Clanrye Group Training for Success

In what used to be the corrals for a rich homeowner outside Newry, Northern Ireland, the Clanrye Group prepares young workers and people with learning disabilites for placement in the area workforce.

The 11,000 acre national forest Slieve Gullion (view from the top of the forest at left) and the Courtyard buildings are home to the training center. General Manager Liam Devine oversees a wide range of training programs. Through their Wider Horizons program, twenty-one people aged 18 to 28 are currently working in Toronto, Ontario. It's one of five trips that Clanrye has in the planning for this year--two to Toronto, two to Boston and one to Montenegro.

These programs are similar to the Building Bridges program that brought 12 young people from the area around Newry, Dundalk and Belfast to Missoula in 1997. Devine said Clanrye decided to try an international program in 1996. He said he called Dennis Mulcahy from Project Children, the group that had been bringing young Irish children to the U.S. during summers. Habitat for Humanity came on board and the program was underway.

Missoula and Jacksonville, Florida were the first two places selected for the program. "It was through the hard work of Jon Agner that made it work," Devine said. Jon Agner was the Montana coordinator of Project Children. Agner traveled to Newry to help interview and select the original 12 students. In his free time from his work at the U.S. Forest Service, Agner found host families, dealt with all of the planning and worked with local Habitat leaders to make sure the program would be successful, Devine said.

More than 13-years later, Clanrye has now given more than 100 young adults a chance to travel abroad and work toward a career.