Irish entry comes second in European Youth Prize
Today in Aachen, Germany, Irishman John Holten from Ardee in Co. Louth was announced as the winner of the second prize in the 2010 Charlemagne European Youth Prize. The project submitted by Mr Holten, entitled 'You are Here', took the form of a book, including contributions from 14 young people, born after 1980. These young people who have enjoyed freedom of movement in Europe and work in a country other than their own, have grown up without the shadow of the Berlin Wall. Mr Holten said that the project had succeeded in creating 'greater European awareness among [the] group, including people who would normally not get a chance to meet each other or publish their work together.' John Holten was presented with his prize of €3000 today by the former President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering MEP.
Speaking during the ceremony, Mr Pöttering MEP said that 'the project 'You are Here' is a testimony to young people's fascination with the fall of the Berlin Wall and is an attempt to localise and determine the identity of the young generation in this new, young and undivided Europe.' The You are Here project was selected as the Irish nominee for this year's prize, following a national competition which concluded earlier this year. Irish MEPs Gay Mitchell (Fine Gael) and Nessa Childers (Labour Party) were members of the Irish jury, together with Jean-Marie Cullen of the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI). Commenting on the point of departure chosen by the winning project, Mr Mitchell stated that 'to understand Berlin is to understand the European Union project.'
The Charlemagne European Youth Project is organised on an annual basis by the European Parliament and the International Charlemagne Prize based in Aachen. Francis Jacobs, Head of the European Parliament Office in Ireland said that the 'variety of the projects submitted this year was impressive' and spoke of the fact that 'they bring together young people across Europe, in order to exchange experiences and learn from each other.'
First prize in the competition was awarded to a German project, 'Train for Europe'. The Comenius school partnership brought over 1,500 trainees from 24 vocational schools. Together, these trainees built a small train on the Airbus principle. The President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek MEP, said that this project embodies 'a Europe ..[of].. people jointly overcoming borders and tackling big tasks.'
The third prize was presented to a Bulgarian project, entitled 'BEST Engineering Competition BEC'. This project brought together 21 Europeans from 11 countries to design a robot which uses environmental sources of energy to collect and divide scrap and waste.
For further information, please contact Eimear Ní Bhroin, Press Officer at eimear.nibhroin@europarl.europa.eu or 086 8559423.
