53 > 0:53:56Ten men would ultimately starve themselves to death

0:53:56 > 0:53:58inside the Maze prison.

0:53:58 > 0:54:02The Northern Irish situation remained as intractable as ever.

0:54:06 > 0:54:08The key to understanding the relationship

0:54:08 > 0:54:11between Britain and America through the 1980s

0:54:11 > 0:54:15was the relationship between Mrs Thatcher and Ronald Reagan.

0:54:15 > 0:54:18That relationship was extremely close on personal terms,

0:54:18 > 0:54:19but also on political terms, too,

0:54:19 > 0:54:23because they were both conservative, right wing ideologues,

0:54:23 > 0:54:27so, there was no chance of any political progress

0:54:27 > 0:54:30as long as Mrs Thatcher was in Downing Street

0:54:30 > 0:54:33and Ronald Reagan was in the White House.

0:54:36 > 0:54:38With seemingly no end to the violence,

0:54:38 > 0:54:42more and more American families signed up as Project Children hosts,

0:54:42 > 0:54:45meaning that the charity was now spreading far beyond

0:54:45 > 0:54:48its heartland of New York and New Jersey.

0:54:50 > 0:54:53Its arrival in Washington DC, the American capital,

0:54:53 > 0:54:55would mark the beginning of a process

0:54:55 > 0:54:57that would see it directly influence

0:54:57 > 0:54:59the political situation in Northern Ireland.

0:55:01 > 0:55:04A friend of ours in New York had read about Denis

0:55:04 > 0:55:06and Project Children in a New York newspaper,

0:55:06 > 0:55:08so, we took a couple of boys -

0:55:08 > 0:55:10one Protestant, one Catholic -

0:55:10 > 0:55:11for one summer,

0:55:11 > 0:55:15and then, by that time, friends had begun to notice,

0:55:15 > 0:55:18and were inquiring about, you know, "How do you do this?"

0:55:18 > 0:55:19and so, before you know it,

0:55:19 > 0:55:24I found myself on the phone with Denis, saying, you know,

0:55:24 > 0:55:27"We think we've got a potential group of host families here."

0:55:27 > 0:55:29I'm Carol Wheeler.

0:55:29 > 0:55:32Every summer, like hundreds of families around the country,

0:55:32 > 0:55:35my husband and I welcome one or two children from Northern Ireland

0:55:35 > 0:55:37into our home for a six-week visit.

0:55:37 > 0:55:41In 1988 I was invited to a fundraiser,

0:55:41 > 0:55:44and a neighbour, who knew Carol Wheeler,

0:55:44 > 0:55:46invited - we all went together,

0:55:46 > 0:55:49I think it was the second fundraiser

0:55:49 > 0:55:51for Project Children in Washington.

0:55:51 > 0:55:53Carol Wheeler and her husband, Tom,

0:55:53 > 0:55:57a couple well known in Washington political circles,

0:55:57 > 0:56:00spearheaded the effort to nourish Project Children

0:56:00 > 0:56:03in the shadow of Capitol Hill and the White House itself.

0:56:04 > 0:56:07It's fair to say that our house sort of became the focal point

0:56:07 > 0:56:11of getting Project Children launched in DC,

0:56:11 > 0:56:14and as we tried to shake the trees and find the money

0:56:14 > 0:56:17to support the Project Children programme here,

0:56:17 > 0:56:20I think it really is safe to say that a lot more people in Washington

0:56:20 > 0:56:23became much more aware of what was going on in Northern Ireland.

0:56:26 > 0:56:28I think that's why Project Children was so compelling,

0:56:28 > 0:56:32because you heard the story about how it was affecting young children.

0:56:34 > 0:56:38The Washington DC host families made sure those compelling stories

0:56:38 > 0:56:42were heard by as many people as possible in the corridors of power.

0:56:42 > 0:56:45What do tourists do when they come to Washington?

0:56:45 > 0:56:47You want to go to the Capitol, so we thought,

0:56:47 > 0:56:49why shouldn't we take the kids to the Capitol

0:56:49 > 0:56:51and have them meet members of Congress?

0:56:51 > 0:56:53They are the ones who govern our country.

0:56:54 > 0:56:56Very soon, those youngsters

0:56:56 > 0:56:58are either going to be the people that are doing the bombing,

0:56:58 > 0:57:02or they're going to be the people that are struggling for peace,

0:57:02 > 0:57:04and when you still have youngsters

0:57:04 > 0:57:07that are only eight, nine, ten, 11 years old,

0:57:07 > 0:57:08you still have hope.

0:57:08 > 0:57:10This is, in fact, the process of peace -

0:57:10 > 0:57:13so I think it's probably much more important

0:57:13 > 0:57:17that we end up providing for the youngsters, for the kids,

0:57:17 > 0:57:20than if we did for all the great leaders.

0:57:20 > 0:57:22Project Children did help.

