Well done to Aaron Cawley, Jennien O’Gorman, Aaron Wort and Javier Capilla (pictured below) who came 2nd in Ireland in the Generation €uro Student Awards following their trip to Dublin.

The students, under the guidance of Ms. Molumby, were in the National Final on the 8th of April in Dublin. Other schools involved include; Glenstal Abbey,Limerick; St Louis, Sligo and Summerhill, Co. Monaghan.

This competition is a prestigious competition ran by the European Central Bank and out of 278 schools in Ireland, students at Coláiste Mhuire Co-Ed have came second in Ireland.

For this project, students had to predict the ECB Governing Council’s interest rate decision, explain their decision of the key economic indicators available, economic and monetary conditions in the euro area, and the inflation outlook. Students also had to Indicate the downside risks and potential upward risks vis-à-vis the medium-term inflation outlook, and refer to non-standard monetary policy measures.

Students looked at current economic conditions in Europe such as; Gross Domestic Product, Price & Cost indicators, Labour Market, Economy Growth, Exchange Rate, Budgetary Policy, Property, Aggregate Demand, Financial Market, Balance of Payments, Inflation rates and Fiscal Policy.

Factors that Influence the global economy; for example; The year of political populism, Global insecurity and the refugee crisis, The referendum on Brexit, Russia’s role in the world, Weak growth, choppy markets and China’s reforms.

Students also assessed inflation outlook and the consequences of a high inflation rate and deflation.

They looked at the ECB Interest Rate Decision and how the ECB uses this to uses this as a tool to meet; Inflation, Growth & Price Stability. Students predicted that the interest rate would be set at 0% due to a new drop in oil prices; the Intention is to inject more liquidity into the real economy and boost prices.

Students presented their project to a panel of four, including the Chief economist from the Central Bank of Ireland, Gabriel Fagan.
It was a 20 minute presentation on the students project with 10 minutes questions and answers.

Congratulations to all involved with their success in this prestigious competition.