Seventh Class of George J. Mitchell Scholars Honored in Dublin

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The American Ambassador to Ireland, Tom Foley, was the guest of honor at a reception for the George Mitchell Scholars held at the Shelbourne Hotel last night. The Scholars are concluding their year of post-graduate studies at universities throughout the island.

Also in attendance were young leaders from Ireland and Northern Ireland. Last May, the US-Ireland Alliance began to bring 20-30 year old leaders on the island together with the Mitchell Scholars. Alliance president Trina Vargo said the young leaders would be included next April when the Alliance brings together in Belfast Senator Mitchell and the principal negotiators, to mark the 10th anniversary of the Belfast Agreement.

Ambassador Foley presented the seventh class of Mitchell Scholars with their class rings, an annual gift from Cross Atlantic Capital Partners. The Ambassador noted that it was an historic time for the Scholars to be in Ireland. Having attended the recent opening of the Northern Ireland Assembly, he paid tribute to Senator Mitchell’s contribution to that process and inspired the Scholars to follow his example: “If the opportunity arises for you to follow in the footsteps of George Mitchell, and not only be a worthy ambassador, but a true statesman or stateswoman by helping with the challenges ahead in Northern Ireland or reducing conflict anywhere in the world, the investment that has been made in you through the Mitchell Scholarship program will have been paid back many times over.”

Among those in attendance were Alliance benefactors Derek and Siobhan Quinlan, Pat and Teresa Mooney, several Quinlan Private partners, donor John Morrissey, Senator David Norris, Ryan Tubridy, Don Roth and Dr. Michael Somers of the National Pensions Reserve Fund Commission, DCU President Ferdinand von Prondzynski, Alliance board members Gerry McCrory, Paraic O’Toole and Ruth Shipsey, Mitchell Scholar Director Mary Lou Hartman, the Alliance’s Irish liaison Paul Hayes, film-maker Arthur Lappin, singer SJ McCardle, Special Adviser to the Taoiseach Gerry Hickey, and Michael Collins who will become the next Irish Ambassador to the US this summer.

It was recently announced that the Irish Government would match the US-Ireland Alliance up to 20 million euros toward the establishment of a permanent endowment for the scholarship program, which is one of the most prestigious for American post-graduates. Following the Dublin reception, the Mitchell Scholars are headed west where they’ll visit Glenstal Abbey and have dinner at the home of Culture Ireland Chairman Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin in Limerick before climbing Mt. Brandon in Dingle.

Many of the eleven graduating Scholars will continue their studies in the US. Karly Burke who studied biomedical engineering at NUI Galway will either pursue a PhD at Trinity or work at MIT’s Whitehead Institute. Kathleen Claussen studied International Politics at Queen’s and will attend Yale Law School in the fall. Adar Cohen studied international peace studies at Trinity and hopes to enroll in the PhD program at the Irish School of Ecumenics. Kara Cook, who studied Anglo-Irish literature at UCD, will go to China where she’ll teach at Chongqing University. Matt Haney participated in the cross-border program on Human Rights and Criminal Justice at Queen’s and NUI Galway. He will attend Stanford Law School. Aaron Kurman studied peace and conflict studies at the University of Ulster and will move to Israel as a recipient of a Dorot Fellowship. Sarah Sexton will receive a master’s in peace and development studies from the University of Limerick. She’ll attend UC Berkeley Law School. Daniel Preysman studied Journalism at DCU. He will spend his summer working at BBC News in Northern Ireland and then head to Harvard Law School. Victoria Sprow is pursuing a master’s in Creative Writing at Trinity. She has been accepted to the Iowa Writers’ Workshop in the fall, where she will begin her MFA in Fiction. John Velasco will receive a master’s degree in International Studies from UL. He was selected for the California Executive Fellows Program, and will work in Governor Schwarzenegger’s office, examining K-12 education reform. Sarah Wappett is getting a master’s in International Security and Conflict Studies at DCU. She interned for the Garda’s Criminal Assets Bureau while in Dublin. This summer she will return to Washington, DC to intern with the Council on Global Terrorism and then begin her studies at Georgetown University Law School.