By Colm Kehoe, principal, Wicklow ETSS
After months of preparation, the day finally arrived for our second Model United Nations Conference which took place on Friday 29 April. With sixteen schools, seven committees and almost two hundred delegates, it was a huge conference and a huge success.
Well done to the chair team (Hannah, Lenna, Chloe, Caoimhe, Aoife, Deirdre, and Katie) who led this conference brilliantly. and to the brilliant press team who produced a fantastic newsletter which you can read here. Every delegate deserves great praise for going through a long process of producing an opening speech, creating a resolution, developing a policy statement, and researching the issues on the agenda all from the perspective of their countries so that they could be properly represented at the conference. All of this led to great debates and super amendments as countries tried to work out differences and find compromises that could help the discussions move forward. It was a real example of life as a diplomat and the quality of the work was noted by Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly, Susana Núñez (Second-level Education Officer, Educate Together) and Steven Matthews TD, who all joined our conference. They were hugely impressed by the knowledge and the passion of the students who discussed many of the greatest challenges facing the world now and in the future.
Thank you to the chairing team, the press team, the delegates and to the teachers in all sixteen schools who promoted this conference and spent a huge amount of time helping students prepare. We are already looking forward to the third conference next year!
Minister @DonnellyStephen closing our 2022 MUN conference, sharing great stories! 👏to @ETSSWicklow for organising such a great event. Huge well done to this years Declamation contest winner Lucy from NWETSS, it’s was a pleasure coming 2nd place to you! @EducateTogether @NrSusana pic.twitter.com/MCGhDLbUmY
— Galway ETSS (@galwayetss) April 29, 2022
