Students from Limerick’s Laurel Hill Coláiste FCJ and Coláiste Chiaráin, along with schools from all over Ireland, got to experience political sparring at the highest level yesterday March 3, in Dublin Castle. They were debating the hot topic of renewable energy targets in the eighth annual Model Council of the European Union. Students from Laurel Hill played Germany while Coláiste Chiaráin took the part of the Netherlands in an intense and well informed discussion among 27 other schools.
With fracking, pylons and windmills being prominent issues, renewable energy is the topic that young people today will have to take seriously. Tim Hayes says: “We already have renewable energy targets of 20 per cent by 2020; the purpose of this debate is to get our young people thinking about the issue. Decisions about their futures are made in Dublin, Brussels and further afield, and it’s critical that our youth understand what is going on in this area and how decisions are arrived at.”
The event, which is organised by the European Commission Representation in Ireland, took place in The Printworks Building in Dublin Castle. Twenty-eight schools from across Ireland represented the 28 EU Member States.
