STUDENTS from 11 EU member states - including pupils from Kings Hospital in Palmerstown, Dublin - converged on the new European Parliament building in Brussels for the Single Currency: Young People Speak Out! conference last Thursday. The event gave second level students from across Europe the opportunity to question top Eurocrats about issues surrounding EMU and the single currency, or Euro.
In a lively morning session, a student from the Friedrich Schiller Gymnasium in Preetz, Germany gave Mme Flesch, director general of EU Information, a torrid time about cuts in German welfare that are deemed necessary by Chancellor Kohl's government if Germany is to meet the single currency convergence criteria.
A group of students in spruce suits from the King Edward VI Grammar School in Chelmsford, England, also gave Flesch a rough ride on the Social Chapter. "You say the single currency will create jobs," asked one English student, "but the Social Chapter will surely increase labour costs for companies and raise unemployment?"
"Not so," she replied. "I come from Luxembourg, which accepts the Social Chapter and we have an unemployment rate of two per cent. There will be no sweat houses in tomorrow's Europe.
Speaker after speaker extolled the virtues of the Euro. Mr J Lafitte, who works for the private office of the EU commissioner for EMU, said the Euro will be "good for Europe's trade with the rest of the world, will abolish all currency transaction costs for trade within Europe and increase confidence in the financial markets resulting in greater investment".
Mr F Herman, rapporteur on the legal status of the Euro, said the new currency will "get rid of exchange rate commissions" and remove "the possibility of competitive devaluations" that can "cause trouble between countries". Competitive devaluations, he said, "only export one country's problems to another".
Mme Dury, vice chair of the socialist group of parities in the European Parliament, strongly maintained that EMU must be a means of moving to a European employment policy. "There should be more democratic accountability at European Parliament level to run the Euro," she said.
In fact, there were so many speakers in favour of the Euro that the only balance in the debate appeared to come from the sceptical students. When a Green MEP, Ulfe Holm from Sweden, joined the debate, his arguments opposing the single currency where really of the loony left variety. This is in strong contrast to some of reasoned commentary and opposition that does exist to the Euro.
IRELAND'S representatives took an active part in the proceedings and it was nice to see that some of them even had the confidence to listen to the debate, most of which was in French, without simultaneous translation. The group, led by French teacher Jennifer Strevens, was comprised of Transition Year and fifth year pupils Graham Copeland, Paul Hutchinson, Caitriona Coughlan, Aoife Carroll, Julie Fitzpatrick, Catherine Grainger, Tanya Strevens, Leo Nabarro, Nicky Harris and David Beamish.
The conference was part of a campaign by the EU's Information Office to increase awareness about the EU among students and to get them involved in EU issues. It was also an effort by the organisers to put life back into a proposal, which has been before the European Commission for over five years, to create a series of trainers across Europe to visit students in their schools and inform them about EU matters.
Last word to the embattled Flesch. "The Euro," she told students, "is for your generation. It's you who are going to draw the greatest benefits from it. At the moment, it might seem very complicated. But, in the future, the single currency will seem so natural."
THE National Gallery - recently restored and rejuvenated - offers students an educational experience that few institutions could exceed. Recent restorations, which cost £9 million and were completed in May, are helping to attract over 150,000 students every year.
Plans are also in hand to develop a new museum wing on Clare Street, Dublin, to house a Yeats Museum, conservation studios, library, auditorium and a display facility for major touring exhibitions.
"The 1990s have marked a wonderful period of growth in the gallery's history," says Marie Bourke, head of education at the National Gallery. "With the completion of some major projects and others in the pipeline, the National Gallery of Ireland will be fully equipped to take its place as one of the finest art galleries in the world."
Bourke says that, alongside the gallery's physical development - it houses "important paintings and sculptures from almost every period", major efforts have been made to expand its educational role. "During the 1990s," she says, "great emphasis has been placed on young people's activities, adult education, community access initiatives and outreach work."
Through, a series of lectures, tours, study and portfolio days, the gallery's schools' programme aims to provide students with a basic knowledge of aspects of art history and drawing. Teaching, by way of slide talks, is provided by the gallery's staff.
Gallery tours are among the most popular parts of the programme. These are given by a qualified member of staff and are free to primary and post primary children.
Worksheets - on which students can colour their impressions of the gallery's masterpieces during the tour - are available to students at all levels. Tours for visually impaired children using tactile picture sets and for those with hearing difficulties using an interpreter are also available.
Each tour lasts 45 minutes and relates to the age and requirements of the group. Specific themes are available on request, but each tour must be booked in writing by teachers two weeks beforehand.
School study days, which are of particular interest to exam students, begin in the gallery next February. These feature talks based on the art curriculum, covering specific aspects of European art (the work of Poussin, Rembrandt, Picasso and Matisse), Irish art (William Leech and Jack B. Yeats) as well as general appreciation and design.
A portfolio day, given by artist Geraldine O'Reilly, is also being held next Saturday as part of the schools' programme. This costs £10 and aims to develop a student's recording and observational skills through the medium of drawing. The session in the afternoon, for example, includes an exploration of the gallery's still life drawings and landscapes.
