Mason’s Alternative Break (AB) programs are collaboratively designed by students and staff to address social issues through education and community service.
In this summer trip to Ireland, students had the opportunity to examine issues of poverty and community identity in the Republic of Ireland, as well as conflict and peacemaking in Northern Ireland from both literary and political perspectives. Students spent several days in Limerick, Dublin, and Derry, and met with key community and political actors in order to discuss the split between the Republic and Northern Ireland, community, and the “troubles” in Northern Ireland and the successes of the peace process. Students engaged in service projects with Trinity College in Dublin, and Project Children in Belfast, an organization dedicated to bringing youth together from different identity backgrounds. In addition to these important meetings and experiences in the Republic and Northern Ireland, students had the additional opportunity to tour key political and literary sites in Limerick, Dublin, and Belfast.
The city of Limerick welcomed Mason publically in their online newsletter, Limerick's Local Heroes.