0:57:22 > 0:57:25It was one of the things that helped to humanise the Troubles

0:57:25 > 0:57:26for a lot of people.

0:57:26 > 0:57:29It helped to humanise it for some individuals

0:57:29 > 0:57:33who actually were in positions where they could have an impact

0:57:33 > 0:57:36on, you know, encouraging the peace process.

0:57:37 > 0:57:39With Project Children beginning to penetrate

0:57:39 > 0:57:42the political establishment of Washington DC,

0:57:42 > 0:57:45it was also influencing the lives of children

0:57:45 > 0:57:47in ways the original founders

0:57:47 > 0:57:50of the Greenwood Lake Gaelic Cultural Society

0:57:50 > 0:57:52could never have imagined.

0:57:52 > 0:57:55I was single, and I thought - I'd just bought a house, I thought,

0:57:55 > 0:57:57"I have this whole house to myself,

0:57:57 > 0:57:59"I should put it to some good use,"

0:57:59 > 0:58:01and I thought it might be fun.

0:58:03 > 0:58:05Mary Anne Sullivan, a Washington lawyer,

0:58:05 > 0:58:10welcomed ten-year-old Frankie Hughes into her home in 1988.

0:58:10 > 0:58:12I grew up in West Belfast.

0:58:12 > 0:58:14Where I first lived was a neighbourhood

0:58:14 > 0:58:16called the Divis flats,

0:58:16 > 0:58:17and, actually, one of my first memories,

0:58:17 > 0:58:20I think I was probably about five years old at the time,

0:58:20 > 0:58:23there was a bomb went off on the ground just below the apartment.

0:58:23 > 0:58:25I was on the third floor.

0:58:25 > 0:58:27You know, it's a very daunting, frightening feeling.

0:58:30 > 0:58:33When this opportunity came for Frankie to go to America,

0:58:33 > 0:58:35why hold him back?

0:58:35 > 0:58:37And his mummy didn't want him to go,

0:58:37 > 0:58:40and I kept saying to her, "He's getting a golden opportunity here.

0:58:40 > 0:58:43"It's like winning the lottery or something,

0:58:43 > 0:58:46"because we don't get any holidays or anything.

0:58:46 > 0:58:48"Get him out of here safe, even if it's only for six weeks.

0:58:48 > 0:58:49"Get him out."

0:58:51 > 0:58:53Little did Frankie's dad know then,

0:58:53 > 0:58:57but that one summer would help shape the rest of his son's life.

0:59:01 > 0:59:06Frankie's aspirations for himself, when he first came to the States,

0:59:06 > 0:59:08were very low.

0:59:10 > 0:59:13That first summer I came out, an interviewer like yourself

0:59:13 > 0:59:15asked me the question, you know,

0:59:15 > 0:59:18"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

0:59:18 > 0:59:22and I don't think I'd really thought about it too much.

0:59:22 > 0:59:27On the spur of the moment, I said, "A binman."

0:59:27 > 0:59:30I guess I just didn't think that far ahead when I was young.

0:59:32 > 0:59:37Living in my house, he couldn't help but understand

0:59:37 > 0:59:39that I considered education very important.

0:59:41 > 0:59:44In Mary Anne's house, it was, you know -

0:59:44 > 0:59:48if you have some downtime, you're going to read a book.

0:59:48 > 0:59:50I'd do a lot of pretend reading.

0:59:50 > 0:59:53When I first got there, you know, I'd look at the page and,

0:59:53 > 0:59:55like, "Yeah, I'm reading the book."

0:59:57 > 0:59:59Frankie's initial reluctance was

0:59:59 > 1:00:03resolved with a uniquely American approach to education.

1:00:03 > 1:00:05During the summers she would actually pay me to read.

1:00:05 > 1:00:07I think she started off 50 cents an hour.

1:00:09 > 1:00:14I was always looking for opportunities to encourage him

1:00:14 > 1:00:17to read more, to pay more attention in school,

1:00:17 > 1:00:21to be more of a serious student when he went home.

1:00:23 > 1:00:27I would keep track of the hours I was studying when I was back

1:00:27 > 1:00:29in Belfast, when I was 16.

1:00:29 > 1:00:33And I would send her a bill for the hours I was studying and she

1:00:33 > 1:00:34would send me a cheque.

1:00:36 > 1:00:41Incentivised by Mary Anne, Frankie moved to America permanently

1:00:41 > 1:00:42when he was 16.

1:00:42 > 1:00:46I felt as proud as any mother ever felt when

1:00:46 > 1:00:51he graduated from high school and then when he graduated from college.

1:00:51 > 1:00:53SCHOOL BELL RINGS

1:00:57 > 1:01:00The boy who arrived in Washington with desires to be

1:01:00 > 1:01:04a garbage collector is now teaching English literature to

1:01:04 > 1:01:06American high school students.

1:01:06 > 1:01:12That is going to, again, set off a whole other chain of events.

1:01:12 > 1:01:14His whole life has all changed.

