Success as Limerick students take on the Treaty and the Future of Europe

YOUNG student historian Bridgín O’Donnell will be heading to the Dáil in the coming months, as part of a nationwide student competition to commemorate the centenary of the Treaty Debate.

“I am very pleased,” said Bridgín, a TY student at Coláiste Ide agus Iosef in Abbeyfeale. “I have a great interest in history, especially Irish history.”

The Treaty Debates Research Project Competition was an initiative of the Houses of the Oireachtas and students were invited to carry out a research project on one or more of the members of second Dáil Éireann who took part in the Treaty Debates from December 14, 1921 to January 7, 1922. Bridgín chose Limerick City TD Michael Patrick Colivet for her project and was awarded the Senior Cycle prize for Munster.

“She made very good use of this local link and combined very good writing skills with interesting and relevant resources,” ‘the judges said.

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Born in Limerick in 1884, Michael Patrick Colivet was commander of the Irish Volunteers in Limerick at the time of the 1916 Rising. He was later arrested and jailed and shared a cell with Eamon de Valera in Lincoln Jail.

He was elected as a Sinn Féin TD in 1918 for Limerick City while still in prison and was re-elected in May 1921. In the Treaty debates, Bridgín explained, he was anti-treaty.

“He didn’t have much to say but what he did say was vital.” She will present her findings to members of the Oireachtas and other invited guests later this year.

Four fellow TY students are also happy winners of another competition aimed at students about the Future of Europe and will be heading to Brussels next month with their teacher Mary Walsh Foley.

The four, Emma O' Keeffe, Anne Marie Curtin, Amy Foley and Lily Daly began their journey at a workshop organised by MEP Billy Kelliher in Limerick where a number of themes were discussed and they got to voice their opinions on how the EU could be improved.

Some time later, when a competition was announced, the four decided to enter a project and selected four topics: EU enlargement, Ireland’s role in the EU, Climate Change and Health. They developed a website and a powerpoint presentation for each of their four topics.

“We thought that Ireland should be a leader in sustainable energy, such as hydroelectric power,” explained Anne Marie Curtin from Tournafulla who has a particular interest in climate change. We also thought all public transport should be electric”.

Among other recommendations, the group also called for water refill stands in shops and elsewhere to reduce plastic.

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On health, Amy Foley explained, they argued that some countries have very good health systems and felt that if there was a Health Union, it would bring other countries up to standard.

She also said the group argued for EU enlargement but the key to its success would be communication.

They were, she continued, very pleased to be heading off to Brussels. “We weren’t expecting to win. It was a bit of a shock. We only had four or five week to complete it.”

“We put a huge amount of work into it and we were very happy with the finished product.”