LOCAL GIRL MAKES GOOD
ARMAGH NATIVE HOPS ON BOARD

IT'S A COOL, OVERCAST DAY in Armagh, but upstairs in the Amma Centre computer lab, a damp, humid atmosphere reigns as students sweat over their projects. Students mutter, hum, and swear under their breath as they struggle against looming deadlines. But amidst the mush-mouthed North American voices, a lilting local accent finds its way to one's tired ears.

It is none other than Roisin Kelly, Armagh local and pinch-hitter in the much-lauded Armagh Project Team Four. But how did an Armagh City girl find her way to an American program and a table full of foreigners?

"The woman at reception [in the Amma Centre] is a friend of my family," she explained. "And I heard that Team Four was a person short-- so I came to fill the gap."

And fill the gap she did. Her fellow team members say they can't imagine anyone else in her place, much less a run-of-the-mill American.

"She's helped us so much in getting around and with the facts," team member Cate Oliver said.

"She's great-- one of the gang," agreed Charlotte Levins, noting that Kelly was invaluable in explaining the cultural mores of the area. "She told us what to add, and what was sensitive and to stay away from," Levins continued. "She told us what it was like growing up here, and she also showed us where the cool places are."

Despite bringing such strengths to the team, Kelly remains modest and insists that it's really all new to her.

"Although it's interesting," she said, "It's something I've never done before. It's pretty challenging, and I do sometimes feel like a fish out of water."

But being a local among foreigners can be eye-opening, she notes. "I've seen Armagh in a new light," she said. "There are so many things that [my team] find interesting that I take for granted."

What's it like working with Americans?

"They're slightly conspicuous," Kelly laughs. "A bit obvious."

And what does she make of this project coming to Armagh, of all places?

"That's the mystery," she said. "I can't quite work that one out."