Annual Activity Report 2020 European Parliament Liaison Office in Ireland Europe House 12-14 Lower Mount Street Dublin D02 W710 Tel
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The European Parliament Liaison Office in Ireland Annual activity report 2020 European Parliament Liaison Office in Ireland Europe House 12-14 Lower Mount Street Dublin D02 W710 Tel. +353 (0)1 6057900 Website: www.europarl.ie Facebook: @EPinIreland Twitter: @EPinIreland and @EPIreland_Edu Instagram: @ep_ireland © European Union/EP, 2021 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. Contents Contents 3 Top Posts and Tweets in 2020 34 Top Content Highlighting MEPs’ Work 36 Introduction 5 Top Content on Cooperation with other Members of the Organisations and MEPs 39 European Parliament for Ireland 6 Top Content Produced by EPLO Dublin 40 Remote Plenary Sessions 7 Strategy 41 Social Media Data Overview 41 Outreach Activities 10 Cross-border activities 13 Activities for young people 42 Regular newsletter 17 European Parliament Ambassador School Campaigns 18 Programme (EPAS) 42 International Women’s Day 18 Euroscola 44 Charlemagne Youth Prize 19 Information visits to Europe House Europeans Against COVID-19 19 in Dublin 45 European Citizen’s Prize 21 Blue Star Programme 45 Lux Audience Award 21 Other youth activities 46 Sakharov Prize 21 Back to school 47 Bridge the Pond initiative 48 Other information activities 22 Annexes 43 EP grant programme Annex I - Ambassador Schools for information activities 24 Academic Year 2019-2020 49 Media 25 Annex II - Ambassador Schools Journalism students and the EP 25 Academic Year 2020-2021 50 Europeans Against COVID-19 26 Annex III - Schools representing Ireland at Commission hearings and State of the Union 28 Euroscola in 2020 51 Virtual pre-plenary briefings 28 Annex IV - Gender Balance in our Activities 52 EuroParlRadio 29 Annex V - Our team 53 Sakharov Prize 29 Annex VI - Mission Statement of the European Parliament Liaison Offices 54 Social media 31 Facebook 31 Twitter 32 Instagram 32 Twitter (Education account) 33 Noteworthy Developments in 2020 33 3 Introduction James Temple-Smithson Our office maintained excellent relations with key Head of Office stakeholders and actively sought opportunities European Parliament Liaison Office to strengthen these even further. As ever, we in Ireland enjoyed strong collaboration with the European Commission Representation in Ireland and the network of Europe Direct Centres, as well as a This report sets out the main activities of the range of other partners, too numerous to list here, European Parliament Liaison Office in Ireland but detailed in the report. during 2020. We developed a new role as a venue for a This year was marked by the impact of the “Remote Plenary”. MEPs spoke in plenary debates COVID-19 pandemic. Many of our planned from Europe House during the final months of activities had to be rescheduled and transformed the year, which presented formidable technical into a digital format. Our team showed resilience challenges, but was executed very successfully. to this ‘new normal’. We discovered some great and innovative ways to reach a wider audience I am very proud of the work the office has done and developed new opportunities to connect throughout 2020 despite it being a challenging people all over the country to debate and discuss year. We were sad to bid farewell to Harry key issues at the heart of the European Union. O’Connor who retired at the end of 2019 after We even went a step further and added a cross- many years of service to both the Commission border dimension to some events, engaging and Parliament. We were pleased to welcome people from all over the EU and promoting Nathalie De Hertog in his place, and Thomas cooperation between citizens. Kramer who joined us as a social media manager in April. Through the year we were supported The year was also marked by an unusually high by some excellent trainees: Emily Kearney, Jenna number of new MEPs for a non-election year: Clarke-Molloy, Benita Hickson and Michael Kealy, Barry Andrews and Deirdre Clune took up their as well as Jack Follis and Elizabeth Hearst who will seats following the UK departure from the EU be with us for a few more weeks into 2021. at the end of January; Chris MacManus took the place of Matt Carthy when he was elected to Most of all, I would like to thank the Irish MEPs for the Dáil at the General Election in February; and working with us on so many of our initiatives and Colm Markey replaced Mairead McGuinness who helping us engage new and existing audiences. became a European Commissioner in October. Introduction 5 Members of the European Parliament for Ireland 9th Parliamentary term - 2019 – 2024 (at 31 December 2020) Barry Andrews Seán Kelly Fianna Fáil Fine Gael Renew Europe Group Group of the European People’s Party Chris MacManus Deirdre Clune Sinn Féin Fine Gael Group of the European United Left–Nordic Group of the European People’s Party Green Left Ciarán Cuffe Green Party Colm Markey Group of the Greens/European Free Fine Gael Alliance Group of the European People’s Party Clare Daly Grace O’Sullivan Independents