The community health care team consists of The Community Development Youth Corps and the (voluntary) Senior Corps - its inter and intra-community function -

Exchange student program with supervision - ten students for ten days - as advocated by partnership Ireland - Friendships Without Borders Inc., (FWB) The Children of Ireland Group and the Mauro Peace and Justice Center - hopefully with the support of pharmaceutical companies - their presence in Ireland of mutual benefit in recent years. Total funding i.e. with student transport, housing and other needs - circa $15,000. Forgarty Grant and program implementation - U. Maryland for 'summer program' circa $15,000 for three month period.

Purpose - to identify specific adolescent psychiatric needs and wants. Maslows', 'heirarchy of human needs' - of 'trust, respect and purpose' - sensitive to their goals. Sen's disparities - the essentials of Freedom, as in Development as Freedom - of political, economic and social 'freedoms' - of transparency of agreements, of security.

Increasing self esteem of the adolescent phase in development - their role in the community in the areas of hope and for their future, and that of the whole community - their family.

Seeing a positive role in addressing disparities and conflict resolution.

Education and Recreation opportunities with others of the wider community old and young to distract from anti-social behavior and frustration, anger. The purpose to address the disparities among the wider family - younger and older age groups - exchanging different experiences and frustrations. Seeing a path to help each other - initially with professional input - and comparison with other communities. Instrument - CDYC and SC and their resources. Initial path set through start up presence of a professional team in psychiatric management recruiting the local and regional ongoing presence.

Revival of 'Mari-culture Harvest' is an example in rescuing significant and traditional resource between e.g. Baltimore and Galway to Dublin to Kilkeel and Belfast - Martin Ryan Inst., U. of Ulster., Dublin City U., and U. of Maryland, Baltimore, USA. Total cost for ongoing program detailed in Mari-culture harvest 2004 - $167,000 - includes travel, full time program and supervision in partnership with Academic Institutions and Pharmaceutical companies.

Niall P. Mac Allister MD (FWB) July 4 2005

In the long run the community must be in closer partnership in addressing the consequences of existing disparities, unequal opportunities, areas of conflict or tension and the increasing recent tragic outcome on the younger members of the community. The initial introduction to community needs should include the values therapists and the community espouse. Individual aspirations must be respectful of regional cultural differences. Goals of equality must be sought, irrespective of gender, age, race or creed. All involved should demonstrate a willingness to be equal partners, evidence a sensitive and eager desire to learn from others, to exchange and share the common concerns of all.

Utilizing factors as described by Amartya Sen in his studies from Development as Freedom, the younger community will gain a growing confidence as they become assured of acceptance. This mutual trust and respect will be shared with all members of the wider community - many of the older community with other dependency needs or physical or mental handicaps.

To recognize the intra and inter-community aspects of all our goals it is critical to reach abroad to the wider family in 'community exchange'. For all the peoples of the Americas and Europe, to the Atlantic and Pacific littoral, the Middle East, Asia and the adjoining territories east to west, it is essential everywhere to promote a 'reaching out'- and a 'coming together' with the will and commitment to achieve these goals. This, a different 'global village', promoting the neglected social alternative - of caring, tolerance and compassion: the impartial path to the revival of a different ecumenical mission, the ultimate moral priority, a focus on hunger and disease.

Recalling the words and the message from centuries past, from the carpenter's Son, 'forgive us our trespass as we forgive those...' From two thousand to four hundred years ago to the Mogul Emperor Akbar, to Alberuni, the Iranian mathematician. All their advocacy of racial and religious tolerance! Again, the story of Maimonides, the Jewish scholar, who in the twelfth century fled from an intolerant Christian Europe to the then more tolerant Muslim world - Egypt to Spain. From the Talmud, the challenging precept, 'He who saves one life saves the world.' What then is the further message?

Why should the life expectancy of a young Afro-American in Brooklyn with a higher average income be far less than those of equivalent age in China or Kerala in India; the life expectancy of those in Northern Ireland versus others in the E.U.? Foremost, we feel, is the absence of trust and respect, of equal opportunity in a deliberately more violent and divided world.

It is important to learn directly from the younger community in a positive exchange - what are their concerns, their needs - in what areas can we address them and from both our points of view, how can we most expeditiously remedy and support them? It is time to propose alternative paths of response. This, versus 'wait and watch', or the 'after the event' reaction.

It is critical to include different age and gender groups - increase interagency dialogue and intercommunity exchange in psychosocial awareness as recently described by Bemak, Coyne and others. It is also essential to include community groups of similar age and of wider social backgrounds to increase the earlier detection of problems and to develop a front line resource to increase community awareness of developing problems. Similar paths have been advocated in recent major group studies in the United States and to address the even more significant escalation in violent self-termination of young lives at an even greater level among students in Japan, in Ireland and elsewhere in the unwarranted path to 'martyrdom'.

