Press Releases 2011
A full house attended a cross-border forum in Cavan on Friday last, 25th November, where the proposed changes to the Common Agriculture Policy were outlined by speakers that included MEPs Mairead McGuinness, Bairbre de Brún and Esther de Lange of the Netherlands, as well as Neil Parish, a member of the UK House of Commons who had previously chaired the EP Agriculture Committee.
MEPs Sean Kelly and Phil Prendergast will host a public forum on water policy in Clonmel on Friday 21st October.
The meeting will concentrate on flooding, water quality and water charges.
An expert group of speakers are lined up from the Economic and Social Research Institute, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Office of Public Works and the National Forum of Flood Communities.
The meeting will also feature a question and answer session.
The meeting will be held in the Clonmel Park Hotel and will commence at 9.30 am. Members of the public are welcome to attend and admission is free of charge.
The meeting will concentrate on flooding, water quality and water charges.
An expert group of speakers are lined up from the Economic and Social Research Institute, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Office of Public Works and the National Forum of Flood Communities.
The meeting will also feature a question and answer session.
The meeting will be held in the Clonmel Park Hotel and will commence at 9.30 am. Members of the public are welcome to attend and admission is free of charge.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
European Parliament Journalism Prize 2011 winners are from France, Italy, Finland and Germany
French, Italian, Finnish and German journalists this morning received the European Parliament's fourth annual prize for excellence in journalism from President Jerzy Buzek.
The winners, in four categories, written press, internet, TV and radio, each received €5,000.
The winners, in four categories, written press, internet, TV and radio, each received €5,000.
General
The European Parliament's fourth annual prize for excellence in journalism will be awarded by President Jerzy Buzek on Wednesday 19 October. The prize goes to journalists who have covered major European issues or promoted a better understanding of EU institutions and policies. The award ceremony starts at 09.00h in the plenary chamber.
Juries of journalists in each EU Member State selected 64 national winners: 21 in the written press category, 16 for radio, 15 in the television category and 12 for internet. The award jury in Brussels, composed of three MEPs and six journalists, has since selected one final EU winner for each category: written press, radio, TV and the Internet. Each winner will receive €5000.
The European Parliament's fourth annual prize for excellence in journalism will be awarded by President Jerzy Buzek on Wednesday 19 October. The prize goes to journalists who have covered major European issues or promoted a better understanding of EU institutions and policies. The award ceremony starts at 09.00h in the plenary chamber.
Juries of journalists in each EU Member State selected 64 national winners: 21 in the written press category, 16 for radio, 15 in the television category and 12 for internet. The award jury in Brussels, composed of three MEPs and six journalists, has since selected one final EU winner for each category: written press, radio, TV and the Internet. Each winner will receive €5000.
Marian Harkin MEP launched the European Year of Volunteering Roadshow at European Union House today, Monday 22 August, at 11 am. The Roadshow features a number of varied activities that will be of interest to all groups and all ages. Ms Harkin was instrumental in having 2011 designated as European Year of Volunteering.
Niamh Griffin from Glanmire in Cork has won this year's EU Communication Challenge - a competition for media students organised by the European Parliament and European Commission offices in Ireland. Niamh, a Masters of Journalism student at Dublin City University, participated in this year's EU Communication Challenge workshop on 15 April and put the skills she acquired to good use in her entry entitled 'Know what's in your fish fingers'. As her prize, Niamh will travel to Brussels later this year to participate in a seminar for working journalists organised by the European Parliament and the European Commission. Responding to the news, Niamh said that she was 'looking forward to having this chance to look behind the scenes at the EU institutions, to see how they can be reported on and how issues relevant to us here are covered.'
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Chair of EP delegation says that Ireland is on the right track and the era of surprises is over
A senior delegation of MEPs from the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee concludes its visit to Ireland today. Having met with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin TD, the Governor of the Central Bank, Mr Patrick Honohan, members of a Special Committee of the Dáil and key representatives of the institutions in charge of economic, financial and monetary matters in Ireland, the Chairperson of the Committee, Sharon Bowles MEP said that 'Ireland has the recipe to respond to the economic and banking crisis, but is being treated harshly by its EU partners. The delegation had a sense of things being on the right track and that the Government has taken ownership of the situation.'
Two Irish journalists have been selected as the Irish nominees for this year's European Parliament Journalism Prize. 355 journalists submitted applications across the EU's 27 Member States and in October of this year, the prize, now in its fourth year, will be awarded to four journalists in the categories of print journalism, radio, TV and internet. This year's Irish nominees are Jamie Smyth, Social Affairs Correspondent with The Irish Times for his article on Ireland's sham marriage scam and Ellen Gunning of Dublin City FM, for her interview with European Commissioner Máire Geoghegan Quinn, as part of her series, The EU and You. Both entries were chosen by the Irish jury because of the manner in which they promoted a better understanding of an EU issue, institution or policy area.
Twenty four Transition Year students from Coláiste Chiaráin in Leixlip will travel to Strasbourg this week to participate in the European Parliament's Euroscola programme alongside secondary school students from the EU's 26 other Member States. The Coláiste Chiaráin students, with their 'Captain Europe' video, succeeded in wowing the panel of judges at the finals of this year's My Vision for Europe competition at the Irish Film Institute (IFI) in Dublin on 11 March. All participating schools had put together a 4-minute video portraying their Vision for Europe. On the day of the finals, five Irish secondary schools (the chosen regional finalists for this year's My Vision for Europe competition) competed to impress a judging panel which included Nicky Phelan of Brown Bag films, Alicia McGivern, Head of Education at the Irish Film Institute (IFI) in Dublin and Francis Jacobs, Head of the European Parliament Office in Ireland.
