Juno debates the future at EU Parliament
IN the shadow of Brexit, 24 students aged between 16 and 18 from across the island of Ireland have competed in one of Rotary Ireland’s longest running projects, the Youth Leadership Development Competition, which has been running for over 20 years and saw the winning students have the experience of a lifetime, giving them a real taste of what it’s like to make decisions and to lead.
The students began their trip by visiting Stormont in Belfast, the EU office and Dáil in Dublin and, finally, the EU Parliament in Strasbourg where they took part in the Euroscola event.
One of the students was Juno Ellison from Mayo, one of the chosen winners.
She thoroughly enjoyed the experience: “Last week’s experience was truly amazing, I met some amazing people and I’ve made new friendships which I know will last a life time. Getting to see how the EU parliament works was incredible. It’s a week I will never forget and I’d like to thanks Rotary for making it happen.”
These ‘leaders of tomorrow’ discussed the issues of today and set forth a vision for the future that they will be proud to be a part of. The final 24 competed against more than 1,000 young people from across the island of Ireland to secure themselves a place on this trip of a lifetime.
Spanning five days, the students further developed their debating and leadership skills, made new friends along with important contacts, and also gained a platform to speak at a time when their future is at stake.
Topics up for debate included the environment, human rights and security, European elections, migration and integration, youth employment and the future of Europe with Brexit featuring heavily.
Over 600 students from the 28 EU member states got the chance to become members of the European Parliament for the day.
They took to the floor in plenary and committee sessions to debate and vote on resolutions on current affairs. In 2019, a new element was added which allowed one student the opportunity to become a journalist for the trip, responsible for covering the event by taking pictures, conducting interviews and compiling a report on the event.