Historic internship between Mayo island and Cleveland celebrated
The Achill community has celebrated its unique connection with the Achill/Cleveland diaspora.
The celebration marked the conclusion of a six- week internship between John Carroll University, Cleveland, and Comhlacht Forbartha Áitiúil Acla, Achill's Local Development Company.
Achill has been officially twinned with the city of Cleveland, Ohio, since 2003.
One of the areas of focus of the twinning was educational exchange, Joey Wasco and Maeve Mullen, were the successful applicants from John Carroll University, who participated in this inaugural programme.
Over the course of the six weeks Joey and Maeve, completed an oral histories programme and conducted a series of interviews with local people under the mentorship of Dr. Angela Maye Banburry.
They also visited sites of interest in Achill and Mayo and participated in a variety of cultural, social and leisure activities, during their stay.
The Achill community and staff of John Carroll (via Zoom) were present at gteic Acla to participate in an interactive presentation given by Joey and Maeve on their experiences of Achill and their engagement with the community during their stay here.
Terence Dever CEO of Comhlacht Forbartha, who initiated the discussions around a possibly internship, stated: “We are delighted with the results of the programme.
"The outcomes of the internship and both Joey and Maeve’s positivity and praise of their stay in Achill far outweighed all expectations we ever had.
"I thank and acknowledge the staff of John Carroll University, Rodney Hessinger, Bryan Beigie, Philip Metres, Paul Murphy, for the vital role they played, their support of the programme and funding they contributed, Dr. Angela May Banburry, who played a key role in designing and planning the content of the programme as well as the delivery and to Údaraás na Gaeltachta.
"Finally, I thank the board and staff of Comhlacht Forbartha Áitiúil Acla and the Achill community who gave so generously of their time and opened the doors of their homes and hearts to Joey and Maeve."