1:01:14 > 1:01:17He's a wonderful guy and he's got a good future over there.

1:01:17 > 1:01:20If he'd have stayed here, God knows, he might have got involved in

1:01:20 > 1:01:23trouble, he could have been killed, could have been hurt.

1:01:23 > 1:01:27You don't know. So I think it was a wise decision.

1:01:27 > 1:01:28I've no...

1:01:29 > 1:01:32..difficulties with it. I'm glad I've done what I done.

1:01:32 > 1:01:34And Frankie's glad, too.

1:01:44 > 1:01:48Some families had thought about bringing kids back to go to

1:01:48 > 1:01:54school or get them out of harm's way but that really wasn't the purpose

1:01:54 > 1:01:55of the programme, you know,

1:01:55 > 1:01:58to separate kids from their families or whatever.

1:01:59 > 1:02:03Despite the charity's reservations, many who had travelled with

1:02:03 > 1:02:06Project Children saw their former host families as a way out.

1:02:08 > 1:02:11In the month before his brutal murder, young Seamus Morris

1:02:11 > 1:02:14was convinced his future lay across the Atlantic with

1:02:14 > 1:02:17Jim and Nancy Stanfield.

1:02:17 > 1:02:21He said he would always love to go back to the Stanfields

1:02:21 > 1:02:25because, obviously, they made a big impact on his life.

1:02:25 > 1:02:28And, I dare say, one day he would have.

1:02:31 > 1:02:36"Dear James & Nancy, I'm sure you will be surprised to be

1:02:36 > 1:02:37"hearing from us.

1:02:37 > 1:02:43'It has been quite a while since I have written to you and now

1:02:43 > 1:02:48"that I am it is to ask something of you."

1:02:48 > 1:02:54We did get a letter from Seamus's mother in 1987.

1:02:54 > 1:03:00And she asked us if we might be able to have him come back.

1:03:00 > 1:03:04Because things were not good there.

1:03:04 > 1:03:09"Seamus has been saving money from his job every week.

1:03:09 > 1:03:14"Have you any ideas that would help him to get out?

1:03:14 > 1:03:20"We would miss him a lot as he is a very good lad, but his father

1:03:20 > 1:03:25"and I both think that it would be a better life for him."

1:03:25 > 1:03:29We had sold our business at the time.

1:03:29 > 1:03:32We were thinking of moving to Cape Cod.

1:03:32 > 1:03:36So I kind of put that letter on hold.

1:03:36 > 1:03:41Then the following summer we got the phone call

1:03:41 > 1:03:44that Seamus had been killed.

1:03:44 > 1:03:50"I will enclose a photo of the kids, so until I hear from you,

1:03:50 > 1:03:55"all our love and best wishes to all your family.

1:03:55 > 1:03:58"Love from Seamus and Madeleine."

1:03:58 > 1:04:01I had never seen you like that.

1:04:01 > 1:04:03And I haven't seen you like that since.

1:04:03 > 1:04:05You were very affected by it.

1:04:06 > 1:04:12I still am. Just talking about it today,

1:04:12 > 1:04:14I'm...emotional.

1:04:18 > 1:04:19I am.

1:04:23 > 1:04:25I felt very guilty.

1:04:30 > 1:04:35I did feel like I had lost one of my own.

1:04:35 > 1:04:39Because I felt during those six weeks while

1:04:39 > 1:04:42he was there that I was his mother.

1:05:02 > 1:05:06Carol and Duke would take us to our different churches.

1:05:06 > 1:05:10Duke would take me to the Holy Rosary Catholic Church and

1:05:10 > 1:05:14Carol would take John to the Lutheran Church in Greenwood Lake.

1:05:14 > 1:05:17I always figured I got the better of the deal because the Catholic

1:05:17 > 1:05:19mass was only about half an hour.

1:05:19 > 1:05:23And John was in the Lutheran Church for about two hours.

1:05:23 > 1:05:26I think after a while he was a wee bit jealous of me.

1:05:29 > 1:05:33Having formed a friendship during their American summer of 1975,

1:05:33 > 1:05:37Kevin Brady and John Cheevers never expected to see each other

1:05:37 > 1:05:39again in their divided Belfast.

1:05:40 > 1:05:42It was completely surreal.

1:05:42 > 1:05:45We just spent six great weeks together and I'm never going

1:05:45 > 1:05:47to ever see you again...

1:05:48 > 1:05:52..because you're a Catholic and I'm a Protestant.

1:05:52 > 1:05:55But back in Greenwood Lake, Carol and Duke Hoffman were

1:05:55 > 1:05:58hoping the boys would return.

1:05:58 > 1:06:01I cried probably for two weeks after they left.

1:06:01 > 1:06:03Definitely, definitely missed them.

1:06:03 > 1:06:06And I was concerned about their welfare.

1:06:09 > 1:06:12It was incredible the bonds that were formed over the six weeks and,

1:06:12 > 1:06:16of course, everybody wanted to bring back the same child they had before.

