Press release
Minister Byrne announces MyEU50 Youth Competition Winners
From Department of Foreign Affairs
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Foreign Affairs
Published on
Last updated on
The winners of the MyEU50 youth competition for primary and second-level schools were announced at a ceremony hosted by the Minister of State for European Affairs, Thomas Byrne, in Iveagh House, Dublin today.
Fifth class from Balbriggan ETNS, Dublin emerged as winners in the primary level category. Their entry was a video project on Poland as an EU Member State, where they presented their favourite Polish facts using a combination of live recordings and artistic graphic design.
Post-primary Level winners come from Gaelcholáiste Mhaigh Nuad in Co. Kildare. Their entry was undertaken by seven second year students who presented a roleplay news feature, as Gaeilge, on life as a young person in the European Union.
Both winning entries were awarded prizes worth €2,000 at the ceremony in Dublin and also met with the Taoiseach Micheál Martin and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, at Government Buildings.
Speaking at the ceremony, Thomas Byrne said:
"Every school that participated in the MyEU50 youth competition deserves to be commended for their participation and their engagement in EU affairs. I would like to congratulate the winners on their superb entries which presented unique and creative takes on EU membership from the perspective of young people.
"The Taoiseach and the government were determined to bring the milestone of 50 years of EU membership directly to our youth through MyEU50. The creativity, experience and opinions expressed in the winning entries, and indeed throughout all entries we received, shows how engaged our young people are in these issues."
All finalists were invited to the awards ceremony featuring Reem El-Hassany from RTÉ News2day and Israel Olatunde, Ireland’s fastest man. The finalists and their projects were:
MyEU50 is an initiative of the Government of Ireland, led by the Department of Foreign Affairs and managed by European Movement Ireland to mark the 50th anniversary of Ireland’s EU membership.
MyEU50 launched in September 2022. Primary level pupils were asked to get creative about the 26 other EU countries by picking a Member State and sharing in the most colourful and creative way facts about that country. Post-primary level students were tasked to make a short 2-to-5-minute video news feature to explore how the EU affects their school and community.
A third level version of MyEU50 will launch in January.
MyEU50 received submissions from 5,000 students across both primary and post-primary level. From this, a judging panel selected 6 finalists who attended the awards ceremony on 1 December, where the two overall winners for primary and post-primary were announced.
An initiative of the Government of Ireland, led by the Department of Foreign Affairs and managed by European Movement Ireland, MyEU50 is a competition across all three levels of education in Ireland, primary schools, post-primary schools, and third level Institutions. As Ireland celebrates 50 years of Ireland’s membership of the EU throughout 2022 and 2023, MyEU50 is an opportunity to re-emphasise the role the EU plays in the lives of European citizens, the cultural and linguistic diversity of Europe, and the career opportunities the EU can also provide.