Day Four
Today we woke up to have breakfast with print journalist Rosita Boland and she spoke about her career and newspapers in Ireland. One this she said today that I thought was shocking was that it is uncommon and she didn’t agree with doing any internship or practicum work for free. That is something that I see in the States, a way to get experience and work is to begin at the very bottom.
Next we went to the US Embassy visit with Ambassador Rooney, Karyn Posner-Mullen, Director of Public Affairs, and John Murphy, Press Assistant. It was fantastic! Rooney was gracious and friendly and loved the Pittsburgh presence. Something that was said about him that I enjoyed was that when he came to Ireland, he wanted to go to every country in Ireland to meet with the locals. You can tell that he is for the people and about the people and he really enjoys his job. He also gave us America/Ireland pins as a gift. Secondly, the Director of Public Affairs spoke and it was evident that she was very intelligent and well spoken. She represented Rooney and spoke highly of him. Finally, John Murphy spoke and honestly blew me away. He’s 23 years old and juggles many jobs in the Embassy. I enjoyed his stories about what goes on in the building and inside scoop on Rooney, passed Ambassadors, and other people and issues of Ireland. Something that was great to hear that he said was that Ireland loves Obama and wants to work with America. It’s a nice change from the Bush administration. That was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I will never forget!
Finally, we finished up the day with a Lecture “Irish TV Drama – a Society & its Stories” by DCU Professor Helena Sheehan. She spoke about soap opera’s, Ireland style. She really knew what she was talking about and had a very deep history. It was also cool that she was in the U.S. in the 1950’s to see America’s TV and have a knowledge of that period of time.
Now after a group meeting and a quick nap, I’m looking forward to another guarantied delicious meal and maybe a glimpse of the Penguin’s game tonight.
