Belfast United

Belfast United was one of the Institute's most compelling programs, which the Institute administered in Northern Ireland for over a decade.

The program took shape at a Dublin meeting in 1989 involving Dan Doyle and then U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Margaret Heckler. During the luncheon, Doyle and Ambassador Heckler watched with horror as a live television report inadvertently captured the brutal killing of two British soldiers, murdered in violent retribution for an earlier killing of an Irish Catholic by a British soldier. The murders of the two British soldiers took place during the funeral march for the deceased Irish Catholic.

The planned one-hour luncheon meeting turned into a three-hour discussion of how the Institute could in some way help stem the violence that had overrun Northern Ireland for centuries, and the concept of Belfast United was hatched. A year later, the Institute established a Belfast United office at the University of Ulster in Jordanstown, Northern Ireland. For over a decade, Belfast United became one of the most impactful programs in the history of "The Troubles."

Belfast United allowed the Institute to work with a group of coaches and academicians from Northern Ireland. The core concept involved placing equal numbers of Catholic and Protestant youth on the same teams. Team members trained together for a period of months, and then engaged in competitive games in Northern Ireland, followed by an all-expense paid trip to the United States. Over the course of the decade, more than 1,000 youths took part in Belfast United. When President Bill Clinton visited Northern Ireland in 1995 to declare peace, Belfast United received praise from many quarters as one of the most effective programs in bringing about the peace.

Belfast United led to many other activities in Northern Ireland, including three Belfast Scholar-Athlete Games and many distinguished coaches being sent to Northern Ireland on behalf of the Institute. One young man who did a remarkable job in the early 90's was Patrick Lynch. A Brown University basketball standout, Lynch participated in two tours in Northern Ireland, during which he worked with hundreds of Catholic and Protestant youth through basketball. Now the Attorney General of Rhode Island, Lynch played a pivotal role in the success of Belfast United.

Another of the many great coaches the Institute sent to Northern Ireland was the legendary former Providence College coach, Joe Mullaney. Read Jack Cavanaugh's Sports Illustrated article, "Bridge over Troubled Waters: A veteran U.S. Coach brings Catholics and Protestants together in Belfast" from November 25, 1991.