Fingal County Council sponsors trip of a lifetime for Castleknock student

As part of Fingal County Council’s ongoing commitment to youth development and engaging young people with democracy, Fingal recently sponsored a trip to Strasbourg for a local student as part of the Graduate.ie Active Citizenship & Democracy Programme. The Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Tom O’Leary visited Castleknock Community College to present a Certificate of Achievement to Caoilfhionn Short to congratulate her on completing the programme which included a day in the European Parliament.

Graduate.ie is a free online competition for young people who are attending second level school, Youthreach centres, or youth clubs and who are aged between 12 and 18 years. The platform used a quiz format to engage, inform, and inspire young people to learn about important topics such as housing, waste, voting, planning, and road safety. Caoilfhionn was selected as the winner of the trip for schools in the Fingal area and was awarded an educational trip to Strasbourg sponsored by Fingal County Council.

Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Tom O’Leary said: “It’s incredibly important that we engage young people in democracy as they are the future! Fingal County Council is committed to ensuring that young people understand the impact they can have on their local communities and sponsoring trips like this is part of that. I want to congratulate Caoilfhionn on her fantastic achievement, and I would really encourage any students out there to follow her lead and get involved!”

Caoilfhionn’s prize gave her the opportunity to spend a day in the European Parliament as part of the Euroscola programme, which brings together students from the 27 EU member states. The students get an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the workings of the European institutions, to discuss democracy, fundamental rights, European values and to express their personal opinions on the decisions taken at the European Union level.

Speaking about her trip, Caoilfhionn said: “My day in the European Parliament allowed me the opportunity to talk with so many people from other countries. I talked with people from very different backgrounds and countries I have never even heard of, yet we somehow found similarities. Although we had different opportunities in life, outlooks and education systems we had similar interests, and all want to improve the world around us. The Euroscola trip acted as a catalyst in my own social conscience, and it gave me memories I will treasure for a lifetime. A fantastic experience that I couldn't recommend more, and I really want to thank Fingal County Council and Graduate.ie for the opportunity”.

The Graduate.ie Quiz operates on an annual basis during the academic year, starting in September and concluding in March/April. Students can register to participate at any time during the academic year by logging on to the website.

Coordinator at Graduate.ie, Martin Heneghan added: “This is the 22nd year of the Graduate.ie citizenship & democracy programme and tens of thousands of young people have taken part. Over 600 participating students were lucky enough to have been selected to have the same experience as Caoilfhionn but none of this could have happened without our sponsors and especially Fingal County Council in Caoilfhionn’s case. So hopefully we can give the same opportunity to more Fingal students with the continued support of the Council, for which we are very grateful.”