The Friends Of St Patrick Spread The Message

“Our centre in Downpatrick is the main visitor attraction for St Patrick drawing in many international visitors. But the centre is also involved in a lower profile in reconciliation work. And last year the Irish President Mary Aleese  very kindly opened the annual inaugural conference on St Patrick in the Centre. He keynote speech was very much focused on reconciliation. [caption id="attachment_27667" align="alignleft" width="400" caption="The Friends of St Patrick Milwaukee Chapter on St Patrick's Day ready for their charitable collection."][/caption] “Basically our dynamic link with America all began from a casual visit from Archbishop Timothy Dolan from Milwaukee in Wisconsin which has a polulation of over half a million. He came through our doors as a visitor a number of years ago and he invited us back for a visit to the Irish Fair. “About five years ago we started to invite people to become Friends of the St Patrick Centre. It started to spread geographically in America and chapters were set up. We were very fortunate as we operate there as a charity and had to have solicitors set up the organizations. But within the ranks of our supporters this help emerged and the 501 C3 status was soon set up. “Core active groups have now been set up in Milwaukee, Minnesota, Chicago, Arizona, and in Toronto in Canada. We also have a very successful Young Ambassador programme running where young people can come from America and experience the different cultures and traditions in Ireland. These young people have came from all over North America. The interest in this programme is growing and last year we had 40 who visited us in Northern Ireland.” But Tim added, in trying to develop the St Patrick project he had to take a long term view of it all.  He said, “It could be very costly in trying to set up such an organisation of the Friends of St Patrick in America. So basically as we have limited funds, we have to plan very carefully. “I have made a number of trips over there and held lots of meetings. The volunteers of the individual chapters have become quite active and in the long term the foundations for this look secure. The Friends have meetings every three months. “We are working with The Spirit of St Patrick, which has a charitable dimension. This entails a new concept for St Patrick as the Friends set up collections of food and other items for the homeless and needy. This is done on St Patrick’s Day and is now part of the St Patrick parades. “It is a huge logistical task to collect so much on St Patrick’s Day. Cash donations are also accepted and altogether this new dimension has added a different slant to the St Patrick Day’s. In Milwaukee alone 30 Friends and volunteers help out and people turn up with shopping trolleys full of food. In America there are many poor people living beside those more fortunate and there is no safety net in their society such as we have. [caption id="attachment_27668" align="alignright" width="400" caption="Friends of St Patrick in the United States with former Down District Councillor Eddie Rea and St Patrick Centre Director Dr Tim Campbell."][/caption] “There are probably about 200 active agents in America who promote Friends of St Patrick. The chapters are very much built up with personal associations and are quite strong.” Altogether Tim is quietly happy with the development of the Friends of St Patrick. And he is not without his own circle of influence. He said, “Next June I hope to see the Archbishop of New York visit the centre in Downpatrick. I met him while I was in St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York this year on St Patrick’s Day and we had breakfast and chatted about  the Friends of St Patrick and the parades.” The St Patrick Signature Project Trail is 92 miles long in Northern Ireland and it largely covers Down, Armagh and other across other counties. By tapping into the American market, Tim hopes in the future that the St Patrick Centre becomes the tourist hub of this key project drawing many visitors to teh area. “In Downpatrick, our Friends of St Patrick group plays an important role in helping with our publicity and promotions. And they also make a small financial contribution. But importantly they are a significant social network helping to bolster up the project. ‘Downpatrick is now clearly on the map. Our promotional message now needs to be transmitted by individuals and groups far and wide. Although we are facing serious reductions in our budget we are confident that the St Patrick Centre has top level political, religious and community support and we will continue to get the message out there about how good a product this really is.” Tim’s enthusiasm and grasp of what has to be done is total. 1500 years ago St Patrick spent his life getting his Christian message out, and in similar fashion, the Friends of St Patrick too are spreading the word like true ‘disciples’.]]>