Martin Reilly’s Internship with Representative Jim Walsh in Washington

Martin
Reilly ’99
Office Placement: Rep.
Jim Walsh

JOURNAL ENTRIES

Publish Journal Entry
25 Jun 1999
09:14:45

Hi, Just finished my first week in D.C and am having a great time. My placement is
really fab and the host family are fine. We all found a nice wee Irish bar called the
Irish Times and we meet there regulary. You can contact me at my email if you want to know
more.

Publish Journal Entry
29 Jun 1999
10:15:21

Well, the office placement is going great.I’m the only Irish intern which means that I
have a load of work to do. Went to the Irish Times last night and had a good night’s
craic.. Conor was 21 and the group indulged in some in-breeding! Alas, the Irish in DC
have a reputation to live up to.

Publish Journal Entry
01 Jul 1999
10:09:45

Hi went out last night with the ones from the office. We had a ball Millar was only $1
! ! Stayed with Bryan from work, he lives 5 minutes from the office so that is handy.

Things back home seen to be on a knife edge( but what’s new). The reports over here are so
simplified – it’s the Catholic Gerry Adams verus the Protestant David Trimble and that’s
it. Have they not heard of John Hume ( nobel prize winner), Ian Paisey ( poll topper)
etc.??Alas, it’s up to us “young leaders”(!) to set them straight.

Nanu
Nanu.

PS Email is great- how did we ever survive without it (or more to the point how
did Simon communicate before it existed!! )

Publish Journal Entry
09 Jul 1999
10:37:22

Hi, went out at the weekend and celebrated my firtst 4th in style. The Reflecting Pool
will never have the same image for me again. Ask Neil Smith for further details!

Working as hard as I like in the office which is great. I can rule the world if I want or
have fun on the Net.

Going out on the beer tonight as usual, the ”Young Drinkers’,
sorry ‘Leaders’, meetings of a Friday seems to descend into a drinking contest but I doing
Fermanagh proud. Aidan thought that he could slag us ‘ cullshies ‘ off but I did the
necessary!

Seen Star Wars again but I have a lot to do before I catch up with Simon.
Austinm Powers is great and want to see Nicole Kidman, sorry Eyes Wide Shut when it comes
out.

Going to dinner with some very important person on Tuesday who personally asked
the office for me to come. She is from New York( which is where Congressman James Walsh is
from) and told the boss in this office to send ” our Martin” along to dinner!!
Fab!

Slainte,

Martin.

Publish Journal Entry
09 Jul 1999
10:40:27

Hi, went out at the weekend and celebrated my firtst 4th in style. The Reflecting Pool
will never have the same image for me again. Ask Neil Smith for further details!

Working as hard as I like in the office which is great. I can rule the world if I want or
have fun on the Net.

Going out on the beer tonight as usual, the ”Young Drinkers’,
sorry ‘Leaders’, meetings of a Friday seems to descend into a drinking contest but I doing
Fermanagh proud. Aidan thought that he could slag us ‘ cullshies ‘ off but I did the
necessary!

Seen Star Wars again but I have a lot to do before I catch up with Simon.
Austinm Powers is great and want to see Nicole Kidman, sorry Eyes Wide Shut when it comes
out.

Going to dinner with some very important person on Tuesday who personally asked
the office for me to come. She is from New York( which is where Congressman James Walsh is
from) and told the boss in this office to send ” our Martin” along to dinner!!
Fab!

Slainte,

Martin.

Publish Journal Entry
12 Jul 1999
09:25:18

I hit the button twice. Sorry ’bout that!!. Good job that I wasn’t assigned to the
Whitehouse, just think of the fun that I could have if I got near the briefcase with the
doomsday button. First target would have to be Newry, Aidan should know better than to
mess with Fermanagh.

Publish Journal Entry
14 Jul 1999
12:41:44

Just chilling in the office today. Had good laugh at the ” Simon has been sent
home story”. Going on the beer to-nite. New York Republicanism evening in Capital
Hill Club. Beer is very cheap and there usually are loads of hot girls there, so I’m off
to develop my strongest Irish accent ever.

Slainte.

Publish Journal Entry
19 Jul 1999
10:06:35

Hi ,

It is the 19th july already!!

Had a pretty boring weekend trying to save
my money to go to Boston next weekend.

Was meant to save my stipend but it had to be
given to the nearest barman as soon as poosible, like the last time.

Got to go and
learn how to give tours so that I don’t get lost with Jeff on Capital Hill Day on
Wednesday.

Slainte.

Publish Journal Entry
26 Jul 1999
15:13:42

Hi, Went to New York for the weekend.Took the bus up on Friday morning.

Decided to
go on Thursday evening at 10.00pm!! Stayed with Neil S. mates from Ardglass, Co.Down. NY
is good but DC is a far better place to live in. Did the Empire State Building and Times
Square and drank a lot of Guinness.

The Irish bars in Queen’s are full of Irish people
which is totally different than DC where they are full of American wanabees! Met 2 people
that I knew from back home out of the blue in a bar in NY. How mad is that?

Going on
the beer again tonite as Simon is heading back home for a job interview. Good luck mate.

Slainte, Martin.

Publish Journal Entry
09 Aug 1999
10:59:01

This will be my last journal entry from work. This is my article for the magazine. Thanks to the wonder of ‘cut and paste’ I don’t have to type it all out again.

P.S If you can apply for this program make sure you do!

The ” Fun and Games” of Washington DC

Eight weeks of summer bliss has been whittled down to only two as I write this article. Such is the fun that we are having, we can use phrases as ” time flies when you are having fun” and still be cool. My placement was in Congress with Rep. Walsh and I am having a ball.

What struck me most about working in DC was the atmosphere of Congress. Being a politics student, Capital Hill was always going to be an interesting and educational experience and I have not been disappointed. The constant conversations of my colleagues regarding $ 10 billion for this budget and only $ 4 for this one, is something that acted as a constant reminder of where I was working and what an opportunity I had been given. The fact that Mr Walsh has so many Irish connections and is a genuinely ” nice bloke ” , as we say back home, essentiality meant that I was in for a good time.

The good craic in the office, the ‘ I can send more emails than you ‘ game and the constant guessing of whether my keys will set off the metal detector is also something that I think I will miss when we get back to good oul’ Norn Iron.

However tempting working in Congress may be, myself and Neil Smyth were offered better. We were approached on the street and asked to be extras in Gwyneth Paltrow’s new movie, “Bounce”. Both Paltrow and the title were an immediate attraction and I was ready to take on Hollywood! All I had to do was turn up for a sreen-test the following Sunday. The script of my screen-test, entitled ” Melvin the Cockroack” ( I kid you not ), was not quite Star Wars. I was told to call back to receive my assessment but on the day in question, pool had to be played and Neil’s female interns had to be entertained! Thus my film career ended as soon as it had began.

The weekend that we spent in New York served as a good comparison to the city of DC. New York may be a ‘ must ‘ for tourists but DC is an amazing experience and it is home to a certain White Bungalow and the best Metro system ever.

Anyways, I think that the fact that I am 21 over here as Americans reverse the month and day of your birth date was a good omen for me, the ” luck of the Irish ” as they say. DC 1999 has by far been the best of my twenty summers and Project Children – Young Leaders undoubtedly gets a big Fermanagh thumbs up from me.

Martin Reilly.