Competitions for Schools

Teams from St. Dominic's College, Cabra, Dublin; Mercy Secondary School, Mounthawk, Tralee, Co. Kerry; St. Mary's Diocesan School, Drogheda, Co. Louth; St. Columba's College, Stranorlar, Co. Donegal; Strathearn School, Belfast and Assumption Grammar School, Ballynahinch, Co. Down 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, 2 March.  All are competing for the opportunity to travel to Strasbourg to participate in the European Parliament's Euroscola programme, together with students from the 26 other EU Member States.  

This is the third year of the My Vision for Europe competition which invites Transition Year students to get creative and put together short 4-minute videos responding to one of three challenges to express their vision for Europe.   This year, the competing teams responded to the following challenges - Once upon a time in Euroland - using a fairy tale to tell the story of the EU; The E and U - How does the EU directly affect your life?; and Home away from home - How does EU membership impact the ability of a citizen from a new Member State to find a place to live, a job, enrol in school, etc.?

Speaking in advance of this year's final, Noelle O'Connell, Executive Director of European Movement Ireland, said: "The My Vision competition encourages young people to explore the European issues dominating Irish headlines and to really inform themselves about Ireland's place in Europe.  This is central to EM Ireland's aim of promoting reasoned, robust and informed debate about Europe among Irish citizens.  We are looking forward to seeing what this year's entrants have come up with."

Francis Jacobs, Head of the European Parliament Office in Ireland, was a member of the judging panel who selected the regional finalists for this year's competition.  According to Francis "The standard of entries is very high this year and we are expecting a very exciting final on Friday at the Irish Film Institute".

The Event: The chosen schools will take part in the finals of the My Vision for Europe competition on Friday, 2 March in the Irish Film Institute in Dublin. This event will be an opportunity for all the finalists to come together to present their videos, which will be screened in front of a live audience. Teams will be invited to explain the origin of their concept to the judges and to outline the creative process they underwent. A panel of adjudicators, including Nicky Phelan of Brown Bag Films and Francis Jacobs, Head of the European Parliament Office in Ireland, will select the winning schools on the day.

The prize: Two winning schools will be invited to bring 24 students to participate in the European Parliament's Euroscola event. During this one-day event at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, the winning students will have the opportunity to sit in the EP chamber and get a sense of the work of an MEP. The participating students take part in discussions on topical European subjects and engage in group activities, interacting with students from other EU Member States and communicating in an EU language other than their own.  

The organisers:
My Vision for Europe is organised by a partnership including the European Parliament Office in Ireland, European Movement Ireland, the European Studies Programme, Community Relations in Schools (CRIS), the European Consumer Centre, the European Commission in Ireland and the Michael Sweetman Trust. The competition has also been supported by the Department of the Taoiseach through the Communicating Europe initiative.

For more information, please contact Catherine Bunyan, Press Officer, European Parliament Office in Ireland at catherine.bunyan@europarl.europa.eu / 086 8559423, or contact Jenny Flynn on 01 662 5815 or jenny@europeanmovement.ie.

The 2012 Transition Year competition, My Vision for Europe, has just been launched.  Teams of up to 24 students are invited to produce and direct their own short video, expressing their ideas, views and vision for Europe.  The prize is a subsidised trip for the team and two teachers to travel to Strasbourg to participate in the Euroscola Programme, the pan European youth forum where students experience a day in the life of a Member of the European Parliament.

To find out more log on to www.europeanmovement.ie

Design an imaginary webpage for your school's website with a European theme (click on the title above for more details)

On Friday, 11 March, videos produced by students from five Irish secondary schools as part of the My Vision for Europe competition will be shown on the big screen in the Irish Film Institute (IFI) in Dublin.  Loreto Abbey in Dalkey, Coláiste Chiaráin in Leixlip, Mercy College in Sligo, Presentation Secondary School in Thurles and Methodist College in Belfast will be competing for the opportunity to participate in the European Parliament's Euroscola programme in Strasbourg on 19 May.

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.

Are you aged between 16 and 30? Have you been part of a project that encouraged a better understanding between Europeans? The European Parliament and the Foundation of the International Charlemagne Prize are searching for projects that foster a shared sense of European identity and cooperation. The 'You are Here' book project, submitted by John Holten from Ardee, Co. Louth, came second in 2010. Entries for the 2011 prize can focus on the organisation of youth events, youth exchanges or internet projects with a European dimension.  The deadline for applications is 23 January 2011.

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.

A team of County Wexford students are the overall winners of the 2009 Transition Year Public Speaking competition run annually by the National Forum on Europe and Irish MEPs, many of whom attended the national final in Dublin Castle on 2 March 2009.