School competitions you can enter now
The European Commission and various NGO's run a large number of competitions on different topics aimed at young people.
Please see below details of these competitions as well as details on how to enter.
You'll also find more information on how you can get your school involved in the competition and you'll be able download material to help you and your school publisise the competition
Photo competition: “The euro: What does it mean to us?
The European Commission Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs is organising a photo competition with the theme: “The euro: What does it mean to us?” 
The competition is aimed at teams of young people aged 14 to 18. Each team will be asked to submit a photograph with a caption. To participate, you need to submit an original photo, taken by your team, illustrating your vision of the euro. What does the euro mean to you? What is it that you like about the euro? The image must also be accompanied by a short explanatory caption.
The photo and submission form must be sent electronically no later than Wednesday 31 March 2010. See here for further details on the competition rules.
The first round of the competition will be at national level: there will be one winning team per participating EU Member State. The seven best teams from among the 27 national winners will be invited to Brussels, where the overall winning team will receive their prizes at an award ceremony.
All of the 27 national winning team members will receive a Pen Drive – professional 30,7cm (12") graphic tablet for illustrating, sketching, industrial design, photo editing or webpage design.
The 7 EU winning teams will be invited for a trip to Brussels in May 2010 to discover all the city has to offer, including the European institutions, and to attend the awards ceremony. For each of these seven teams, travel and accommodation will be provided for three young people and one accompanying adult.
Each member of the team with the best score of the 7 EU winning teams will each receive the first prize of a Nikon D3000 Digital SLR Camera, with 18-55 mm VR Lens Kit, Sigma zoom 70-300, 4gb card and bag.
See here for further information about this competition.
My Vision For Europe Schools Competition
My Vision for Europe is an exciting new schools competition. Students all over the island of Ireland will compete for a great prize by making their own creative video to express their own ideas, thoughts and vision for Europe!
The winning team from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland will have the chance to bring their class to the European Parliament Chamber in Strasbourg to take part in Euroscola, the pan-European youth forum. Interested schools are invited to register by returning the My Vision for Europe application form by Friday 4 December 2009.
Find out more at http://www.myvisionforeurope.com
European Language Label 2010 award
The European Language Label is an award that encourages new initiatives in the field of teaching and learning languages, rewarding new techniques in language teaching, spreading the knowledge of their existence and thereby promoting good practice. 
The Label is open to all aspects of education and training, regardless of age or methods used, with its main focus being to promote innovation in language teaching. By supporting innovative projects, at a local and national level, the Label seeks to raise the standards of language teaching across Europe. Each year, the Label is awarded to the most innovative language learning projects in each country participating in the scheme.
The annual award, which is coordinated by the European Commission, is managed in Ireland by Léargas. Examples and descriptions of previous winning projects can be found on the Léargas website: http://www.leargas.ie/ell
Schools, colleges, universities, businesses and other institutions engaged in language initiatives are invited to apply. Applications should be innovative, effective and replicable.
The priorities for 2010 are:
- Language Learning in the Community
- Language Skills for Work
- Languages and the Arts
These priorities are not exclusive and applications from all kinds of language projects will be welcome.
The Language Ambassador of the Year 2010
There will also be an individual European Language Label in 2010 for the Language Ambassador of the Year. This will be awarded to a person in the formal or non-formal sector, who has encouraged language learning in the community or created an awareness of languages in society.
The closing date for receipt of applications is 31 March 2010.
For application forms and further information contact:
Nellie Tattersall
Léargas
189 Parnell Street
Dublin 1
Tel: (01) 873 1411
Email: languages@leargas.ie
Web: www.leargas.ie/ell
"Draw me a right!" – poster competition to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
The European Commission has launched a poster competition to mark the 20th Anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The aim of the competition is raise awareness among young people of their rights.
The competition is open to young people aged 10 to 18. Children and teenagers wishing to take part in the competition are asked to design a poster (in A2 format) illustrating one of the rights enshrined in the Convention.
Participants will be divided into two age groups (10-14 and 15-18) and will have to work in groups with a minimum of four members under the supervision of an adult.
