By Sean Moriarty

Five Transition Year Students from St Brigid’s Secondary School have earned themselves a trip to Brussels and the European Parliament thanks to their project on the future of the European Union.

Students Gemma Murphy, Avril Ahern, Eilís Mullane and Ali O'Donoghue  entered their team project called 'What we want the European Union to look like in 2046 - 25 years from now’ in the pan-European competition.

“We decided to enter this competition because we feel it is important to have our views on the European Union voiced and listened to. We found working in a group beneficial to our project as it allowed us to combine all our views and ideas,” said a group statement.

“We created surveys to get a broader perspective of people’s opinions about the Future of the EU. This was really interesting and provided lots of interesting information. We each interviewed different people and were delighted with the diversity of answers we received.”

Their entry impressed Billy Kelleher MEP who recently informed the students that their bid had been successful, and they will now get a chance to visit the European Parliament in April 2022. They are one of 14 schools from the South Leinster and Munster region to get selected for the trip.

“A standout moment for us was visiting a primary school where we presented some interesting facts about the EU and were impressed by what students knew already about the EU,” added the statement. “The main purpose of our visit was to educate and inspire the younger age groups about the EU.”

Meanwhile, Solo entrant, Anna Cashman is also jetting off to Brussels after she entered an excellent and thought-provoking presentation on what she wanted the European Union to look like in 2046.