Thus the advocacy of Friendships Without Borders, Inc., (FWB), founded in 1997, to increase immediate physical and resource involvement of an intercommunity health care 'team' approach. This would include the shared involvement of the medical teaching institutions, the pharmaceutical company private resource and the bipartisan voluntary community 'voice' - as the CDYC, the Community Development Youth Corps and the SC, the Senior Corps. This would extend the capabilities of the specifically qualified yet limited available psychology-sociology team members. This would also sustain the quality and standards of care for the professional and the private members of the community team working with other regional and international communities. Quality of care and its implementation cannot remain solely within the inadequate coverage provided by the specifically qualified health care professional alone. The 'paramedical team' component is essential. Further to this the analysis and enhancement of community employment resources and appropriate educational facilities is essential.

Active participation of the community in all exchanges is critical, at all school levels - private to public to university or other institutes - in all activities from academic to sports to other 'out of school' activities e.g., in shared 'entertainment'; assessment of choice, participation, reward and frustration, desire to be involved in the wider prevailing social order - all need to be addressed. Further, their participation is necessary in advocacy in their own communities and the 'wider world', its significant impact on local and wider areas of need, of conflict, of tolerance and shared goals.

From earlier training in psychiatry in the hospitals of the Menninger Institute to later years in Anesthesia at Bellevue Hospital, New York, to Surgical Critical Care at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, their busy emergency services, one sees the traumatic physical and psychological patient impact the outcome of drugs, disparities and despair, the broader community impact clearly evident in an increasingly violent society.

The potential role of described programs both as an agency of community revival versus disparities and conflict and of our advocacy of the Community Health Care Team, as the alternative answer has had enthusiastic reception. The keen support and interest of the academic and political voice from former President Clinton to Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen and Bob Rowthorn, Economists at Cambridge to Bob Lawrence of Johns Hopkins School of Public Health has convinced us of the urgent need to respond to the broader concept of this ongoing human tragedy.

Interest in Friendships Without Borders' development of the Community Health Care Team has been expressed both from Pharmaceutical companies and medical teaching institutions, from the United States to Ireland. To further community involvement, The Children of Ireland Group of Florida, Sean Byrne of Mauro Peace and Justice Center in Winnipeg together with Professor Michael Creedon of Hopkins and FWB has proposed the Community Development Youth Corps, the voluntary Senior Corps, advocating their place in the all inclusive role of the community in addressing the root causes of inadequacies and conflict.

Views have been expressed from recent studies, from Friendships Without Borders Inc., recruiting the support and interest of universities from Hopkins in Baltimore, to Dublin City University, to Queens University and University of Ulster in a 'student exchange program' and in revival of the community resource of the 'seafood harvest' from the Martin Ryan Inst., University College Galway. With the combined efforts of the Children of Ireland Group under Terry Ryan and community groups in N.Ireland we feel this can bring such proposals to well deserved and timely public attention.

The widespread tragic circumstances initiating such severe reactions to confrontation, intolerance and disparities is now seen in communities worldwide. From Northern Ireland with indigenous Irish national and 'colon' descendant populations. Such confrontation is now a major problem in the U.K., in the U.S., a focus of intense concern from Baltimore to Brooklyn. Many communities confronting the existing ethnic intolerance toward increasing immigrant minority groups. For Hindu and Muslim, from India to Pakistan the problem and its solution is presently a major significant factor of public awareness. Israel's West Bank and the Gaza is also a continuing scene of young 'suicides'. This is seen again in Iraq, recent reluctant recipients of the benefits of an imposed 'democracy and freedom' and now of an extending 'colonial' occupation.

As Dr. John Connolly, psychiatrist of St. Mary's Hospital in Castlebar, Co. Mayo has recently stated - 'our aim is to raise awareness of the significance and extent of this problem. To make the answer a family one, to open the arms of the community to our young family in need worldwide.'

Adequate funding to implement the suggested proposals remains an urgent priority.

Niall P. Mac Allister MD (Pres.,Fdr.,) www.fwbinc.org
Sean Byrne Ph.D., Director, Mauro Peace and Justice Ctr.

The Children of Ireland
P.O. Box 13241
Tallahassee, Florida, USA 32317
Phone: (850) 562-6466
An IRS 501(c )(3) Non-Profit Organization
E-Mail: terry@thetrakker.com Web: www.childrenofireland.us

March 17, 2004 - NEWS RELEASE

The Children of Ireland Group, Inc. today announced a collaborative effort, in partnership with the U.S. based Friendships Without Borders organization, with the Northern Ireland Department of Health, Social Services, and Public Safety (Department of Health) and with the responsible authority, the North and West Belfast Health and Social Services Trust to assist in assessing the mental health needs of youth and reducing the tragic trend of youth suicides in Northern Ireland. Specifically, this collaborative effort aims to determine the feasibility of both organizations assisting the Department of Health in its efforts to reduce adolescent suicides, by providing professional volunteers from the U.S. and other countries, including psychologists, counselors, and supporting staff.

