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East Tennessee families host Northern Ireland youth and see the bonds and friendships that form   By Gabrielle Nolan Northern Ireland has a storied past of violence known as The Troubles, an ethno-nationalist conflict that lasted around 30 years from the 1960s to the 1990s. The population was divided, largely between Catholics and Protestants, concerning whether Northern Ireland should reunite with the Republic of Ireland or remain in the United Kingdom. In the 1970s, a Church of Ireland (Anglican) clergyman named Rev. Kerry Waterstone believed that teenagers from Northern Ireland might be positively influenced by the American way of life in the “melting pot” society of various races, religions, and ethnicities. Rev. Waterstone received approval from Anglican church leaders and began to implement a plan that focused on addressing the prejudices and stereotypes of the time, and the Ulster Project was born in 1975. Various programs now exist throughout the United... Read more →