for change Green Party Group of the European United Left–Nordic Group of the Greens/European Free Green Left Alliance Mick Wallace Frances Fitzgerald Independents for change Fine Gael Group of the European United Left–Nordic Group of the European People’s Party Green Left Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan Independent Maria Walsh Group of the European United Left–Nordic Fine Gael Green Left Group of the European People’s Party Billy Kelleher Fianna Fáil Renew Europe Group 6 Members of the European Parliament for Ireland Remote Plenary Sessions Against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic in the autumn of 2020, the Conference of Presidents decided to provide the possibility for Members to intervene remotely in plenary sessions from the EPLOs. This was a historic decision and the first ever- remote plenary session took place on 19 October 2020. Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan MEP was the first MEP to intervene in a plenary session from Europe House. By the end of December, a total of 8 MEPs had contributed to debates in this way, most of them doing so multiple times. Maria Walsh (left), Seàn Kelly (middle) and Frances Fitzgerald (right) Remote Plenary Sessions 7 Billy Kelleher Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan Ciarán Cuffe 8 Members of the European Parliament for Ireland Barry Andrews Grace O’Sullivan Members of the European Parliament for Ireland 9 Outreach Activities Activities detailed in this section were primarily targeted at individual citizens and stakeholders in Ireland. Daly, Seán Kelly, Grace O’Sullivan, Frances Funding in the New Decade, chaired by Frances Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald, Maria Walsh, Deirdre Clune, Barry 17 January 2020 Andrews and Billy Kelleher. They also visited the Parlamentarium, the Irish Permanent Representation and the European Commission. 24 February 2020 An MEP policy roundtable for members of Dóchas, the Irish Association of Non- Governmental Development Organisations, was organised at Europe House. Important topics, 17 January 2020 such as the EU’s role in global development and The EPLO hosted a seminar on the European the impact of the MFF negotiations on key policy Investment Bank (EIB) annual report launch areas like conflict and migration, were discussed. called Funding in the New Decade, chaired Dóchas members presented key policy asks, by Frances Fitzgerald MEP, and with keynote followed by responses from MEPs Maria Walsh, speaker Andrew McDowell, Vice-President of Mairead McGuinness, Barry Andrews and the EIB. The seminar aimed to inform attendees Frances Fitzgerald. on the EIB funding opportunities for projects in Ireland tackling the climate crisis, enhancing 6 March 2020 skills and innovation and promoting small The EPLO organised an event entitled EU business and developing infrastructure. Trade Amidst Global Uncertainty in the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin, chaired by Frances Fitzgerald MEP. Phil Hogan, EU Trade The Wheel Visit, 19 February 2020 Commissioner, gave the keynote speech and addressed issues, such as transatlantic relations, COVID-19 and the future trade relationship with United Kingdom. 19 February 2020 The EPLO arranged for a visit of Irish stakeholders to the European Parliament in Brussels. During their visit, the members of The Wheel were addressed by MEPs Mairead McGuinness, Clare Trade Event. 6 March 2020 10 Outreach Activities 60 representatives from the media, Ireland’s Air Handshake EPLO, 9 May 2020 diverse business community and civil society attended the event, who shared their feedback after the event: “The event was excellent and something that was well worth the effort to arrange and such events are so important at this time. I look forward to the next event and please add me to you mailing list.” 12 June 2020 Hubert Crehan, Partner at KPMG Together with the Institute for International and European Affairs (IIEA), the EPLO co-hosted “Very positive feedback from me. In spite of the a policy discussion on the European Parliament’s trying circumstances it was a great alternative role during the COVID-19 Pandemic and venue you found which worked really well.” looked at its response to the social, economic Ian Talbot, CEO of Chambers Ireland and political impact of COVID-19. The keynote speaker was Mairead McGuinness. The webinar 9 May 2020 took place via the Zoom platform and hosted To honour this year’s Europe Day, several online 170 attendees. events were organised despite our virtual existence: MEP video messages, 9 May 2020 • The EPLO, in cooperation with the European Commission Representation in Ireland and Galway Film Centre, launched a call for filmmakers to take part in a competition to create a short video on Ireland in the EU and 70 years of European solidarity. • Virtual Europe Day: We helped promote to Irish audiences online Europe Day activities organised in Brussels and Strasbourg. • EDIC Waterford organised a ‘Virtual Europe Day’ this year and the EPLO contributed with two videos on the work of the EU/EP in time of crisis by the Head of Office and Head of Media.