National Forum on Europe Public Speaking Competition

[David Cochrane]

The Minister for Education and Science Mary Hanafin, T.D., yesterday presented the prize to the winning team of the National Forum on Europe’s annual public speaking competition for Transition Year Students. This is the fourth year of the competition which aims to highlight the importance of the European Union to young people.

This was the start of the press release I got yesterday from the Department fo Education. The release (published in full in the next coment) contained lots of quotes from Mary Hanafin.

I emailed the person who sent the release back asking for the names of the schools involved, I thought it would be interesting to find out who they were, particularly to file it in the Youth section.

we do not have names of [the] schools

And here's me thinking that's what the press release should have been about.

[David Cochrane]

Hanafin presents winners of National Forum on Europe 2006 Public Speaking Competition

The Minister for Education and Science Mary Hanafin, T.D., today (3 April, 2006) presented the prize to the winning team of the National Forum on Europe’s annual public speaking competition for Transition Year Students. This is the fourth year of the competition which aims to highlight the importance of the European Union to young people.

The National Forum on Europe is a public forum for debate on issues relating to the European Union and Ireland’s place within it. Membership is made up of representatives from all of the political parties in the Oireachtas. As part of its overall programme, the Forum runs a Youth Programme. An important element of the Youth Programme is the Forum’s annual competition for Transition Year students.

This year’s competition is based on the Forum’s short film “What next for the European Union” presented by media personality Ray D’Arcy. The film explores the major questions posed on the future direction of the European Union.

Students were asked to present their views in the form of a website design. Short-listed web site design entries then qualified those schools to enter a team in the Public Speaking Competition. The winning and runner up website entries were announced today.

The national final of the public speaking competition held today in Dublin Castle featured three Transition Year teams from Kerry, Dublin and Louth who debated the motion “The European Union aspires to be more than a Single Market. What more do you think it should be?”

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Minister Hanafin told the audience “this is a wonderful forum for debate on issues relating to the European Union and Ireland’s place within it. I have been particularly impressed by the quality of all the website designs and the high standard of the presentations given by each of the finalists in the public speaking competition.”

Minister Hanafin highlighted the importance placed on the European dimension of the curriculum at primary and post primary level and the value of SOCRATES (the European education programme) in facilitating school partnerships between EU member states. Speaking fondly of her own experience of SOCRATES as a second level student Minister Hanafin said “hopefully, some of you will have the opportunity to travel to the EU with your schools as part of a school partnership under a Socrates Comenius Action. Some of you may already have had this opportunity already, as I did when I was your age. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to develop the European dimension of your education and to forge links with schools across the EU.”

Minister Hanafin congratulated the Forum’s Youth Programme on the work it is doing to highlight to young people the importance of the European Union in all our lives and for initiating and organising the competition

Ends

[stretchneil]

That's just ridiculous. Taking well-earned publicity off the schools in question - a classy stroke by the minister.

[David Cochrane]

I would have thought the Department of Education's role was to promote education, and it would be nice at times to highlight the excellent achievements that students do. However, this unfortunately, is nothing more than press-release politics, promoting the comments of the minister, rather than anything else.

Quite unfortunate to be honest.

[stretchneil]

It doesn't really surprise me that they didn't include the names of the schools. However, not even bothering to have that information available on contact, is frankly ridiculous.

By not making that information available, they're clearly stating that their only interest in the competition lay in garnering publicity for the minister.

[jjcarroll]

The National Forum on Europe provides full details of the situation in the press release on their website.