N4 Ireland’s summer started with a big, emphatic “Yes!” in Aedín Moloney’s one-woman performance of “Yes! Reflections of Molly Bloom.” Adapted by Aedín Moloney and Colum McCann, the play dramatizes Molly Bloom’s soliloquy from James Joyce’s Ulysses. Aedín visited the N4 Centre in Limerick, giving N4 Ireland a nice shout out via twitter, “Yesterday at @narrative4ireland tremendous organization working with young people in our collective communities. Deserving of all our support!”   

Elsewhere at N4 Ireland, 10 schools won the coveted Empathy School Awards, including Hartstown Community School in Dublin and Coláiste Iósaef in Limerick. Each earned the Bronze level of the award. Congratulations Hartstown and Coláiste!

And summer would not be summer without camp, and N4 Ireland’s Story Exchange facilitator crew led several exchanges in Tipperary and Limerick as part of the Empower summer camps. This free summer camp is designed to help 15- to 18-year olds from the Mid-West develop and grow their innovative, entrepreneurial and creative skills, while also providing them with a unique opportunity to work on solving real-life problems. N4 Ireland also partnered with the migrant organization Doras, offering two other free summer camps for teenage girls in Limerick City. Campers painted, crafted and exchanged stories, strengthening life skills and learning how to enhance their sense of wellbeing. They got a chance to work with local artists and writers and even toured the Limerick City Gallery of Art. And to top it all off, Gráinne O’Brien, author of A Limerick Fairytale, stopped in for a visit to chat with the campers and sign copies of her book. With generous funding by the Late Late Toy Show Appeal and the Community Foundation of Ireland, Connect 4 led to some strong summer connections!