Knockconan National School Pupils Shake Hands for Europe
Knockconan, Emyvale, 9 May 2013: As part of these national Europe Day celebrations, the pupils of Knockconan National School took part in the country-wide "Shake Hands for Europe" initiative. Pupils were asked to wish each other a "Happy Europe Day!" as they joined together in a group handshake. This handshake aimed to acknowledge the diversity and solidarity that exists amongst the class mates who are ultimately all connected together as citizens of the EU.
The Handshake marks the school’s participation in the Blue Star Programme, a national Irish primary school programme, a venture of the Communicating Europe Initiative, supported by the Office of the Minister of State for European Affairs in the Department of the Taoiseach and the European Commission Representation in Ireland and coordinated by national implementation body, European Movement Ireland. The idea of the Programme is simple: to foster better understanding and knowledge of the European Union and how it affects our lives amongst Irish primary pupils through classroom projects and activities that examine four key areas relating to the EU - historical, geographical, cultural and creative and institutional. This handshake involving young Irish people whose families have come from many parts of Europe and beyond underlines why we celebrate Europe Day. It reminds us that there is so much that binds us in the European Union and that our futures are inextricably linked. 2013 is a big year for Ireland. On Europe Day 2013 we mark not just Ireland’s role as Presidency of the EU, we celebrate, too, the 40th anniversary of our membership of the Union and the European year of Citizens 2013 Through education programmes and advocacy work, European Movement campaigns for every Irish person to get involved with the European Union and, by doing so, help shape it through reasoned and informed debate. For more information about European Movement Ireland’s campaigns, programmes, information briefings and events, visit www.europeanmovement.ie. Knockconan pupils have been learning about EU geography, history, culture and institutions as part of their curriculum and will present their project to the Bluestar project in June. ENDS |