The PTA were delighted to support this year's St Andrew's College Model United Nations at the Marine Hotel Dun Laoghaire.

The Chair of the PTA, Krysia Lynch, presented the winning delegates with their prizes at the Closing Ceremony and was honoured  to address the delegates on behalf of the parents of St Andrew's College Dublin.  Here is her speech.

Our job as parents is to nourish you, to guide you and to mentor you towards adulthood.

Adulthood brings with it responsibilities, not just to yourself, but to your community and ultimately to the world at large.

You will, like it or not, become custodians of the world we have created for you.

Ultimately, you will all be responsible for managing the earth's resources, for preserving our environment, for ensuring sustainability, for fostering human understanding, for enabling economies to flourish and trade, for speaking up for those who are marginalised, for ensuring the health of humanity and combating disease, for preserving the human biome, for defending the rights of all who live on this earth and for maintaining peace in your time.

No pressure guys!

Being part of the Model United Nations gives you a flavour of how this can be achieved in collaboration, in negotiation and with consensus.

Being part of the Model United Nations enables you to appreciate these issues, not just from our position of privilege, but from a wide range of perspectives, histories cultures and traditions.

Being part of the Model United Nations has prepared you for the role of citizen and I hope enabled you to gain this sense of collective responsibility.

For all these reasons the PTA are delighted to sponsor this event.   I hope you have enjoyed the week and I hope you will take home memories that influence your thinking and actions well beyond the Easter holidays. Please tell your parents about something you particularly enjoyed; we really want to know!

I would like to thank everyone who was involved in enabling you to be here today; your parents, the support staff at St Andrew’s College, Ms Nicola Carter, Ms Michelle Moran, Mr Derek Bohan, Mr Eoin Fahey, Mr Rob Micallef and in particular Mr William Hehir who  will, more than likely, enjoy his Easter egg on Sunday and then start planning and organising for next year's MUN. It's a huge task to take on and he and his team deserve our full appreciation.  Thank you.

Please click here for some photographs of this wonderful event.