Today, Bloxham School welcomed the Irish Ambassador to Great Britain, Dan Mulhall
We welcomed the Irish Ambassador to Great Britain, Dan Mulhall, to Bloxham School today.
During the day, Dan has led several activities, including a keynote address to staff and students regarding the issues of Europe over the last century. Dan discussed his own interest in history, and how this led to his choice of subject for his presentation today. He went on to compare the comparative calm in Europe since the end of the Second World War, to the unrest prior to the First World War. At the end of his address, Dan opened up the floor for students to pose questions for him, to which he gave some very insightful answers. An underlying message from the Ambassador’s speech was that the future for Ireland is looking bright, with national GDP increasing, expenditure rising and strong ties between Ireland and the rest of the EU.
The Ambassador has led several other discussions during the day, including hosting a discussion with some of our Politics students alongside the Chair of the Banbury Chamber of Commerce, Richard Hunter. This talk was a chance for our students to hear from these two influential figures what it means to be an entrepreneur and what skills employers are looking for. Richard Hunter’s own grandfather is actually an OB of the school, who went on to prove his own entrepreneurial prowess by launching Banbury’s first evert automated car wash. Before this talk, Simon Keeping, MD at Karcher UK (who is also attending the round table discussion with the Ambassador later today) came in to talk to our Fourth Formers regarding an entrepreneurial initiative that Karcher UK has launched in conjunction with local charity Katharine House Hospice. More information regarding this project will follow soon.
The #BloxhamsAsktheAmbassador question and answer inititiative on Twitter has proved hugely successful and the Ambassador has begun responding to your questions and will continue to do so throughout the day.
Dan Mulhall and Richard Hunter came together again over a round table discussion with various figureheads from large Oxfordshire and national businesses, namely representatives from ‘Handmade Burger Company, International Applications, Karcher (UK) Ltd, Prodrive Ltd, Rise, Spratt Endicott, Walraven Ltd, and Wellers Accountants and Your Cash. These discussions centred around the trade opportunities presented in Ireland, including key industries and the overall business climate within the country.
To round off his visit, Dan has just taken part in the official opening of our new sports viewing gallery at The Dewey Centre, with a mounted plaque to commerate this important occasion.