Greenwood Lake-based project that helped children in N. Ireland featured in documentary
Project Children was started by Irish American NYPD Bomb Squad Officer Denis Mulcahy in 1975.
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A special project in Greenwood Lake that helped bring peace to Northern Ireland by helping thousands of children is being featured in a documentary.
The film, “How to Diffuse a Bomb: The Project Children Story,” is being shown Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the Lafayette Theater in Suffern.
Project Children was started by Irish American NYPD Bomb Squad Officer Denis Mulcahy in 1975.
“The troubles in Northern Ireland were totally out of control. Kids getting killed on the street, getting hurt. They were getting hit with plastic bullets. We had mothers that put 9 and 10-year-olds on a plane with no idea where they were going. That would really tell you how bad the troubles were. They knew they’d be safe.”
Mulcahy, who lives in Greenwood Lake, saw the need for both Catholic and Protestant children to escape the deadly violence and helped create the organization that brought 23,000 children to Orange County, and eventually other states, for six-week stays.
“When they came over here, they found a buddy from home. They didn’t realize they were killing each other over there because it was different neighborhoods,” says Mulcahy. “It was an eye-opener for kids and something they’ll never forget.”
Project Children’s efforts spanned decades and involved roughly 16,000 volunteer host families.
“There were ups and downs because you’re sharing a room with a stranger and they’re in a new country,” says Sheila Keenan, whose parents hosted several children when she was a child. “It was fantastic and I’m still friends with some of them to this day.”
Mulcahy says his organization stays in touch with many of the former children the organization helped and that some have gone on to become respected members of their communities, including elected officials and journalists.
Tickets to the documentary include a meet-and-greet with Mulcahy. For more information about the showing and Project Children visit https://projectchildren.org/documentary.