1:06:16 > 1:06:21So the rule we came up with was if you want to repeat the child

1:06:21 > 1:06:23you'll have to cover the airfare.

1:06:25 > 1:06:28In line with the rules of the charity, the Hoffmans reached into

1:06:28 > 1:06:32their own pockets to bring Kevin and John back to Greenwood Lake

1:06:32 > 1:06:35not only in 1976 but for years afterwards.

1:06:36 > 1:06:40They were back and forth quite a few years and then they wound up

1:06:40 > 1:06:42going to school here.

1:06:43 > 1:06:46I thought they'd get an education over here better than

1:06:46 > 1:06:48they'd get an education over there.

1:06:48 > 1:06:52And they wouldn't have to live in the atmosphere they were living in.

1:06:52 > 1:06:55Worrying about bombs and cars and shootings.

1:06:57 > 1:07:00This connection to their American parents eventually led to

1:07:00 > 1:07:03both boys relocating permanently.

1:07:04 > 1:07:09The two suspicious kids from Belfast would eventually become

1:07:09 > 1:07:10best man at each other's weddings.

1:07:13 > 1:07:18Carol and Duke have been a huge part of my life ever since I was

1:07:18 > 1:07:20about eight years old.

1:07:20 > 1:07:21I'm extremely excited to see them.

1:07:21 > 1:07:25I have a debt of gratitude to them that can never be repaid.

1:07:26 > 1:07:28My God! Back again.

1:07:35 > 1:07:37- Hey!- Hey!- Oh, my God!

1:07:41 > 1:07:44Great to see you. Look at you.

1:07:44 > 1:07:48- I got old, I know. - No, you didn't. You got small!

1:07:53 > 1:07:56You lost weight since the last time I saw you.

1:07:56 > 1:08:00- A wee bit. A wee bit.- John's going to be over later. He's not here yet.

1:08:07 > 1:08:11- Look at these pictures. Look how young you were then.- My goodness.

1:08:11 > 1:08:13You remember these pictures here?

1:08:13 > 1:08:16I do indeed. I remember going to the Statue of Liberty.

1:08:16 > 1:08:19CAR HORN HONKS

1:08:19 > 1:08:25- John's here. Go open the door. - All right. Let me get it.

1:08:26 > 1:08:27DOORBELL DINGS

1:08:29 > 1:08:34- Jesus! How are you? - Good to see you, man.

1:08:34 > 1:08:36You look great.

1:08:36 > 1:08:40- How you doing, Kevin? - You look great. Doing all right.

1:08:40 > 1:08:41Doing all right.

1:08:41 > 1:08:44- You're looking well.- Thanks.

1:08:44 > 1:08:48- You've got less grey than I do. - I've got less hair.

1:08:48 > 1:08:50- What's up?- How you doing?

1:08:51 > 1:08:54They've got a couple of dodgy pictures of us from the old days.

1:08:54 > 1:08:56Sounds good.

1:08:56 > 1:09:01- There's a good one there.- That's the definition of a cheap suit.

1:09:01 > 1:09:02THEY LAUGH

1:09:03 > 1:09:07- What size was it?- I don't even know. I didn't have the belt on right.

1:09:07 > 1:09:09That was my funeral suit.

1:09:17 > 1:09:19- The old room.- Yeah.

1:09:22 > 1:09:25- My God, it's a bit smaller, isn't it?- Yeah.

1:09:25 > 1:09:28- There was two single beds. - And you were on that side?- Yep.

1:09:28 > 1:09:31There used to be a picture of Jesus on the wall.

1:09:31 > 1:09:34I always felt like he was staring at me for some reason.

1:09:34 > 1:09:37Used to drive me nuts.

1:09:37 > 1:09:39In our house we had two people looking at you,

1:09:39 > 1:09:41John Kennedy and the Pope.

1:09:41 > 1:09:42THEY LAUGH

1:09:45 > 1:09:48Belfast was grey, this place was in colour.

1:09:48 > 1:09:52Just to have that weight off your shoulders was amazing.

1:09:52 > 1:09:55- Exactly.- It felt safe being here.

1:09:55 > 1:09:57BAGPIPES PLAY

1:09:59 > 1:10:03Diffusing tensions among the children of Northern Ireland's Troubles

1:10:03 > 1:10:06was a fulfilling, yet ironic legacy for Denis Mulcahy,

1:10:06 > 1:10:09who, at the same time was working on the front line with

1:10:09 > 1:10:12New York City's bomb squad.

1:10:12 > 1:10:14It was a job not without its dangers.

1:10:15 > 1:10:19Brian's sacrifice saved lives in our community.

1:10:19 > 1:10:21He's somebody that will be remembered and honoured here

1:10:21 > 1:10:24in the bomb squad and by the NYPD forever.

1:10:28 > 1:10:30They were tough years in the city.

1:10:31 > 1:10:34You had to know what you're doing in that business.

1:10:34 > 1:10:36You can't wing it.

