The Gown Student Newspaper at Queen's University Belfast

NEWS: Three QUB students to intern with Washington Ireland

Three QUB students have been awarded prestigious internships with The Washington Ireland Program. Neill Rodgers (3rd year Law and Accountancy) will be interning with the Republican Congressman Peter King of New York in Capitol Hill. Peter Coulter (3rd Year Modern History and Drama) will be interning with Peter Fenn of Fenn Communications, the Democratic PR Strategist who worked on the Presidential campaigns of Al Gore and John Kerry, and part time Politics student Claire Sugden will be interning with the US Department of Health.

The Washington Ireland Program (WIP)  is an organisation designed to give students a rich insight into America’s professional and social culture through a two-month internship and an intensive training course in leadership and service. The programme aims to select promising individuals, from Ireland and Northern Ireland, who will ultimately use their unique talents to contribute back to their home communities.

Megan Farrell, WIP Executive Director, says, “This year’s class exemplifies the quality of university students in Northern Ireland and Ireland. All are extremely accomplished and bring a strong sense of service to the program. We are thrilled to welcome them to the WIP program and look forward to their time here in Washington.”

The class was chosen from more than 270 applicants throughout Northern Ireland, Ireland and the UK. “All of the students will emerge from the WIP program with both common and unique experiences that together create a true understanding of real leadership and service,” says Farrell.

WIP, which celebrated its fifteenth anniversary in 2009, awards each student a prestigious internship and promises an exciting summer for all involved. The internships include placements on Capitol Hill, government agencies and the private sector.

“While Washington DC is known for politics, the city is quite diverse and offers an outstanding opportunity for students with interests outside the political area. We are pleased to have internship placements this summer with cultural institutions, research centres, large companies and entrepreneurial businesses, ” explains Farrell.

Looking ahead to this summer, all members of the team are excited about the prospects that lie ahead, as Queen’s University student Peter Coulter explains: “On behalf of the three students that will be representing Queen’s in Washington this summer, we are delighted to have this opportunity. We thank Queen’s for continuing to support the Washington Ireland Program and will aim to uphold the university’s strong image abroad.”

If you would like to track the progress of this year’s team from QUB, you can read their personal blogs and view photos at the programme’s website: www.wiprogram.org<http://www.wiprogram.org/>.

Any Gown reader who is interested in applying for an internship with the Washington Ireland Program should visit www.wiprogram.org<http://www.wiprogram.org/> for more information on the application process.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 5th, 2010 at 1:53 am and is filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.