A local student has been selected for this year’s Washington Ireland Programme (WIP).
Mary Kate Slattery from Mount Merrion will join a class of 30 student participants representing Ireland and Northern Ireland at WIP this year.
WIP inspires and develops promising leaders through a programme committed to building a future of peace and prosperity for the north and south of Ireland.
For over two decades, WIP has brought together young leaders from a wide range of communities and backgrounds for the leadership and skills-development programme.
Each year, WIP selects 30 talented students to join its network of leaders and influencers by completing a 12-month programme of service and leadership development, which includes a summer in Washington DC or New York City.
The Washington Ireland Programme has notable alums serving as Taoiseach (Leo Varadkar, WIP Class of 2000), Lord Mayor of Belfast (Nuala McAllister, WIP Class of 2010), and in Westminster (Emma Little-Pengelly, WIP Class of 2002).
Mary Kate Slattery is a third-year law student at Trinity College and was chosen for WIP from over 300 applications from 19 different Universities and Colleges. Mary Kate is also a full time amateur Irish boxer.
Mary Kate is also an amateur boxer
The 21-year-old told Dublin Gazette she will be going from June 2nd to August 4th and is very excited.
She said: “I am absolutely delighted and very fortunate to have been selected for this year’s WIP class, I am excited to learn so much and work with some incredible professionals in Washington this summer.”
She told us, as part of the internship, she will be working in places like the White House and Capitol Hill.
“We will be focusing on the areas of administrative law and political research.
“I am really looking forward to meeting all the incredible legal and political figures in D.C and gaining a better understanding of how exactly the U.S political and legal regime works.
“It is a very turbulent time for American politics and I feel so privileged to be offered an inside view and look forward to embracing a new and very contrasting culture to Ireland.
“I am also very excited to bring all my experience and knowledge back to Ireland and carrying it with me for my entire legal career.”
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar recently launched WIP’s New York Program meby speaking about his experience on WIP at the Irish Consulate in New York City:
“It helped me develop my view of the wider world…and without it perhaps I wouldn’t be standing here today.”
If you would like to follow the progress of Mary Kate Slattery and others this summer, you can follow their blogs and view photos at www.wiprogram.org