1:10:38 > 1:10:41Denis has built up a reputation that other bomb techs want to

1:10:41 > 1:10:43be like him.

1:10:43 > 1:10:47He shows all the qualities, he's been around, he's had the big cases.

1:10:47 > 1:10:50And particularly guys in our squad,

1:10:50 > 1:10:53when something happens, that's the guy they want to go to, pull

1:10:53 > 1:10:54on his coat-tail and ask him,

1:10:54 > 1:10:57"Denis, what should we be doing here?"

1:10:58 > 1:11:01The older you get, the more senile you get.

1:11:01 > 1:11:04Denis was the last line of defence against New York City's

1:11:04 > 1:11:06domestic terrorist groups.

1:11:10 > 1:11:14When you come up in the package you are going to do what you have

1:11:14 > 1:11:17to do because there is nobody you can call.

1:11:17 > 1:11:19You are the end of the line.

1:11:22 > 1:11:26And as far as saying, "Well, there will always be somebody with me."

1:11:26 > 1:11:28Well, there won't, because you're it.

1:11:31 > 1:11:34You have to stay focused, it's very important.

1:11:37 > 1:11:39After, it's a different story.

1:11:39 > 1:11:42You take off the suit and, you know,

1:11:42 > 1:11:45not that you second guess yourself but you have more time to

1:11:45 > 1:11:49think about what might have happened or could have happened.

1:11:51 > 1:11:55And my thing with dealing with any kind of suspicious package

1:11:55 > 1:11:57is time on the package.

1:11:57 > 1:12:00If you hang around down there long enough you're going to get hurt.

1:12:00 > 1:12:02Get down, get it done, get out of there.

1:12:08 > 1:12:12As Denis led Project Children into its third decade intervening

1:12:12 > 1:12:14in the lives of children from Northern Ireland,

1:12:14 > 1:12:16change was afoot in Washington.

1:12:18 > 1:12:22The situation changed when Bill Clinton became president.

1:12:22 > 1:12:29Bill Clinton was sympathetic to the cause of Irish Nationalism.

1:12:29 > 1:12:34Bill Clinton recognised that there had to be a political solution.

1:12:35 > 1:12:38As a dynamic new president worked out how best to broker

1:12:38 > 1:12:41a lasting solution in Northern Ireland, Project Children

1:12:41 > 1:12:44host families were fast becoming part of the American

1:12:44 > 1:12:46political establishment.

1:12:46 > 1:12:51We welcomed Michael to our family. There were really no trepidations.

1:12:51 > 1:12:55Some curiosity about where he came from and what

1:12:55 > 1:12:59he would be like and so forth but he really fit in quite well.

1:12:59 > 1:13:02I think it helped him to form a bond with us and with the US and

1:13:02 > 1:13:06certainly it did for us with Ireland because my involvement in

1:13:06 > 1:13:10Ireland after that just mushroomed.

1:13:11 > 1:13:15It was a way in which you could be involved very directly

1:13:15 > 1:13:16without having to take sides.

1:13:16 > 1:13:20Project Children smoothed the way for the peace process in

1:13:20 > 1:13:24Northern Ireland before there was a peace process in Northern Ireland.

1:13:26 > 1:13:30Kitty Higgins was among the first Washington DC host families.

1:13:30 > 1:13:34We were happy to have a child come live with us for the summer.

1:13:34 > 1:13:37We have an extra bed, we have a seat at the table.

1:13:37 > 1:13:40We want to help and I think Americans are generous people,

1:13:40 > 1:13:41by and large.

1:13:41 > 1:13:43Particularly when they see need.

1:13:43 > 1:13:47First of all, the way I became aware of Denis was

1:13:47 > 1:13:51because of Kathryn Higgins,

1:13:51 > 1:13:53who worked for me.

1:13:53 > 1:13:56Kitty's job at the heart of the Clinton administration would

1:13:56 > 1:13:59soon collide the personal and political worlds of

1:13:59 > 1:14:01Project Children and Denis Mulcahy.

1:14:01 > 1:14:04Every year there are top cops selected from around the

1:14:04 > 1:14:10country and in 1995 Denis was selected as one of those top cops.

1:14:10 > 1:14:15And part of that honour is to come to the White House and have

1:14:15 > 1:14:18an opportunity to meet the president.

1:14:18 > 1:14:22Mr President, Denis Mulcahy, New York City Bomb Squad.

1:14:22 > 1:14:25As we were leaving, I walked down the hallway

1:14:25 > 1:14:30and Kitty Higgins, who was secretary of the cabinet,

1:14:30 > 1:14:34who had been a prior host family, was walking up.

1:14:36 > 1:14:39I knew Denis, I knew the president.

1:14:39 > 1:14:43And I wanted to make sure the president knew that this was

1:14:43 > 1:14:45just no ordinary top cop.

1:14:45 > 1:14:49That Denis Mulcahy also had this brilliant idea to help

1:14:49 > 1:14:52advance peace and understanding in Northern Ireland.

