'MEC Press' March School News Publication 2020 | Page 13

EU Model Council Debate 2020
Back row L-R: Barry Andrews MEP (chaired the debate); Ciarán Cuffe MEP; Helen English (teacher); Ambassador of Cyprus, H.E.
Mrs Charis Christodoulidou; Gerry Kiely, Head of the European Commission Representation in Ireland; Michael Ewing, Development
Officer, Irish Environmental Network & Environmental Pillar (debate judge) Front row L-R: Vinnie Hourihane, Sixth Year; Lelaina
Butler-Whyte, Sixth Year; Sophie Smith, Sixth Y
W ell
done to our 6th Year students Vinnie
Hourihane, Lelaina Butler-Whyte & Sophie Smith
who represented Maynooth Post Primary School
in the recent EU Model Council Debate in Dublin
Castle and who received “Honourable Mention”
from the panel of judges.
27 schools from all over Ireland took part in the
debate on the theme of the European Green Deal.
The Green Deal is the EU’s response to the
challenges posed by the climate crisis and
comprises a comprehensive package of structural
reforms and new policy initiatives designed to
make the EU the world’s first “climate-neutral
continent” by 2050.
The debate was chaired by Barry Andrews MEP
who said: "I’m extremely impressed by the effort
made by all students and teachers to research and
prepare the position of the country they were
representing. During the passionate debate, the
students discussed how to solve the climate crisis
by becoming more conscious of the environment
in areas ranging from transport to taxation, from
food to farming, and from industry to
infrastructure".
In preparing for the debate Vinnie, Lelaina and
Sophie, who were representing Cyprus, received
expert advice and input from the Cypriot Embassy
in Dublin and it was a great pleasure for them to
meet the Cypriot Ambassador Charis
Christodoulidou on the day of the debate.
Afterwards, she got in touch to congratulate the
students, saying: “I was very impressed, they did a
great job and rightfully got an honourable
mention”.
Well done Vinnie, Lelaina and Sophie! You
invested a great deal of effort and time in
preparing for this debate and it was a great
pleasure to work with you.
By Ms. English