January 27th

VISIT TO ARCHBISHOP MCGRATH SCHOOL

Madeleine Moon MP was invited to Archbishop McGrath School on Friday morning, 27 January 2006, to come and talk to the Students.

Mrs Moon gave an interesting talk to 60 Students, all 15/16 years old, about the ‘Writenow ‘ competition organised by the Parliamentary Press Gallery. The competition which is run annually is designed to complement citizenship lessons in schools.  The session was arranged with teacher Pat Curran to inspire the students to participate in the annual competition.

Mrs Moon said   “It is always an enjoyable experience to go into schools and talk to the young people about Politics and Government.  I want to make Politics real and understandable to young people and to explain about my job as a Member of Parliament and how Parliament differs from Government . “

“The students asked many searching questions which were extremely topical from the war in Iraq to what will happen in the Palestinian Territories following the election of Hamas.  My views were sought on proportional representation and on the current controversy over the Sex Offenders Register.”

“Reaching out to young people and emphasising the importance of engaging in politics is vital. “  Mrs Moon told the students “If you don’t vote you have no voice and therefore you cannot influence the future direction of the country.”