1:14:54 > 1:14:56So she said, "You have to go back in again."

1:14:56 > 1:15:01So she takes me from the group back into the Oval Office.

1:15:01 > 1:15:03The one thing about President Clinton,

1:15:03 > 1:15:07if you had an opinion on something, he would listen.

1:15:07 > 1:15:10And I think if you're going to bring peace anywhere,

1:15:10 > 1:15:13you really have to listen to everybody.

1:15:13 > 1:15:17He'd been this heroic, almost legendary figure in the

1:15:17 > 1:15:20New York Police Department because of his work on the bomb squad.

1:15:20 > 1:15:25And all along he and his wife had been doing this amazing work

1:15:25 > 1:15:27with no pay, all volunteer work.

1:15:27 > 1:15:34And I though that he symbolised, so much, the hope that I had for

1:15:34 > 1:15:37the peace process, for what could happen.

1:15:38 > 1:15:40That meeting with Denis would help influence how

1:15:40 > 1:15:44President Clinton approached the whole issue of Northern Ireland.

1:15:44 > 1:15:47I think President Clinton and Hillary Clinton picked up on the

1:15:47 > 1:15:51Mulcahys because they know a good thing when they see it.

1:15:51 > 1:15:55They know when something, I think, accomplishes a number of things.

1:15:55 > 1:15:58It really pulls at the heartstrings of people.

1:16:00 > 1:16:03For the first time in the 30-year conflict, there was now

1:16:03 > 1:16:07a significant American political will to try and end the fighting.

1:16:08 > 1:16:10Having, for so many years,

1:16:10 > 1:16:15been allowed by America to carry on the route that the Brits believed

1:16:15 > 1:16:19was the only way which was, "Leave it to us and we'll sort it out,"

1:16:19 > 1:16:24gradually began to change when the pressure on America to become

1:16:24 > 1:16:27involved became really unstoppable.

1:16:27 > 1:16:30With the weight of the American President behind the

1:16:30 > 1:16:34fledgling peace process, it was a former Project Children

1:16:34 > 1:16:36child who would nearly derail the efforts.

1:16:39 > 1:16:45We have another file here on a young man by the name of Thomas Begley.

1:16:46 > 1:16:51He travelled out here in 1983.

1:16:51 > 1:16:54Stayed with a family in Long Island.

1:16:54 > 1:16:57Thomas also lost his life...

1:16:59 > 1:17:03..under somewhat different circumstances.

1:17:07 > 1:17:09- REPORTER:- Quite simply, the IRA couldn't have picked

1:17:09 > 1:17:11a busier time to bomb the Shankill.

1:17:11 > 1:17:14It was shortly after one o'clock that two men wearing white coats

1:17:14 > 1:17:17walked into Frizzell's fishmonger shop.

1:17:17 > 1:17:19They placed a box on the counter.

1:17:19 > 1:17:23There was no warning before the bomb exploded, demolishing the building.

1:17:24 > 1:17:28Dozens of people were injured and it quickly became clear that

1:17:28 > 1:17:29many had been killed.

1:17:32 > 1:17:34- REPORTER:- The final victim of the

1:17:34 > 1:17:36Shankill Road bomb attack has been named.

1:17:36 > 1:17:39He was 22-year-old Thomas Patrick Begley,

1:17:39 > 1:17:42and it's believed he was one of the IRA bombers.

1:17:43 > 1:17:46And we went, "Thomas Begley? That was one of ours.

1:17:46 > 1:17:47"That child was one of ours."

1:17:49 > 1:17:52The owner of the fish shop, Desmond Frizzell, and his daughter,

1:17:52 > 1:17:54Sharon, are among the dead.

1:17:54 > 1:17:58I'm left without a husband and a daughter.

1:17:58 > 1:18:00And that daughter,

1:18:00 > 1:18:04her husband is left with a little girl of two years.

1:18:04 > 1:18:07Two-year-old baby. Now, what is he to think?

1:18:09 > 1:18:12My wife was in her place of work.

1:18:12 > 1:18:15She was at the right place at the right time, not in the wrong

1:18:15 > 1:18:17place at the wrong time, which is quite often what is said here.

1:18:17 > 1:18:23She was exactly where she had to be on that Saturday afternoon

1:18:23 > 1:18:27and...Thomas Begley and Sean Kelly murdered her.

1:18:31 > 1:18:36You look back and you say, you know, how we could change something.

1:18:36 > 1:18:40But really there was very little we could do. He was...

1:18:42 > 1:18:44..selected to come out and I'm sure there was

1:18:44 > 1:18:47a great need to get him out of there at the time.

1:18:47 > 1:18:50There was no use targeting children who came from leafy suburbs,

1:18:50 > 1:18:54who didn't see the conflict, who weren't hurting.

1:18:54 > 1:18:57These children were hurting and we were trying to give them

1:18:57 > 1:19:01a chance to say, "I can have six weeks, I can mix with others.