The poster and submission form must be signed, sealed and delivered to the premises of the national coordinator “EuropaYouth” no later than Friday 19 March 2010. The contact details of the national coordinator are as follows:
Kinga Byrne
EuroJeune
Clondalkin
Dublin 22
Tel: 0857713312
ireland@europayouth.eu
The entries will be judged first at national level and prizes will be awarded to the three best teams in each age category during ceremonies to be held in their home country at the beginning of April 2010.
The winners of the first prize in the national competitions will compete in a second round at European level. The three top teams in each age group will be invited to visit Brussels from 8 to 10 May 2010, for a memorable weekend and a tour of the European institutions, as well as to attend a European award ceremony.
The best entries will be posted to the websites of the Commission’s representations in the Member States and to the Europa portal. They may also be used for future European campaigns.
For further information visit the competition website at: http://www.europayouth.eu/index_ie_en.htm
"Enlarge your vision” – The competition for Europe’s best young journalists is on!
"Enlarge your vision” – The competition for Europe’s best young journalists is on! The European Young Journalist Award 2010 has just been launched and the competition is now under way to find Europe’s best up-and-coming journalistic talent. 
The competition is open to journalists and journalism students from the print media, online media or radio aged 17 to 35. It will run from 20 October 2009 until 28 February 2010.
Submissions should focus on EU Enlargement from a creative and thought-provoking angle. All submissions must have been originally published in either the print or online media (including publications of individual companies, associations or universities) or broadcast on radio.
Participants must be citizens of one of the EU member states, candidate countries, potential candidates or Iceland.
National juries throughout Europe will select a total of 36 National Winners who will travel to Istanbul for a cultural and historical trip in May 2010. From these 36 winners a European jury will select three Special Prize winners in the following categories:
- Most original report
- Best research
- Best journalistic style
The three Special Prize winners will each win a trip to a European capital of their choice.
The national and European jury members will be announced in January 2010.
For more information, visit: http://www.eujournalist-award.eu/
Schools' Essay Competition
Winners announced
Sixth Year student, Emily Rutherford, from Mallow, Co. Cork, has been named winner of a nationwide essay competition organised by the European Commission. At a prize-giving ceremony held today in Dublin, Emily was presented with thousands of euro worth of prizes by a judging panel which included screenwriter and Horslips band-member Barry Devlin and Director of the European Commission Representation in Ireland, Martin Territt.
As part of the year-long ‘TalktoEU’ initiative designed to promote greater public understanding of the EU in Ireland, students from all over the country were invited to compose a 1000 word essay on the topic: ‘What’s this European Union thingy doing for me?’ Emily’s essay, which was selected from hundreds of submissions to become the overall winner, focused particularly on the impact of the EU on cultural diversity and gender equality within its borders, as well as the part it will play in major global issues such as climate change.
As overall winner, Emily was presented with a new Macbook Pro Laptop, an itouch, a €1000 Apple voucher, €200 book voucher, and €2500 worth of cash for her school - St Mary’s Secondary School in Mallow - to purchase much-needed equipment.
Speaking at the ceremony, Barry Devlin commented: “As a judge, I was so impressed by the level of understanding and insight demonstrated by the students who entered the TalktoEU essay competition. I was delighted to be involved in a programme that gives young people this voice and the opportunity to express their opinions on the important issues of their future.”
Martin Territt, Director of the European Commission Representation in Ireland, added: “The participation of young people in Ireland is essential to the evolution of the European Union. This essay competition, and the umbrella TalktoEU programme, challenges Irish citizens to really discover and understand the difference the EU makes to their day-to-day lives.”
You can read the winning essay in each category and the essays of the runners up by clicking on their names below.
Senior Category
Junior Category
- 1st - Aoife Finnegan, St. Clares College, Virginia Rd.,Ballyjamesduff , Co. Cavan
- 2nd - Lucy Costello, The Royal and Prior Comprehensive, Raphoe, Co. Donegal
- 3rd - Kristiana Hirmo, Ard Scoil Eanna, 314/316 Crumlin Rd, Crumlin, Dublin 12