Two Galway students were honoured by Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence, Micheál Martin TD at an exhibition day for the MyEU50 Third Level competition finalists which took place recently in University College Cork.
Ikechukwu Ogbuchi from Ballybane and Josh Craughwell from Briarhill were honoured for their entries titled ‘How are EU values relevant in today’s Ireland?’ and ‘Risen from the depths of war, Irelands’ response to the Ukrainian crisis displays the best of European values’ respectively.
Over 5,000 pupils and students participated in a nationwide competition to mark 50 years of Ireland’s EU membership.
The Tánaiste said the MyEU50 youth competition gave students an opportunity to think about what being an EU citizen means to them. The creativity, experience, and opinions expressed by the students showed their appreciation of Ireland’s 50-year-old membership of the EU.
“An important objective of the competition has been to recognise young people’s voices and to interact with them about topics related to the European Union that are most important to them.
“The knowledge, self-assurance, and capacity of today’s young people to influence change may surpass those of any preceding generation. Young people can make contributions to the dialogues taking place right now that will shape their future. Let us continue to work and push for progress and make the next 50 years as successful as the last.”
CEO of European Movement Ireland Noelle O Connell said: “We were blown away by the range of entries we received. From podcasts on the rule of law to posters on equality & justice and speeches on the impact the EU has had on the youth of Ireland, we were highly impressed not only by the creativity of the entries but the level of research that went into each and every one.
“The entries demonstrated the students unique, emotive and personal relationship to the EU and their values.”