1:19:01 > 1:19:03"My parents can feel safe."

1:19:03 > 1:19:05But they have to go back to living their lives.

1:19:06 > 1:19:09I still don't believe to this day that Thomas Begley and

1:19:09 > 1:19:13Sean Kelly were psychopaths, were evil people.

1:19:13 > 1:19:17I think that Thomas Begley and others like him were probably

1:19:17 > 1:19:23very vulnerable young men who were cannon fodder for

1:19:23 > 1:19:25organisations, the likes of the IRA.

1:19:27 > 1:19:30From the moment it happened, this tragedy has seemed inexplicable.

1:19:30 > 1:19:35Why this at a time when Republicans seem to be edging towards peace?

1:19:35 > 1:19:38It was like one step forward, two steps back.

1:19:38 > 1:19:41And you did get discouraged but you had to get up and say,

1:19:41 > 1:19:43"No, I've got to keep going.

1:19:43 > 1:19:47"If I don't do this what's the alternative? We must move forward."

1:19:48 > 1:19:53By the early 1990s 13,000 children had travelled with the project.

1:19:53 > 1:19:57And despite the doubts created by Thomas Begley's actions, it was

1:19:57 > 1:20:01clear the initiative was having an effect on thousands of young minds.

1:20:01 > 1:20:06When you come back having spent a summer with a Catholic family,

1:20:06 > 1:20:09and then you grow up in a paramilitarised area of

1:20:09 > 1:20:12North Belfast during the Troubles and you hear Catholics

1:20:12 > 1:20:16referenced by your friends or by your family or by others in

1:20:16 > 1:20:19negative terms, in stereotypical terms,

1:20:19 > 1:20:24having lived with these people, I was inoculated...

1:20:25 > 1:20:29..against that kind of mythic sectarianism. I didn't believe it.

1:20:30 > 1:20:32Wasn't prepared to believe it.

1:20:32 > 1:20:35Because when they said "Catholic", they had nobody in their mind.

1:20:35 > 1:20:38When I heard "Catholic", I saw this family.

1:20:39 > 1:20:43Project Children, as much for me as it was about a friendship,

1:20:43 > 1:20:46it was also about an idea being planted in my head.

1:20:46 > 1:20:51A seed of, "There's something more than this."

1:20:59 > 1:21:03President Clinton decided to directly intervene in

1:21:03 > 1:21:06Northern Ireland to try and establish a lasting peace process.

1:21:09 > 1:21:12I became the first sitting American President ever to go to

1:21:12 > 1:21:13Northern Ireland.

1:21:16 > 1:21:19I stayed in the Europa Hotel in Belfast,

1:21:19 > 1:21:21which is the most bombed hotel in Europe.

1:21:24 > 1:21:27And then we went out and turned on the streetlights.

1:21:27 > 1:21:30There were more than 50,000 people there that night.

1:21:30 > 1:21:32Nobody worried about a bomb.

1:21:34 > 1:21:36People were there standing next to others.

1:21:36 > 1:21:41Nobody knew what their faith or background or politics was.

1:21:44 > 1:21:49On his official delegation was an NYPD cop, Denis Mulcahy.

1:21:51 > 1:21:55You get a guy like Denis Mulcahy, everybody loves them.

1:21:55 > 1:21:58Republican, Democrat, whatever, they want to be around him.

1:21:58 > 1:22:01They want to hear what he has to say, they want to learn from him.

1:22:01 > 1:22:07They want to see if what he has, they can tap into.

1:22:10 > 1:22:14We will stand with you as you take risks for peace.

1:22:14 > 1:22:16CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

1:22:19 > 1:22:23By then we'd had 20 years of people coming through that programme.

1:22:23 > 1:22:27So an enormous number of young adults

1:22:27 > 1:22:32were living there who actually knew someone of another faith,

1:22:32 > 1:22:34another political persuasion.

1:22:34 > 1:22:39I think, you know, that makes a big difference in a small country.

1:22:39 > 1:22:46The further shore of that peace is within your reach. Thank you.

1:22:46 > 1:22:48And God bless you all.

1:22:49 > 1:22:53I don't think that without the involvement of America and, in

1:22:53 > 1:22:56particular, the personal intervention of

1:22:56 > 1:23:00President Clinton, we would have had a peace process.

1:23:02 > 1:23:06On that trip with the reception and the amount of people that

1:23:06 > 1:23:12turned out and the enthusiasm, it definitely was...

1:23:12 > 1:23:14I think it was the beginning of change.

1:23:18 > 1:23:21Where we are today, 40 years on, is a far,

1:23:21 > 1:23:24far better place than where we were then.

1:23:26 > 1:23:30The next vital stage of our peace process

1:23:30 > 1:23:32is the work of reconciliation.

1:23:32 > 1:23:36Denis has been involved in the work of reconciliation for a very,

1:23:36 > 1:23:39very long time. Long before any of us.

