CONTACT PERSON Leanne Brosnan President of European Youth Parliament Ireland 8 Fitzwilliam Street Lower, Dublin 2 secretary@eyp.ie 00353857508932 European Youth Parliament Ireland Statement on COVID-19 Friday 13th March 2020 Dear Participants, Parents, Members and Teachers, The European Youth Parliament, as an organisation that runs conferences for secondary school students, is aware of the challenges and concerns surrounding the disease transmission of the Novel Coronavirus Covid-19. In January 2020 the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the outbreak of a new coronavirus disease in Hubei Province, China to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. WHO stated there is a high risk of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spreading to other countries around the world and have now classified the situation as a pandemic. WHO and public health authorities around the world are taking action to contain the COVID-19 outbreak. However, long term success cannot be taken for granted. All sections of our society – including employers, schools, colleges and other educational settings like EYP, must play a role if we are to stop the spread of this disease. At present, we are following National and European guidelines on how and whether to proceed with our National Conference in Cavan; a gathering of 200 participants. As of the 12th of March 2020, the Government have decided to close all schools, universities and institutions and cancel all mass indoor gatherings of 100 people or more until the 29th of March. There is a great degree of uncertainty as to how the situation will evolve. As the nature of European Youth Parliament Events requires international mobility and concrete planning, a decision has been taken to postpone the Cavan National Session of EYP Ireland until further notice. The event will no longer occur the 6th-10th of April 2020. We are monitoring the situation closely and are at all times following the guidelines of the relevant authorities. At this time, we would like to thank the Head Organisers of the event Luke Cunningham and Ben Cunningham for their hard work and passion for this session. We are confident that this session would have been a wonderful success. We are committed to supporting both Ben and Luke in reformulating Cavan 2020 at a later date this year. We would also like to thank the committed volunteers and supporters of the event and hope they will continue with us on this journey.
In terms of the other events of European Youth Parliament Ireland, our Annual General Meeting, originally scheduled for the 28th of March, is postponed. The National Committee hopes to be able to call the meeting, as it is a small gathering, once restrictions are lifted. However, we are currently exploring the possibility of remote participation. I would like to assure you that we are monitoring the situation closely. We may change this guidance if National guidance changes in the coming weeks. We encourage all of our participants to exercise hand hygiene and interpersonal distancing. We understand that many members of our organisation are also planning on travelling to other European Youth Parliament events in Europe. We encourage our members to research the national guidelines of the country they are travelling to and exercise caution. If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to get in touch with me. Kind Regards,
Leanne Brosnan President and Director of European Youth Parliament Ireland CLG Further Guidance: Irish Government Response to Covid-19 https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/a02c5a-what-is-happening/