Cathal Galvin from Athlone Community College was one of 24 students representing Ireland at the European Parliament in Strasbourg recently.
Cathal travelled with students from Ireland to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, where they were joined by 500 other students from all over Europe. Prior to departure they visited the Northern Ireland Parliament at Stormont and the Dáil in Dublin.
As part of the Rotary Youth Leadership Development Competition, 24 young people were selected from over 1,800 applicants from secondary schools all across Ireland based on their achievements to date and their potential as leaders.
“We had an excellent candidate in Cathal who very successfully represented himself, his family, his school, and the Rotary Club of Athlone and we wish him well in his future endeavours,” said Dermot Neary, president of The Rotary Club. “We have great participation from the secondary schools in Athlone in this leadership competition and consistently our candidates do well. Cathal initially won the first round in Athlone, he then went on to the regional finals in Portlaoise where he was selected to join the other 23 winners from all over Ireland on an all expenses paid trip to the Dáil, Stormont, and the European Parliament's Euroscola in Strasbourg.”
“The competition is coordinated every year by Siobhan Bigley and the club are grateful to her for its success. It is the voluntary efforts of members who keep the club’s projects active and providing opportunities for our young citizens,” added Dermot.
Cathal had the opportunity to have tea with the Lord Mayor of Belfast, meet with the EU representation in Dublin, have a debate on education with a group of public representatives in the Dáil, and take part in a European Parliament session in Strasbourg. Following the trip Cathal made a series of presentations to both the club and schools describing his experiences and encouraging other students to avail of the wide range of programmes available.
For more information log on to www.athlonerotary.org
