KCS, Kinsale

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DCMUN

Maria Brosnan

From January 21st to 24th, 26 transition year students came together with students from all over Ireland and Europe, to participate in Model United Nations at Cork City Hall. MUN was an inspiring and exhilarating four-day event, where students had the opportunity to practice democracy and politics, while tackling major world problems, in an exact replica of a United Nations Conference.

The event hosts two separate conferences simultaneously over the four day period; The General Assembly and the Special Conference. Both conferences debate topical, pressing word issues; whereby a resolution is drafted, open to debate and amendments proposed. The agenda issues tackled for MUN2020 included:

General Assembly

  • The question of the Israeli-Arab Conflict

  • The question of alternative sources of energy to cope with increasing electricity demands

  • The question of the legal status of class B drugs for recreational and medical purposes

  • The question of trade wars and increased tariffs on imported goods

  • The question of the regulation of organ donation.

Special Conference

  • The question of the death penalty and alternatives to capital punishment

  • The question of ageing populations and necessary adaptions to elderly societies

  • The question of decolonisation and the self determination of nations

  • The question of Islamophobia and ways to promote the meeting of civilisations

  • The question of ante-natal genetic modification and fertility manipulation.

Each student from KCS was assigned a delegation which they represented over the course of the conference in City Hall. Our diverse delegations included Canada, Egypt, Honduras, Tanzania, Panama, Unicef, Sri Lanka and Mauritania. During the four-day conference they participated in the lobbying process, engaged in fruitful debates discussing controversial topics, challenged ideas and proposed solutions to world problems by presenting to an audience of their peers, Ambassadors and the Lord Mayor of Cork.

Overall, Model United Nations was an experience that offered students endless benefits, both socially and academically, plus one our students excelled in. Emily Bergin was awarded “Best Debut Speaker” in the General Assembly. Well done to all involved and in particular Ms Dunne and Ms Foley!