CU News

General Assembly is the day that the entire EYP session leads up to, but it is something that most of you won’t have experienced before. Whilst your chairs will have given you an in-depth rundown of what exactly to expect from the procedure of GA, there is more you can do to ensure you get the most out of General Assembly, and EYP as a whole. 1.Sleep Want to avoid looking like the girl in this photo who did not get enough sleep before GA so literally fell asleep sitting upright? Top tip from the girl herself, just go to bed earlier. Seriously, sleep. You will never know how important sleep is to you until you experience a sleep deprived GA. Getting a good amount of sleep the night before GA will make the debates so much better; you’ll understand them more and will be far more involved. Also means the media team can’t catch you out with pictures of you yawning or drifting off mid-debate. 2. Read resolutions when the reso booklet comes out Your chairs spend hours in ...

Clara Grojean Ever wondered what you would have to do if you were actually working on a European parliamentary committee? Here’s a sneak peek of what your day would look like! 8.00am You start off with a breakfast with delegation members of your European party, because you know, food. 10.00am Then you have a meeting with your committee. Most of your work happens there. Your committee is one among 20 that do exist at the Parliament. It is made up of 24 to 71 people. You get to prepare the plenary assembly, you examine the proposals from the commission and the council of the EU, and if needed draw up a report (or more likely your chair and vice-chairs appoint someone as reporter to do it for your committee). You can suggest amendments to the EU directive proposed by the commission. 12.00am You go to the plenary session to vote, along with your 750 fellow deputies. The session usually lasts for an hour and a half. The texts are presented then discussed. The rep...

Liam O'Leary When we think of head organising, we imagine countless sleepless nights, printing study guides in bulk and lots and lots of coffee, but a day in the life of a head organiser is actually much more meticulous. It consists of tons of logistics, venue hunting, enquiries and time management; and that’s just the tip of the iceberg! In order to find out all I possibly could about the experience of Head Organising I went straight to the men themselves Ross Gorey and Jack Counihan , the Head Organisers of this year’s C.U Regional Session and asked them some questions. Here are the dodgy duo’s answers: What skills are essential for Head Organising? Ross: “I believe it’s key to have a knack for delegating people and showing developed social skills because most of the work is done with the organisers team and it’s essential to be able to communicate and interact with them. Besides that I think being somewhat organised is quite important to head organi...

Ben Cunningham What freedoms should prisoners have? The spotlight has been shone on this controversial case because of the growing awareness that psychopathic people are more prevalent in our communities, with terrorists, murders and the like making all the headlines in our tabloids. These horrific acts make us question how we deal with such people while they’re incarcerated. So, the argument is ‘Should Prisoners Have Rights?’ YES People have rights. Prisoners are people. Therefore, it is obvious that people should have their Human Rights respected. Admittedly, they’ve made mistakes but as the saying goes ‘It’s not how hard you fall but how fast you get back up!’ It is paramount that we help them get back up, and this helping hand can come in the form of maintaining rights. A key aspect of this argument is also remembering that not all prisoners in our jails are murderers, rapists or terrorists. Most people are only serving short sentences so they are coming back to socie...

Annie Bowyer EYP is one of those things that you cannot really explain to someone unless they have experienced it themselves. When your 'non-EYP' friends ask about your weekend there is no conclusive answer and having experienced this a few times, I know that EYP is something that nobody prepares you for, until now; welcome to your EYP guide. Taken by Daire Horgan Making friends Team-building might seem like the most daunting part of the entire weekend, but it is also the most fun. EYP makes making friends easy by having to immerse yourself into a crazy experience from the minute you arrive; from standing in a circle shouting “A rum pum pum” and tickling the chin of the person to your right, to bopping someone on the head with a newspaper as a way to learn their name. The best way to enjoy your weekend is to go for it in team-building , I met some of my best friends through building a tower out of spaghetti and marshmallows, and if you let yourself get fully in...

Hanna Vahi It’s not every day you see a long chain of people holding hands, especially one spanning 675.5km, but on the 23rd of August 1989 that’s exactly what happened. Approximately two million people from the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania joined hands, forming a human chain from Tallinn through Riga all the way to Vilnius. When you consider the fact that the island of Ireland is only 486km in length, this feat becomes even more astonishing in comparison. You may be wondering why this happened and what it possibly could have achieved. Was it simply an attempt at some bizarre Guinness World Record? It was called The Baltic Way and was organised by the independence movements of the three Baltic states. It acted as a peaceful protest against the Soviet occupation, which had been established in 1940, and was an important step that led to independence in 1990. These countries showed strength in a way that was more than mere military power. It was an event ...

Liam O'Leary While taking part in EYP it's easy for you to see the great advances humankind has made with new leaps in technology bringing about trends of urbanisation, large transport infrastructures connecting continents and new smarter energy-efficient grids being established. Then you find out that one fine day in 1932 there was genuinely a war between people and emus and you begin to question humanity's choices a small bit. Enter Australia! The land down under, filled with vegemite sandwiches and deadly animals around every corner. From snakes to stonefish the Australian wildlife sure do cause the locals some spot of trouble. It should be no wonder then that the flightless, ostrich-like emu can be quite a nuisance to the citizens of the outback. Following the events of World War I, thousands of army veterans took up farming in Western Australia as part of soldier settlement programs. Unfortunately, many crops in the subsequent years failed due to drough...

Clara Grojean Have you ever dreamed of going to an EYP session in a far away country but you were scared it would be awkward and uncomfortable?If not knowing a country and its culture has stopped you from going abroad before, I have a solution for you! You just need to learn its language! Of course, I’m not saying you should become a polyglot and learn the 6,012 languages that are spoken on our planet but you should know why it could be worth your while. Here are three reasons to consider: 1. It makes you smarter. Because of the plasticity of your brain, whenever you learn something new, you develop more and more synapsis. In other words, you give your brain a boost, the information travels faster through your brain! Also, studies show that people who speak several languages are less likely to suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. Learning and speaking several languages keeps your brain young. 2. The whole world is within your reach. Being able to speak several lang...

Hello, hi, how are ya! We are delighted to introduce ourselves as the editors of CU's 2017! We are beyond excited to be attending the session and to listen to your ideas and thoughts on some of Europe’s pressing issues. Who are we? Róise and Kate, 2 gals who started in EYP together as young ones. Questionable as to whether we have matured since although our friendship certainly has.  We possess a passion for capturing memories  through the experimentation of various media platforms. We love to laugh and generally have a good time, expect lots of both in Galway! What exactly can you expect from us? Our aim is to provide all the fun and entertainment throughout the weekend. We'll be doing this by calling on our super amazing team of journalists to create interactive projects, funky videos and some stellar profile pictures for all of you. Be sure to say hello to us during the course of the session. Editors tend to spend a lot of time behind a laptop or lense ...