On the 22nd of November 2022 the First Secretary Mr. Máirtín Cronin held a lecture about his job as the Head of Political & EU Affairs, representing the Embassy of Ireland.
After opening his presentation with a small Irish lesson, he invited the whole class to take part in a quiz he had prepared. The quiz consisted of statements about Ireland which we were supposed to identify as true or false. Once an answer was revealed he provided us with intriguing information about the topic and had us guess the solution for the next statement.
Having a lot of fun, we were able to learn a lot about Ireland. The information was not only political, but rather a versatile and wide range of information, which included amusing ones. Such as the fact that with a population of 5 million people, there are about 7.4 million cattle in Ireland. During the quiz we got to know what exactly an embassy was, along with its function and to what extend it was any different to a consulate in general, of which there are quite a few in Germany. Mr. Cronin also told us about his tasks as a first secretary and what there is to consider, if you plan on starting a career in this field yourself.
At the end of his presentation we were able to ask about anything that was still unclear, which was an opportunity all students took advantage of. Piercing him with our questions, he answered every single one as well and in the most detailed manner. Even when the time was up we were so captivated by the topic that we could’t stop asking.
All in all, the presentation was a great opportunity to get insight into the function of a first secretary and embassies in general. Almost everyone enjoyed Mr. Cronin’s talk as we also learned more about Ireland itself and it wasn’t a purely political discussion as one might have thought.
Personally, I think it was a successful day which future classes should not miss out on!
Marvin Kupke (12th grade)