2nd Year Dáil Visit

On Wednesday, 25th of April, 2nd Years went to visit Dáil Éireann and the European Commission Offices, Dublin, under the auspices of Deputy Lucinda Creighton. We saw a debate going on in the Dáil, discussing the Fiscal Treaty and water charges.

We were then given a brief overview of the history of the Dáil, followed by a tour of Leinster House. We were also lucky enough to be able to watch a debate going on in the Seanad.

We then went to the European Commission Offices and were shown a presentation about Europe and the European Union (EU). We were given booklets containing information about the EU as well as other small items from Young Fine Gael, which Deputy Creighton was kind enough to give to us.  (Click on thumbnail to open an enlarged version of image.)

A few facts that we learned from the trip are:

• Irish is an official language of the EU
• Lord Edward Fitzgerald owned Leinster House which is now the Dáil
• his wife had 19 children with him and 3 more children with the children’s tutor (22 altogether)
• you can’t get an exact replica of the Proclamation of the Republic of Ireland
• Cyprus is a member of the EU.

We enjoyed the visit very much and it was very educational.

Jessica Nelkin and David Rigg (2nd Year)

[Photo: Ms. Cooper]