On Monday, 9 May, the award-winning film, Die Fremde, directed by Feo Aladag, will be shown at a free screening to mark Europe Day at European Union House in Dublin. This event is being organised by the European Parliament Office in Ireland, in conjunction with the Austrian Embassy and the Goethe Institut. Die Fremde was the winner of the European Parliament's LUX prized in 2010. The screening will begin at 6.30pm and will be followed by a wine reception.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Competition for third-level media students launched - The EU Communication Challenge
On Friday, 15 April, the European Parliament and European Commission offices in Ireland hosted a workshop for third-level media students entitled 'The EU Communication Challenge'. Participants heard from RTÉ's European Correspondent, Paul Cunningham, Fine Gael MEP Gay Mitchell and freelance journalist, Jessie Magee, as they gave their impressions of the difficulties associated with communicating EU-related issues. Participants then tried it out for themselves in a variety of working groups, each producing a 3-minute news report on their assigned topic. The event concluded with the launch of The EU Communication Challenge competition. The competition is open to all third-level students and the prize is participation in a seminar for working journalists in Brussels in the autumn of this year. The closing date for entries is Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
'Show Racism the Red Card', an intercultural camp for 11-16 year old boys and girls, has been chosen as the Irish entry for this year's Charlemagne European Youth Prize, which will be awarded in Aachen, Germany on 31 May 2011. Darja Isajeva, a young Latvian organiser living in Ireland, submitted the project as an example of a project which brought together young people from a number of different countries, promoting an understanding among them of the values of integration and cultural diversity. The camp took place in Glencolmcille in Donegal in July of last year and was attended by young people from Ireland, Poland, Slovenia, England, the Congo, India, Iran, Japan, Kurdistan, South Africa and the Ukraine. The volunteers who ran the camp also came from a range of different European countries. The participants were introduced to new languages, games and competitions.
Twenty four Transition Year students from Coláiste Chiaráin in Leixlip succeeded in wowing the panel of judges at today's finals of the 2011 My Vision for Europe competition. The students explained to the judges why they had chosen to put together a 3-minute video examining the complexities and implications of EU Member State stereotypes and the powers of a fictional 'Captain Europe' who called on the Member States to 'eurofy'. The Coláiste Chiaráin students, together with students from the Methodist College in Belfast, will participate in the European Parliament's Euroscola programme in Strasbourg on 19 May. Announcing the winners of this year's competition, the Oscar-nominated Nicky Phelan of Brown Bag films said 'I hope this experience will inspire these students to become the next generation of Irish film-makers.'
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Waterford student wins trip to the European Parliament in Strasbourg for her class
Katie Ní Urmholtaigh, a second year student from Meánscoil San Nioclás, An Rinn, Co. Waterford has won this year's European Parliament bookmark competition and will now bring the rest of her class to Strasbourg on 10 June to participate in the European Parliament's Junior Euroscola programme. The competition invited 14-16 year old students to design a bookmark based on one of six themes. Katie gave her bookmark the title 'Europe sowing the seed for a better environment.'
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Five Irish schools chosen to compete in this year's My Vision for Europe final
Teams from Loreto Abbey in Dalkey, Coláiste Chiaráin in Leixlip, Mercy College in Sligo, Presentation Secondary School in Thurles and Methodist College in Belfast have won the regional stages of this year's My Vision for Europe competition and will now compete in the final, to be held at the Irish Film Institute (IFI) on Friday, 11 March. All are competing for the opportunity to travel to Strasbourg on 19 May to participate in the European Parliament's Euroscola programme together with students from the EU's 26 other Member States. This year, the competing teams responded to two challenges in their four minute videos - three of the finalists chose to present the story of Captain Europe and his/her powers, while the other two chose to present their vision of what the EU will be like in 2050.
Friday, January 28, 2011
The future Common Fisheries Policy must allow for a regional approach to regional issues
This morning Ireland's three MEPs for the North West constituency - Pat the Cope Gallagher (Fianna Fáil), Marian Harkin (Independent) and Jim Higgins (Fine Gael) -joined Seán O'Donoghue of the Killybegs Fishermen's Organisation (KFO) in calling for a decentralised approach to the implementation of a new EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). They were attending a packed seminar in Sligo, during which those attending gave their views on a potential strategy for Ireland in the context of the review of the EU's CFP. The MEPs listened to presentations from representatives of Bord Iascaigh Mhara, the Marine Institute, the Irish Fish Producers' Organisation and Killybegs Fishermen's Organisation and acknowledged the frustration among those attending. They pointed to the new role for the European Parliament in decision-making on the new CFP as a result of the Lisbon Treaty and assured those attending that they would work together on this when the CFP comes before the Parliament for discussion and voting.
On Friday, 14 January, the European Parliament launched the 2011 Prize for Journalists. The EP Prize for Journalism is awarded each year in four categories - print, radio, television and online - to journalists who have written an article or worked on a programme which clarified an EU issue or promoted a better understanding of the EU's policies. In 2010, an Irish radio entry, submitted by Máirín Ní Ghadhra of Raidió na Gaeltachta, was selected to compete at European level by a panel of Irish journalists (see photo). The closing date for the 2011 prize is 31 March.
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