Maynooth University students recently visited Brussels as part of a programme which facilitates students of European Studies, History, Politics and Sociology to engage with the EU institutions and get to know the EU governance landscape.
The annual Field Trip, which is a compulsory trip for Second Year European Studies students, entails a study visit to Belgium for the purpose of experiencing at first hand the workings of the European Institutions in the Brussels area. The base for the Field Trip is the Leuven Institute for Ireland in Europe, located in the historic ‘Irish Colleage’ in the university city of Leuven, just north of Brussels.
This year, the group comprised the full complement of twelve students from the European Studies cohort and ten students from both History and Politics/Sociology. Professor John O’ Brennan (Sociology) and Dr. John Paul Newman (History) accompanied the group on the trip. The group visited the European Parliament, met Irish MEPs Mairead McGuinness and Marian Harkin, learned about the specific work our MEPs do within the European Parliament, took a tour of the Parliament and played a Role Simulation game in the visitor centre. This is a virtual simulation of an actual EU negotiation and represents a state-of-the-art mechanism for introducing students to the challenges and vagaries of EU Decision-making.
The group also visited the Northern Ireland Executive Office and learned about the work done by that office in representing the interests of Northern Ireland citizens in EU governance. Equally interesting was a visit to the office of Dr. Rory Keane (Head of Office at the United Nations Liaison Office for Peace and Security), where the students had the opportunity to meet UN officials and investigate the work they do in the EU and wider world.
Students also benefited from a careers session where they met and heard from Maynooth University graduates working in a range of fields in the Brussels beltway. The group also visited Ieper/Ypres for a tour of the Ieper Battlefields, followed by a visit to the “In Flanders Fields” museum and the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin gate. The final day of the trip was spent doing a tour of the historic Leuven University library and culminated with a Gala Dinner that night with guest speakers.
Maynooth University Centre for European and Eurasian Studies
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News
Undergraduate Essay Awards - Deadline for submissions extended to Friday May 19th
The Centre for European and Eurasian Studies is proud to announce its second annual undergraduate essay award. The award is open to all undergraduate students across a wide range of departments at the university. The Centre is now accepting submissions (2,000 -6,000 words) from students whose coursework focuses on topics relating to Europe.
Date: Wednesday, 03 May 2017
Eurovision comes to Maynooth
Ar an 11 Aibreán, beidh Ollscoil Mhá Nuad ina ceanncheathrú do Chomórtas Amhránaíochta Eoraifíse ar feadh lae. Labhróidh an laoch Eoraifíse, Linda Martin, ag an gcomhdháil dar teideal The Eurovision Song Contest in a Changing World: Culture, Geography and Politics.
Date: Tuesday, 11 April 2017
Anthony Farrell - Essay Award
We are delighted to announce that Centre member Anthony Farrell is the recipient of the Military Heritage of Ireland Trust’s prestigious annual essay award for 2016, for his essay ‘A Brief Outline of the Development of British Military Pensions in Ireland 1914-1922’. The judges in particular praised Tony’s wide-ranging use of primary and archival sources in telling this story.
Date: Tuesday, 11 April 2017
Maynooth University European Studies students visit Brussels
Maynooth University students recently visited Brussels as part of a programme which facilitates students of European Studies, History, Politics and Sociology to engage with the EU institutions and get to know the EU governance landscape.
Date: Friday, 24 March 2017
Dates for Seminar Series 2016/17 announced
Exciting programme of events ahead in the Spring Semester at the Maynooth Centre for European and Eurasian Studies
Date: Wednesday, 22 March 2017
Post-Brexit “special status” for Northern Ireland key to preserving rights of Irish and British citizens
Maynooth hosts all-island civic dialogue on the implications of Brexit with Minister for Foreign Affairs Charles Flanagan TD.
Date: Monday, 13 February 2017
Event report: The Brexit Referendum: the existential choices facing the UK and its implications for Ireland and the EU
On 26 April 2016, the Maynooth Centre for European and Eurasian Studies held an afternoon seminar to examine the myriad consequences of a British vote to leave the European Union. The seminar took place 1st floor Seminar Room of the Iontas Building, which was filled to capacity prior to the event’s commencement. It took the format of a roundtable discussion and was moderated by Arthur Beesley, economics editor with the Irish Times. The line-up of speakers represented a range of disciplinary and professional perspectives on the upcoming referendum, consisting of both academic expertise and first-hand insights from practitioners
Date: Tuesday, 10 May 2016
TEPSA – PONT Working Europe Seminar, 4-8 April 2016, Brussels: “EU Asylum and Migration Policies
The Trans European Policy Studies Association, TEPSA organized a five-day seminar on EU Asylum and Migration policies in Brussels on 4-8 April 2016. The seminar was part of the PONT- Professional Training on European Affairs project connecting young researchers and practitioners, and offered first-hand insights into the political dynamics shaping EU asylum and migration policies and the EU’s response to the recent migratory crisis. TEPSA selected 20 participants from different national and disciplinary backgrounds, including Aideen Elliott attached to the Centre for European and Eurasian Studies.
Date: Monday, 09 May 2016
Q&A with Ed Vulliamy (war correspondent with the Guardian/Observer) at Maynooth University
Q&A session with Ed Vulliamy of the Guardian and Observer, moderated by Peter Murtagh of the Irish Times.
Date: Tuesday, 03 May 2016
Conference Report: Bosnia in the Aftermath of the Dayton Agreement, 1995 – 2015: Making Peace or Rewarding War?
Report from our conference 'Bosnia in the Aftermath of the Dayton Agreement, 1995 – 2015: Making Peace or Rewarding War?', held on 18 December 2015.
Date: Friday, 19 February 2016