400 students taking part in Model UN in Cork's City Hall

400 students are participating in the Model United Nations Conference which commenced at Cork City Hall yesterday.

The two-and-a-half-day conference is hosted by Davis College Mallow, and the students will discuss the social, political, and economic issues that are facing Ireland today.

Participants will also focus on global issues as they debate the Russian invasion of Ukraine, hate speech and homophobia, and other pressing global issues as students get to grips with real-life world issues.

Students from up to 30 schools in Ireland along with pupils from a school in Valladolid, Spain, will assume the role of delegates and represent different counties and non-governmental organisations as they debate resolutions in General Assembly, Special Conference and Security Assembly on topics of pressing national and global importance.

Director of schools, Cork Education and Training Board, Pat McKelvey, said Cork ETB was proud to support such an esteemed event which has proven to be an invaluable learning experience for students over the years.

He said: “The Model United Nations Conference teaches students lifelong skills and is a fantastic way for them to research and learn more about pressing issues, not just for Ireland and the world, but issues that are relevant to them as young people and allows them to form their own perspectives and opinions and discuss them amongst peers.”

Student and secretary-general of the Model United Nations, Peter Holland, said that working with the other chief staff members had helped him develop skills in teamwork and delegation of work. “I have no doubt that the skills I’ve developed will help me be more confident and capable in the future,” he said.

Director of the conference, José Horta, said students taking part in the event gain lifelong skills that they could apply in their future lives.

“MUN does not tell students what to do; it tells them what they could do and this makes all the difference. They are given freedom that inevitably produces unexpected results; they discover information that we as teachers often lack access to and, therefore, produce ideas that would never come to the fore,” he said.