From the week of June 26-30.

What went well? 

• This has been the busiest week thus far, with two all-day trips to Dundalk, Republic of Ireland and Armagh, Northern Ireland for meetings. One day, I and my fellow Georgetown Laidlaw Scholar Hari Choudhari interviewed Rory O’Hanlon, a former member of the Irish Dáil and doctor who worked in the border region during the Troubles. Our interview covered many details about how he thought about cross-border cooperation during conflict, especially with his abilities to work with his Northern Irish counterparts as the Minister for Health. This week has been helpful in getting to know the day-to-day political situation, especially with bringing my knowledge of today’s situation up to speed. As one of my coworkers commented, people don’t blame Brexit for creating problems, but instead it exaggerated problems that were already there.

What could have been done differently? 

• This week has been productive in terms of work, but I think the structure of the internship is a bit different than I anticipated, with us interns working on fewer memos and instead working on interview prep and community projects. This week has been helpful for those goals from my LiA outline. Going forward, I would like to ask more questions of my coworkers and people I trust who can tell me more about their perspective on the present-day political situation. The little tid-bits I have learned have been fascinating and I’d like to add to that. I feel like I’m barely getting the feel of the entire country by mainly being Belfast.

What did I learn about myself when working with others? 

• ​​During the interview, the questions I would have asked or followed up on are very different than someone with lived experience in the local area (in this case, experience living near the United Kingdom/Republic of Ireland border). I think this can say a lot about the difference in weight placed on different issue areas depending on someone’s background or focus.

What did I learn about leadership?

• This was mentioned in an interview this week, but our interviewee mentioned Ian Paisley, a former Northern Irish politician. With his actions, it’s difficult to decipher what’s right or wrong in someone’s actions, and there’s an importance in recognizing the gray area that we operate within. We need to assume best intentions, but each leader still needs to have courage and moral conviction to stand upon to do the right thing.

What do I want to develop / focus on next?

• I’d like to visit some last few sites of significance to the Troubles in Belfast before the commotion around the 12th of July picks up, such as the Republican Museum in West Belfast. It will be interesting to see how the city is changing in the build-up to the day, and visiting these sites will add to my perspective.