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St Mary’s University College was delighted to be a partner of the 81st International Session of the European Youth Parliament (EYP)
over a three-day period in March (7th – 9th).
The City of Dublin has hosted the EYP on at least four occasions since 1988 but this time it was organised jointly with the city of Belfast and St Mary’s welcomed that development.
The College has been deeply committed to Erasmus student mobility for over twenty years so the hosting of over 330 young people as well as
teachers and organisers for an international educational and cultural experience was clearly aligned with the mission of St Mary’s.
The committee work of the Parliament was located on the College campus for three days and this was the real 'nuts and bolts' of the
81st session. The issues debated were highly relevant to our times with topics such as:
- The imminent British referendum
- The EU's role in the Israel/Palestine conflict and the two-state solution
- The EU's relationship with Turkey
- The current refugee emergency
- Human Rights and gender identity
- Tackling Tax Avoidance
- Environmental issues.
March is normally a quiet time at St Mary’s with the great majority of both students and academic staff off-campus and
involved in school-based work or work-related learning. The following photographs show that this year it was a very different story as the campus
became a real hub of international student activity.
The College considered the EYP experience to be a great success and many new friendships were established which may lead to future international collaborations.
VIDEO : NVTV Focal Point (Thursday 10th March 2016) - St Mary's University College host European Youth Parliament (69.2MB) |
