TO have Denis Mulcahy and his wife Miriam in Skibbereen for the showing of the documentary How to Defuse a Bomb – The Project Children Story made it a special occasion.
Because Denis, who is a native of Cork, was one of the charity’s founders. To have Skibbereen woman Linda Croston and her business partner Catherine Flood in attendance made it doubly special.
And the involvement of Cork County Council in hosting the event, and it being shown in honour of the late Fianna Fáil Cllr Joe Carroll, ensured a packed house.
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Joe was a huge supporter of Project Children – an organisation that started in the 1970s with £50 seed money and brought 23,000 children from war-torn Belfast to the US for a six-week vacation.
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What a lot of people don’t know is that Joe’s daughter Linda Carroll is best friends with Linda Croston, and Joe made it his business to touch base with her every time he was in the US, and to do what he could for the organisation.
Linda Carroll described the occasion as “a proud event tinged with sadness. Joe was a very enthusiastic supporter of Project Children. He was a real admirer of Denis Mulcahy. And is a great friend of Linda Croston, so it all ties in together.
“It’s so lovely to see so many councillors and council officials here. Joe would never have been considered diplomatic but they all would have seen him as a good friend. At the end of the day, all of the councillors work hard. They want to do what is best for their community.
“What I loved about him, among other things, is that he just wanted to get things done. He was a doer, he was a worker, a social man, an entertainer, and he would have absolutely delighted with together – everyone coming together.”
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The 90-minute documentary, narrated by Liam Neeson, opens with children from Northern Ireland playing at a lakeside in the US.
It charts the journeys of two boys – one Catholic and one Protestant – who had an argy-bargy on the flight, became firm friends, then went their separate ways on returning home.
Years later they both moved to the US, and renewed their friendship.
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The documentary fast-forwards to Denis Mulcahy (who has twice been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize) being presented with a Top Cop award.
He told The Southern Star that the documentary shows what Ireland was like in those days. It’s very powerful. It’s sad. It’s funny. It’s a bit of everything.
He explained how he went to the US, and became a cop with a special skill – defusing bombs.
Denis explained that when Northern Ireland began hitting the headlines on the US nightly news he had a professional curiosity about the devices being used.
But the footage showed something other than the carnage a bomb does to bricks and mortar, it showed children playing at war, children hurling missiles, taking sides, becoming entrenched.
“I had the great honour of mentioning two amazing people,” he told last Thursday’s gathering.
“The late Joe Carroll and Linda Croston. Joe was a giant of a man and he had a heart of gold. We were so grateful over the years for his support.”
