Class VI (2008-2009)

Sponsor Club: Ballymoney, District 1160, Ireland.

Ryan comes from a town called Ballymoney – a small rural, provincial town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Ballymoney is located as the gateway to the world famous Causeway Coast and Glens and Bushmills Distillery; the oldest licensed whiskey distillery in the world! He is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Ballymoney who are delighted that he was awarded the Rotary World Peace Fellowship.

Having originally studied Sports Science at undergraduate level in Belfast, he traveled to South Africa to work for a South African NGO who used sports and leisure programmes as a means of community development in poor and rural areas. During his time with Sports Coaches Outreach (SCORE) he implemented various programmes aimed at capacity building, womens empowerment, HIV/Aids awareness raising and bringing people together from different racial backgrounds. Initially agreeing to six months he was employed by the organization for 18 months working as a Team Leader based in Cape Town.

On return to Northern Ireland he was employed as a Community Relations Officer for a Local Government District Council. The programme aimed to bring together divided communities in the North, examining the issues of conflict and introducing projects and initiatives to increase cross community contact and mutual understanding. Spending almost four years in the post, the job involved working with a wide range of stakeholders including elected members, the police and statutory agencies, young people and local community groups.

Prior to his arrival in Australia, Ryan also spent three months with a World Council of Churches Human Rights programme in Israel and Palestine. Volunteers with the programme work with Israeli and Palestinian peace groups, live in vulnerable communities and monitor the litany of checkpoints throughout the West Bank in what was a very challenging yet rewarding experience.

A keen Rugby Union enthusiast, he has enjoyed the sporting culture of Australia and emphasis on the outdoor life which the climate in Ireland doesn’t quite allow! He has been kindly hosted and supported by the Rotary Club of Toowong during his time in Brisbane and would like to thank the wider Rotary family, University community and friends for their support particularly since his accident in February.

Ryan enjoys working with communities and would like to expand this further with a career in the Police service. Being strongly influenced by his experience of the security forces growing up in Northern Ireland, he has an interest in community policing, working with diversity, counter terrorism and peacekeeping.