On Friday, we hosted our first online townhall event, with Commission Vice-President Margot Wallstrom. We decided we wanted to go with a quirky venue and someone suggested IKEA’s new store in Ballymun – seeing as like Margot, it’s Swedish, and it’s also a place where jobs are being created through trade with other European countries, we went with it!

The event was great fun, and a surprisingly big operation. We got plenty of questions submitted online through Uservoice, YouTube and email and it made for some interesting discussion, which was streamed live online. As a first-time interviewer, I was a little uncertain about the whole undertaking, but Margot was completely relaxed, and the whole thing was pretty enjoyable.

One of the most refreshing things about the event, was just how down-to-earth and honest Margot was. I was surprised to hear her condemn Poland’s position on the Copenhagen Climate talks (the successor to Kyoto). She was adamant that the EU has to speak with one voice, and give leadership on Climate Change. She was equally adamant that Poland “needs to get its act together”. Strong words.

Thanks to everyone who helped out organising the whole operation, especially Jaclyn, Sharon, Gregg, Michael and Dave.

We might look at running more events like this, depending on feedback. We had about 70 people there, and over 100 watching online. So, what did you think?

You will need to have flash installed to view this video.

We’re hosting a bloggers meet up in the Odean, on Sunday 14th, at 2 p.m.

ustream of event here at 2 p.m.:
Video clips at Ustream
We’re going to ustream the event here on www.generationyes.ie in case you can’t make it.

If anyone is interested in coming along, do. You can get to know what the campaign is about and ask us any questions you have.
If you’re interested, gimma a shout on dave@generatonyes.ie

Dave.

Margot Wallstrom, Vice-President of the European Commission, will take questions from Irish youth on Europe, the EU, and the upcoming Lisbon Treaty. The event is taking place in the Ikea store in Ballymun in Dublin, and will be webcast below at a point just after 1pm on Friday the 12th of June.

Make sure to have Flash installed in order to watch the video.

On Friday next (June 12th), we’re hosting an interview with Margot Wallström, Vice President of the European Commission, and we want you to be there. The interview will be a live @ 1:30 pm., online Town-Hall style discussion and you get to decide which questions should be discussed.

Margot is the EU’s most senior female official, and if you’ve ever wondered what the Commission does, or who they are - now’s your chance!

For the week leading up to the event, you can go online and submit and vote on questions about the EU, its future, and the challenges it faces. Margot will discuss the most voted issues in front of a live audience and the whole show will be streamed live online.

This is your chance to put questions to the people Libertas call “faceless bureaucrats” and see what’s actually going on with the EU
We’re holding the event in IKEA’s new store in Ballymun – like Margot, IKEA is Swedish and it’s one of the few places in Ireland where jobs are being created. There will be plenty of free Swedish food and refreshments for all who come, and we will have a bus to bring people from O’Connell Street at 11am.

Why don’t you come along? Email Jaclyn@generationyes.ie to RSVP.

If you can’t make the event itself, take part by submitting a question here: wallstrom.generationyes.ie

The event will be streamed live on this website.

What a fortnight! Generation YES has now hit Cork, Limerick, Galway, Letterkenny, Waterford and Dublin. If you missed us you can easily keep track of events around the country by checking out our facebook page. Please come along if you can, we want as many people as possible to stand up and be counted in the fight for Lisbon, and the future of our country.

We have spent a lot of time so far focusing on Third Level campuses, as all the students will be going away for the summer. However, we are now turning our attention very much to those outside the college network. So if you are a graduate, or never went to college, please come along to one of our regional events, again details are on the facebook page, and will be posted here soon.

Bart - Director of Recruitment

The campaign is coming along well. We’ve now got branches set up in Galway, Limerick, DCU, UCD and Trinity and have more on the way.

Bart is travelling around the country meeting people and trying to establish the volunteer network we need to win this campaign. You can find his campaign schedule below. If you want to meet up with him, or just get involved in general, give him a shout at bart@generationyes.ie

So far we were in Limerick on the 22nd May

Find us in:
Sligo/Donegal: 26th May
Cork: 29th May - Berra Room in UCC (Top of Student Centre) @ 5 p.m.
Waterford: 3rd June

There is also a Generation Yes Dublin meeting on the 28th May, 6:30 p.m., at 84 Lower Baggot Street.
Sign up to it on facebook or in the get involved section, or just show up on the day.

New research demonstrates definitively that Libertas’ claim that “Unelected Brussels bureaucrats make up to 80% of laws” is completely false.

Gen Yes’s team of researchers have analysed all legislation from the last 17 years to show that on average, the real proportion of laws that comes from Brussels is less than half of what Libertas claims. In a year-by-year analysis, not once does the amount of legislation coming from Brussels rise even as far as 50%. Furthermore, not one single EU law can be passed without approval from our elected MEPs or our elected politicians in the European Council.

You can find the research on our Fight the Lies page.

It’s only 10 days since our launch and we’ve already made big strides towards our goal of getting a ‘Yes’ vote in the Lisbon referendum.

We’ve set up two branches in Dublin [in DCU and Trinity], a branch in Galway and a branch in Limerick. There’s been lots of interest at each of these meetings with 30+ people at most wanting to get involved.

We’ll be in UCD, Maynooth and Cork by the end of this month.

We’ve had over 150 people sign up on the website to become volunteers and that number is growing every day.

If you want to get involved either use the “Get Involved” section of the website or drop Andy or Bart an email.

From organising a regional meeting in your area, to getting ready to start canvassing, to fundraising, to making buttons, there’s lots of work to be done.

Over the next month, we will be holding meetings around the country to get people involved.

If you want to get involved in this campaign why not come along to one of the meetings in either

Limerick (Postponed until next week)

Cork (May 30th in UCC, 8pm)

Alternatively, why not get in touch with me (bart@generationyes.ie), and I will be sure to get in touch with you!

See you in Cork!

Bart