Rotary Youth Leadership Development Competition

The Rotary Ireland Youth Leadership Development Competition, in conjunction with the European Parliament Liaison Office in Dublin, will take place again in 2025/2026. Rotary Ireland has been organising this event for over twenty five years and we see first-hand the opportunities and benefits it gives to the young leaders of today and tomorrow.  It is an opportunity to enhance their personal development and improve their communication and teambuilding skills. Students learn life skills, as well as gaining confidence in public speaking and debate. Every year great friendships are formed that last for years. 

The Competition:    Stage 1: 

 Rotary Clubs will invite local schools to encourage their students to enter the competition. This involves completing an application form and then attending an interview with Rotary members. Interview questions are based on the application form, and also on leadership, Rotary, their knowledge of EU, their involvement in their local community and current affairs.  At the end of this stage a school winner will be selected from each school.  

The Competition:  Stage 2: 

All school winners will attend another interview to determine the Rotary Club winner. Similar questions may be asked, but it is expected that students would display a deeper knowledge of the topics. The interview panel is again Rotary members.  

Interviews for Stage 1 and Stage 2 are held during Sept & Oct 2025. 

The Competition: Stage 3: 

All Rotary club winners now move into the Zone Final. There are 11 Rotary Zones in Ireland and each zone has 4 – 8 Rotary clubs.  Again, students attend an interview. The interview panel at this stage are non-Rotarians. They are experts in the field of Leadership, working with young people, and in adjudication.  After the interviews, 1- 3 students will be selected as Zone winners, from each zone.  

Interviews for Stage 3 are held during Nov 2025. 

The Prize: 

The prize in Jan/Feb 2026, includes a visit to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, to take part in Euroscola where young people will become an MEP for a day.  The Euroscola programme brings together students from all over Europe for a hands-on experience in parliamentary democracy. 

In advance of the trip, students will be informed of the various topics which they will debate at the European Parliament. Students will need to research these topics and then work with other winners to prepare the topics for presentation at the Parliament. Students will meet other young people from various European countries on their visit to the Parliament and will have opportunities to debate the topics with them.  

The following are some quotes from the winners of the 2024/ 2025 competitions: 

"The highlight for me was meeting other young people from different European countries who were taking part at the Euroscola event  in the European Parliament".  

"This competition provides a truly outstanding opportunity to young students. You learn so much about politics in your local area but also across the EU. I would definitely recommend taking part in this competition as it is a once in a lifetime opportunity and you make lifelong friendships".  

"The interviews push you to learn about EU democracy and the work of Rotary. All students should learn about politics". 

 "I have learned interview skills and have made progress in my endeavour to finetune my speaking skills". 

"The Youth Leadership Development Competition taught me the importance of upholding a presence in a room of people".  

NOTE TO SCHOOLS 

 All entrants must be over 16 years of age on 1st January 2026 and under 18 years of age on 31st March 2026 

PASSPORTS 

The competition is open to students from Northern Ireland who hold a UK or EU passport.  

European Union passports are mandatory for students who are living in the Republic of Ireland. 

As Ukraine has been granted “Application Status “by the EU, students from Ukraine are eligible to enter this competition. 

Passports need to be in date (valid) up to six months from date of trip. 

Application Forms for this competition will be available from your Rotary Club in September 2025 or Download here. We hope you will include this competition as part of your extra curriculum projects for 2025/2026.  

 Rotary Youth Leadership Competition Coordinators: Ciara Irwin-Foley & Kevin Powell