Dalriada School to represent NI

Students from across Northern Ireland became MEPs for the day at the European Youth Parliament which was hosted by Belfast Metropolitan College at its Titanic Quarter Campus on Thursday March 21.

Dalriada and Belfast Inst fought off strong competition to win the Northern Ireland regional final of the European Youth Parliament and will now represent Northern Ireland at the UK national session in Liverpool in September.

The five participating schools were Ballymena Academy, Dalriada School, Royal Belfast Academical Institution (Belfast), Victoria College (Belfast) and Thornhill College (Derry~Londonderry).

Each of the schools, with a team of nine students, formed a committee and presented, explained and debated resolutions on a range of topical issues including health, culture, innovation, employment and the Eurozone.

Colette Fitzgerald, Head of the European Commission Office in Northern Ireland, said: “I hope that the students not only learned about the workings of the European Parliament but also gained an insight into some of the key issues currently being considered by Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and the European Commission in Brussels.”

Caitríona Hughes from the Northern Ireland European Youth Parliament Committee said: “In previous years the two winning schools from the NI European Forum have performed very well at the UK National Selection session and have been wonderful ambassadors for their schools and three Northern Irish schools have represented the UK at International Sessions.

“The experience they will gain will be of great benefit to them at university interviews and in life in general. We wish both schools well and hope this year to have one or both schools going through to the International Session in the Autumn.”

The EYP competition in Northern Ireland is organised by the NI European Youth Parliament Committee in partnership with the European Commission Office in Northern Ireland.