Three Cheers for the Irish Network!

Specifically, the Irish Network New Orleans.

Thanks to them, we four lucky people are headed to Ireland on this wonderful program which we keep going on about.

The Irish Network New Orleans (or IN-NOLA) are, well, a network of people who are either Irish, Irish-American, or simply have connections to Ireland. The network is a New Orleans community made up of those who value Irish culture and want to preserve and promote it in America. What's brilliant is that it's not for only Irish people - anybody can become a member, really: no one is excluded based on individual demographic information. 

That said, none of us four going to Ireland are actually Irish, and only one has traceable Irish ethnic ties. 

It really does make sense though! The network itself is diverse, and so should be the entrants for the scholarship. The only thing they used in order to judge us was our essays: what let us stand out was our minds, not our ethnicities. The policy of inclusion is a solid reiteration of the network's goal to teach everyone, not just Irish people, that Ireland is a cool and worthwhile country.

Because the Irish know that already, and we're certainly going to learn too.

I'm still trying to figure out how to add the IN-NOLA logo and a link to their website in the sidebar, so in the meantime...

For more information, the Irish Network New Orleans website is right here.