The Irish Peace Process Cultural and Training Program

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Irish Peace Process Cultural and Training Program, also known as the "Walsh Visa Program," is a new visa program designed to assist disadvantaged areas of Northern Ireland and the six border counties of the Republic of Ireland in their transition to a peace-time economy.

The Program will grant non-immigrant, working visas to12,000 men and women aged 18 to 35 (who are residents of Northern Ireland and the counties of Donegal, Cavan, Monaghan, Louth, Sligo, and Leitrim in Ireland). These visas will allow them to live and work in the United States for up to 36 months. During their stay in the U.S., they will receive job training and develop conflict resolution skills, aimed at helping the future of their careers.

The program will focus on nine business sectors in which personnel or skills shortages exist in Ireland and Northern Ireland or where strong future growth and/or new investment is expected. The business sectors include:

• hospitality and tourism;
• customer service;
• information and communications technologies;
• pharmaceuticals;
• engineering;
• sales, marketing and promotion;
• agriculture and horticulture diversification;
• food processing; and
• furniture.

The goal of the Program is to help participants develop a business and cultural skill base, which can attract international and private investments to their local economies and help promote the economic regeneration of Northern Ireland and the border counties of the Republic of Ireland.

The Walsh Visa Program is a new visa program for young people, aged 18 to 35,

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants must:

• Be between 18 and 35 years of age
• Have been residents of Northern Ireland or Border Counties of Republic of Ireland for at least 3 months
• Meet the U.S. immigration/visa requirements

Priority will be given to applicants who:

• Have been unemployed for at least 3 months
• Have completed, or are currently participating in a Training and Employment Agency (T&EA) (Northern Ireland) or FAS - Training and Employment Authority (Ireland) or other publicly funded employment/training program
• Are redundant, or in receipt of a notice of redundancy

Applicants will be screened for eligibility and evaluated for required capabilities by FAS and the T&EA. Successful applicants will enter a home country based 4 to 6 week training program on numercy, literacy, basic computer skills, and work place socialization that will afford them minimum employment skills. The program administrator will present the curriculum portion on living and working in the United States.

Participants will access information on U.S. employment opportunities offered by approved employers. Participating U.S. employers will have access to the resumes of participants. Either the participant or the employee may initiate the contact on a particular opportunity. For more information about this program contact:

The Walsh Visa Web Site at http://www.walshvisa.net or

The Walsh Visa Information Phone Line
1-877-WalshVisa
(1-877-925-7484)

E-mail: walshvisa@logicon.com

Prospective employers should contact:
Logicon - U.S. Program Administrator
POC: Robert Powell
Title: Project Manager
Company: Logicon
Address: 1831 Wiehle Avenue, Suite 100
Reston VA 20190-5241
Phone: (703) 318-1074, extension 344
E-mail: rpowell@logicon.com

Prospective employee participants should contact either:

T+EA - Training and Employment Agency (N. Ireland)
POC: Drew Haire
Title: NI Gov
Company: T+EA
Address:39-49 Adelaide Street
Belfast, BT2 8FD
N. Ireland
Phone: +44 (1232) 257 481
Fax: +44 (1232) 257 817
E-mail: ifi.tea@nics.gov.uk

FÁS - Training & Employment Authority (Ireland)
POC: David Miller
Title: Irl Gov - Co-ord H/Q
Company: FAS
Address: 27-33 Upper Baggot St.
Dublin 4
Ireland
Phone: +353 (1) 607 0713
Fax: +353 (1) 607 0633
E-mail: davidmiller@ireland.com