Irish who made it big in Brussels go back to school all over Ireland

It’s a long way from Brussels to Wexford, Sligo, Donegal and West Cork, but that’s exactly where some senior Irish officials in the EU headed this week to visit their old schools. For instance, Richard Bates, who works as a policy officer for the fisheries department of the European Commission, went to the Model County to talk to students about his job. It’s part of an EU-wide ‘Back to School’ initiative which saw more than 80 Irish officials from Brussels return to their old schools in 24 different counties.

‘I was delighted to have the opportunity to go back to Wexford,’ said Mr Bates, a native of Kilmore Quay, who also visited Bridgetown Vocational College. ‘Returning to your roots is a great way to connect with young people and find out what they want and expect from Europe’.

Fergal Ó Regan, Principal Legal Advisor at the Office of the European Ombdusman, is going back to his two old schools in County Clare, St Flannan's College, Ennis and St. Joseph's Secondary School, Tulla. "I’ll speak to the students about how Europe works and especially about the role of the European Ombudsman, which is to bring Europe closer to the citizen by giving the citizen a means of sorting out any problems they may encounter when dealing with the EU institutions,’ said Fergal Ó Regan.

Plenty of other Irish bigwigs in Brussels also came home to spend time at their old schools. Catherine Day, Secretary-General of the European Commission, the Commission's top civil srervant spoke to the girls of Mount Anville, where she was head girl back in the day.

All in all, more than 80 Irish EU officials took part in the "Back to School" activities this year - from translators to scientific researchers and financial managers to vets. Students were interested to hear about careers in the EU, the challenge of living and working abroad as well as issues of broader interest such as climate change and the EU's response to the economic crisis.

Irish press officer for the Commission Ruth Deasy says she’s delighted so many Irish people working for the EU have taken up the invitation to go back to their old schools. ‘I know many of them are really keen to talk about their experience at the coal face in Brussels. And lots of them have really interesting jobs. It just goes to show that Irish people do well wherever you put them!’ she said.

Background: The 'Back to School' initiative is taking place across the E U. It all started in 2007 when the German officials went 'back to school' to mark the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome and it proved so popular that it has expanded every year, with more and more people taking part. This year, "Back to School" is taking place in nine EU countries with more than six hundred European officials taking part.

To find out who went back to their old school this year in Ireland, please follow this link:
http://ec.europa.eu/ireland/education/back_to_school/who-where-when_en.htm