Well done to Daniel Sutherland, Niall O’Donnell and Christopher Cunningham (Year 14 students) for their horse-trading in the EU Mock Council debates. The British Council Northern Ireland in partnership with the Northern Ireland European Commission Office organised the debates in October in Stormont’s Long Gallery with Jane Morrice (NI representative on the European Economic and Social Committee) as chair. It was an impressive line up with 28 schools from Northern Ireland, England and Ireland participating.

The Abbey represented Malta on topical issues such as climate change, GMOs and food safety, immigration and the integration of migrants. As in a real Council of the European Union debate students used qualified majority voting (QMV) and worked towards achieving a consensus on key issues. One topic however was rejected, the motion that nuclear energy was the answer to the EU’s energy problems.

An edited video of the day’s proceedings can be viewed at: www.britishcouncil.org/nireland