Balbriggan ETNS wins MyEU50 youth competition to mark 50 years of Ireland’s EU membership

Balbriggan ETNS emerged as winners in the primary level category of the MyEU50 youth competition.

The news was revealed at a ceremony hosted by the Minister of State for European Affairs, Thomas Byrne T.D., in Iveagh House, Dublin last Thursday, December 1.

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.

As winners, they received prizes worth €2000 at the ceremony in Dublin and also met with the Taoiseach Micheál Martin T.D. and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, at Government Buildings.

Speaking at the ceremony, Thomas Byrne T.D. 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.

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.

Noelle O Connell, CEO of European Movement Ireland said:

“MyEU50 presented a unique opportunity for young people to engage on all things Ireland and Europe as we mark 50 years of Ireland’s EU membership. We have been very impressed by the broad range of issues presented in the entries, covering all aspects of live in the European Union, across the Member States. This competition has captured the imagination of young people, demonstrated by the fact that over 5000 pupils and students got involved in schools in every county across the country. We look forward to engaging with third level students in 2023.”

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.