This effort was begun in February, 2004 by The Children of Ireland Group when the tragic news of thirteen (13) adolescent suicides was announced from the Ardoyne and Glenbryn areas of Belfast. Discussions with the Department of Health identified that the mental health system was eager to draw on international best practice to complement local expertise and services.

Commenting, J. Terry Ryan, President of The Children of Ireland Group, indicates, "The horribly tragic suicides of at least thirteen youth in Ardoyne and Glenbryn just since January 1, 2004 reveal the utter hopelessness of youth on both sides of the continuing conflict in Northern Ireland and a mental health system struggling to cope with a wide range of complex needs and very high levels of demand. Our own efforts since 1999 find these problems can only be addressed at a 'grassroots level' of each community by providing appropriate resources to mental health and social services personnel along with community volunteers, in assisting the youth and their families. We are delighted to be working in partnership with the Friendships Without Borders as we explore with the Department of Health the feasibility of providing professional volunteers to assist the Department's own resources"

Clive Gowdy, Permanent Secretary of the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, said "With cooperation and commitment, even the most difficult problems can be addressed. Suicides are deeply distressing for everyone and it is important that the factors which cause them are tackled with determination. The collaboration with The Children of Ireland Group and the Friendships Without Borders organisation offers the opportunity to bring international expertise and experience to the work going on in Northern Ireland."

Dr. Niall Mac Allister, President and Founder of the Friendships Without Borders, indicates, "The goals of the community, the family, must be the focus of our social priorities. The expression of the 'young voice' of the next generation, the attention, trust and respect it merits - now, with never a greater urgency, is the key to community health, to successful socio-economic development and to their fulfillment."

Heading up the professional volunteer effort is Dr. Fred Bemak of George Mason University who has done extensive international work in over 30 countries and been involved for the past 3 decades providing consultation and training for mental health, social service, and community organizations and professionals who work with youth. Commenting, Dr. Bemak indicated, "It is very difficult to experience the loss of our youth and see the children who are the hopes and dreams for our future take such a desperate and final step as suicide. Our hope and intent is that through this collaborative project we can begin to facilitate the personal and social healing that must take place for our children, families, and communities, contributing to a better world for our next generation and ourselves."

Richard Black, Chief Executive of the North and West Belfast Health and Social Services Trust in welcoming the initiative, commented "I very much appreciate the interest of The Children of Ireland and the Friendships Without Borders organisations in the needs of our young people. The Trust works closely in partnership with our communities to better understand the pressures that young people face and we are determined that the services we provide reflect the best international practice. This is an important opportunity to collaborate with colleagues from the United States and to share our experiences and learn from successful efforts to address the needs of young people in the United States and elsewhere".

The Children of Ireland Group, Inc. is a U.S. based organization providing recreational and educational resources to community centers working with at-risk children and young adults in Ireland, especially, Northern Ireland. Specifically, it helps community centers provide an alternative to membership in gangs, drug use and violence or resorting to the ultimate despair: suicide. Suicide among children and young adults less than 25 years of age is at alarming rates in Ireland, especially, in Northern Ireland. The goal in providing recreation and education equipment is to help attract "at-risk" children into the centers, provide a safe haven, and allow community social and health workers to work with them. Secondly and equally as important, the Group hopes its efforts in some way will open doors of opportunities to peace and cooperation between Irish youth, both Catholic and Protestant, and many long-lasting ties with their American friends.

The Group was founded in 1999 by J. Terry Ryan on his return as an international observer to the July marching season. The organization is a 501c3 non-profit organization working to make a positive difference in the lives of children and yong adults and offer hope to families who have been directly involved in and affected by years of conflict in Northern Ireland.

As of December 31, 2003 the organization has assisted over seventy (70) community centers, representing over 16,000 children and young adults. Funding requests range from arts and crafts supplies, musical instruments, school equipment, books, and conflict resolution books, to sports equipment including camping, canoes and kayaks, along with soccer and football equipment. An on-going effort to collect used personal computers in the U.S. and shipping them via FedExpress has benefited dozens of community centers and thousands of youth.

For additional information, contact:
J. Terry Ryan, President - Children of Ireland Group, Inc.
Tallahassee, Florida
Work: 850/562-6466 Home: 850/668-4273 Cell: 850/321-9352

Clive Gowdy, Permanent Secretary - Department of Health, Social Services, and Public Safety
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Work: 011-44-2890-520573

Richard Black, Chief Executive - North and West Trust
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Work: 011-44-2890-327156

Dr. Niall Mac Allister, President - Friendships Without Borders
Essex, Maryland
Home: 410/391-3548

Dr. Fred Behak, Director - Friendships Without Borders
Professor and Program Director - Counseling and Development Program - George Mason University
Work: 703/993-3914