Local Catholic youth participate in Ulster Project-Utah

Friday, Jul. 24, 2015

SALT LAKE CITY — Ulster Project-Utah paired 12 Northern Ireland Catholic and Protestant teens with an equal number of Utah teens to help build peace by weakening religious divisions that have persisted for centuries in violence-plagued Northern Ireland. Although the fighting is not what it was, tension and division between the two religious groups still exists in Northern Ireland.

The six boys and six girls from Omagh, Northern Ireland arrived in Utah June 24; they will return July 24. 

The Ulster Project is hosted in about 20 cities throughout the United States; it was brought to Utah in 1985 by Judy Wight, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who saw the need to bring Protestants and Catholics together. 

Ulster Project-Utah is an all-volunteer project that focuses on peace and understanding. 

“When the teens get to know each other, they find that they are teens whether they are Catholic or Protestant, from Utah or Ireland,” said Mike O’Brien, a Saint Thomas More parishioner who is the Ulster Project-Utah board president. “They go back to Northern Ireland with the sense that we are all just people.”

The tension 30 years ago was more visible; today Northern Ireland is a more segregated society, “but there is still dis-crimination and distrust,” said O’Brien. “We try to emphasize that the teens all become peacemakers. We’re not without our own problems in America. Last year we talked about the bombings in Boston; this year the shootings and which flags to fly. We are all trying to learn to live with each other with more understanding.” 

The teens travel with two counselors from Ireland and two from Utah. 

“We offer the teens support; we want them to experience each other’s culture, gain maturity and grow as individuals,” said Áine Nugent, a Northern Ireland Catholic counselor. 

“There are still some areas, especially in Belfast, where there is conflict between the [Catholic and Protestant] communities, but on a smaller scale,” she said. “There are still some extremists who cause some problems, but on the whole, projects like the Ulster Project help the two religious communities interact and build friendships; they don’t have a lot of opportunities to interact.”

Katie Stefanich, a Utah counselor from Saint Vincent Parish, had a life-changing experience when she hosted a Northern Ireland girl in 2009, she said. “I gained confidence and became more aware of the culture. As a counselor, I still bond with the kids, but I am more of an aide. It’s sad when they have to leave, but we stay in contact.” 

The counselors were trained by Dick Sullivan, program director, who became involved in 2005. He taught the counselors to watch for home sickness, illness or problems adjusting, but “they all seem to bond,” he said. “The teens have daily activities, service projects and fun.” 

On July 15, they assisted the elderly at St. Joseph Villa by taking them outside for some fresh air and conversation; they also attended Mass in the chapel. 

That same afternoon, the teens hiked near Alta. 

They also have six sessions in which they talk about issues that are pertinent to cross-community contact in Ireland and in Salt Lake for somewhat similar reasons, said Sullivan. “This project strives to build ties among the teens the Northern Irish Catholics and Protestants can take home and build on. They also work on physical activities such as a rope course and river trip to build reliability, trust, confidence and team work.” 

Tia Smart, a Saint Vincent parishioner, who participated in the Ulster Project-Utah, now has 23 new friends, she said. “I am more confident in myself and realized I am independent; we’ve gotten close as a group,” she said.

“This is one of the best experiences I have ever had,” said Beth Leo, a Judge Memorial Catholic High School sophomore. “I have become close with everyone and tried new activities that have changed my life.”

“We would never get to do these activities at home; I would never really have any Protestant friends, but now I have 12,” said Clodagh McLaughlin, a Catholic from Northern Ireland. “We are not really different; we don’t want the hatred that was caused a long time ago, we want to be friends.”

Jaime Barcley, a Protestant from Omagh, has learned that it “doesn’t matter what religion we are or where we are from, we are all human beings,” he said. 

The group prays together each day and experiences each other’s faith by rotating between Catholic and Protestant services each Sunday. 

“We’ve found we have more similarities than differences; the kids are seeing themselves as the people they are rather than Catholic or Protestant,” said Nugent.