Senator de Búrca addresses Union of Students in Ireland 

Green Party Senator Déirdre de Búrca has said the future of Europe is of critical importance to young people and that students have an important role to play in shaping the future direction of the European Union. 

Speaking at the Annual Congress of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) in Bettystown, County Meath today, Senator de Búrca said that the question should not be whether one was ‘for’ or ‘against’ Europe but what kind of Europe should develop in the future to meet the needs of its citizens and of the global community. 

‘’The key questions are whether Ireland can meaningfully address the issue of climate change and respond to the challenges of a new energy future on its own or as part of the European Union. We need to consider whether the European Union will participate in a race to the bottom as part of a process of free market economic globalisation or whether it can protect and promote the important post war social progress that occurred in so many European countries. 

‘’We need to consider whether the European Union can provide a model for a new kind of superpower, relying to a greater extent on its ‘soft power’ of trade, aid and diplomacy rather than developing a strong military dimension typical of traditional global superpowers.’’ 

Senator de Búrca encouraged the USI to support the Lisbon treaty in the upcoming referendum in Ireland in June. She said that the provisions of the Lisbon treaty combined with the proper political will would allow the European Union to develop its full potential as a progressive global actor into the future.

Filed under:
European Affairs, Press Release by Deirdre