Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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I thank Professor O'Brennan and it is good to see him again. As he said he has been to Brussels a number of times and I have made my way to Maynooth as well for various meetings. One of his proposals was about a visit to the battlefields of World War One. I fully sponsored a programme called "My Adopted Soldier." RTE covered it. There were two half-hour programmes. It was one of the best things I ever did as an MEP. All I had to do was provide the money. The History Teachers' Association of Ireland had a competition and one student was selected from each of the 32 counties. They adopted a soldier from their own county who went to fight in World War One and who never came back. They really delved into it and it was a tremendous success. They went to Áras an Uachtaráin before they left. We launched it from Collins Barracks. Two years later we had a slightly different approach. We had half of the students from Ireland and half of the students from Germany. I got a German MEP to fund a number of students to come so they could see both sides of the story. Without a doubt it was one of the best things I ever did. That kind of well structured programme is useful because it gives students a sense of history and of why we have an EU, where it has come from and what value they might see in it.

Professor O'Brennan talked about 15,000 per school per year. In all honesty I am not sure any government is going to do that. It may, and I very much agree that this can be seen as middle class and we end up talking to ourselves. I have been to too many meetings where that happens. It has to be done on a specific class basis, and not picking out the best or the brightest because they will find their own way. Maybe there could be a lottery or something from interested schools. I do not know, but it should not just be based on those who write the best essay because many of them will find their own pathway.

Finally, when I was an MEP many people contacted me looking me for work and internships. Almost invariably I put them on to one of my staff members. These are people who had already been through the process and were more than willing to help. I know that you will find plenty of willing people. Talking to an MEP about working in the European Parliament or getting a job in the Commission is not a great idea because we do not know the difficulties and the challenges. It would be a good idea if you could get a group of Irish staff who work in the institutions or even more widely in Brussels, because Brussels is not just the institutions. Getting a group who are interested in helping out, and who are only a few years older than some of the people they will talk to would be a good idea. I know it worked for the people who contacted my office. It is just a thought, but it is a practical pathway that I have seen work and work well.