1:23:40 > 1:23:44We still have a few unresolved issues in Northern Ireland.

1:23:44 > 1:23:46But it's way better than it was.

1:23:46 > 1:23:49No-one ever thinks it would be better to return to the violence.

1:23:49 > 1:23:55And I'll bet you a lot of the people who don't think that came

1:23:55 > 1:23:59here in his programme and spent time when they were children with

1:23:59 > 1:24:03people of other faiths, other races in a different culture.

1:24:06 > 1:24:08It all began with human contact.

1:24:08 > 1:24:11He gave them a chance to see the world in a different way.

1:24:11 > 1:24:15He gave them a chance just to be themselves in a natural way.

1:24:16 > 1:24:21And not to be educated in the foolishness.

1:24:24 > 1:24:26It's an intervention.

1:24:26 > 1:24:28This kind of project is an intervention and you need to

1:24:28 > 1:24:33intervene as early as you can in the life of a kid

1:24:33 > 1:24:36if you are to try to prevent that virus,

1:24:36 > 1:24:40that toxic virus of sectarianism or racism.

1:24:43 > 1:24:47He was just a good man doing a good thing to help children.

1:24:47 > 1:24:54And he knew then that if he did it enough he'd not only save

1:24:54 > 1:24:58some individual lives and create some different futures but it

1:24:58 > 1:24:59might move the country.

1:25:01 > 1:25:06What started with an initial group of six kids in 1975 stretched

1:25:06 > 1:25:11for over 40 years and gave 23,000 children from Northern Ireland

1:25:11 > 1:25:14a summer of peace in America.

1:25:15 > 1:25:21Isn't it better to light a penny candle then to curse the darkness?

1:25:21 > 1:25:27When you light 23,000 penny candles you have a massive light.

1:25:41 > 1:25:43- RADIO:- ...along Fifth Ave later this morning.

1:25:43 > 1:25:46Craig says the rain should be over by then.

1:25:46 > 1:25:49The New York City St Patrick's Day parade is older than the

1:25:49 > 1:25:50country itself.

1:25:50 > 1:25:52It started in 1762.

1:25:52 > 1:25:55This is the invitation.

1:25:56 > 1:26:00The envelope is always handwritten, the invitation from the

1:26:00 > 1:26:04White House, which is very unusual today, and the presidential seal.

1:26:06 > 1:26:09It is special. It's very special.

1:26:09 > 1:26:12KETTLE WHISTLES

1:26:12 > 1:26:16St Patrick's Day is a day where we celebrate our heritage and

1:26:16 > 1:26:22it's maybe somewhat of a sad day.

1:26:22 > 1:26:28You know, you think back and the people that are

1:26:28 > 1:26:33no longer with us but it's special. It's a special day.

1:26:33 > 1:26:34Life goes on.

1:26:36 > 1:26:39The green tie, even though I'm not that big...

1:26:39 > 1:26:44It's nice, the green tie, but we don't need anything green.

1:26:44 > 1:26:49I say my face is green so the green is nice but it can be overdone.

1:27:07 > 1:27:10- PRESIDENT OBAMA:- Remember the great Irish-Americans of the past.

1:27:10 > 1:27:13Those who struggled in obscurity, those who rose to the highest

1:27:13 > 1:27:16levels of politics and business and the arts.

1:27:16 > 1:27:20We celebrate the ideals at the heart of the Irish-American story.

1:27:20 > 1:27:22Ones that people everywhere can embrace.

1:27:22 > 1:27:25Friendship and family and hard work and humility,

1:27:25 > 1:27:28fairness and dignity.

1:27:28 > 1:27:31And the persistent belief that tomorrow will be better than today.

1:27:34 > 1:27:38The story of the Irish in America is a story of overcoming

1:27:38 > 1:27:42hardship through strength and sacrifice and faith and family.

1:27:42 > 1:27:45- TANNOY:- We'll be arriving here in Washington DC...

1:27:45 > 1:27:48The Irish did more than just build America,

1:27:48 > 1:27:50they helped to sharpen the idea of America.

1:27:52 > 1:27:57There are too many distinguished Irish and Irish-Americans

1:27:57 > 1:28:02here tonight to mention so I'll just offer 100,000 welcomes.

1:28:02 > 1:28:04Happy St Patrick's Day, everybody.

1:28:25 > 1:28:28- There you go. 40 years. My God, - it still looks beautiful.- It is.

1:28:30 > 1:28:32- This is where we had the interview. - Yes, it is.

1:28:33 > 1:28:35Still looks the same.

1:28:37 > 1:28:41Belfast is like your ugliest child. It's the one you love the most.

1:28:41 > 1:28:43THEY LAUGH

1:28:44 > 1:28:47Did you get along pretty well this summer with your buddy?

1:28:47 > 1:28:50- Yeah, we got along like brothers. - Aye?- Got along like brothers.

1:28:50 > 1:28:52Like brothers, huh?