Young people had an enjoyable time in the making of original work, they did not need to be confronted with what grown-ups were becoming aware of as the war unfolded. From time to time there were opportunities to let them know that other young people were experiencing difficulty, it was not necessary to convey directly the pain of this experience. Children from Bosnia, recent refugees from the war, were able to pay a brief visit to the place where I worked at the time, in The Galvone Industrial Estate, in order for them to be met by fellow workers on a community scheme there, when an impromptu reception was held.

Ms Zlata Fillipovic opened the exhibition ‘Library of Dreams - Bridge of Hope’ for me, in May 1996, at Adare Library. Zlata, in writing her book, Sarajevo Diary, expressed the concerns of a young person witnessing the madness grown ups bring upon everyone, in time of war. During the opening we each spoke of a wish to do something for young people who were enduring the consequences of conflict.

Whilst in Bosnia, I had come to understand the idea of making work that connected many people, to be of importance as part of a process of healing. Speaking about it in Limerick to close colleagues, I was satisfied to present the work in Limerick, initially. I believe that in many situations, acts of connection to places outside ones immediate experience, may assist the development of ones perspectives of life. It is hoped that whilst enjoying being participants in large-scale artworks that I have undertaken, young participants were also able to better understand how other people managed to exist. I found that there was a means to connect with this aspiration through designing and developing a conflict resolution programme with the help of Eileen Kennelly and Mike Finn, Primary School Principal and Playwright, respectively. We devised an approach around the double booking of visitors from two adversarial planets, in conflict due to the loss of their linking star bridge. Mike and Eileen performed in 9 schools and connected 2,834 young Irish people to the Star Bridge project, which I resolved to see into being when working in Sarajevo the previous Winter of 1995/96. A school in Mostar connected with the programme, through the assistance of Ms Sonia Zambazides, who travelled frequently to Mostar during the conflict there. Young people were invited to place a hand print upon a star to be dedicated as part of an artwork over the Abbey river beside The Hunt Museum in 1997. A CD Bridges Between and a video of the dedication were launched soon after.

The Star Bridge – Bridge of Leaps artwork was placed at the location of Stari Most, with visits in April and September to Mostar, BiH, in 1998, featuring the children’s’ hand-prints with a little verse from Mostaran kids, which spelled the words: ‘Vratiti Nam Stari Most – Give Us Back Stari Most’. There had been a public event in which we saw the completed work presented with original song and music composition in Limerick. The artwork, with the investment of time and effort from young people who participated with myself, Eileen and Mike, and colleagues Roeland Van Elsen and Sonia Zambakides, went on from the dedication in Limerick in 1997, to be located in 1998, at the site of its inspiration in Mostar, Bosnia Hercegovina.

Young people from Mostar met young people from Limerick as part of Limerick Civic Week 1999. 10 people came from Mostar for the week. In addition to my own fund-raising endeavours, The Soros Foundation and UNHCR assisted the visit. Whilst here the visitors presented music song and a drama made by them describing predicaments in the lives of women-the drama was titled ‘6 parts of me’. Their presentation was seen in three schools and a library between counties Limerick and Clare and at the University of Limerick, where I presented a connected installational artwork. They kindly walked in the St Patrick’s Day Parade and linked their community with Limerick’s by presenting the Mayor with a white stone from their region like the kind used to build the historic Stari Most. They also visited the Burren and stood on the Cliffs of Moher, which are said to be linked geologically with their own karst region.