Five Irish citizens were among 150 citizens from across the EU who took part in the pan-European summit in Brussels.  They were Evelyn Boylan from Scotstown, County Monaghan; Noreen Kelly, Ballyvolane, Cork City; Niall O’Reilly from Maynooth, County Kildare; and Dubliners Brid Bowles, from Lusk and Michael Morrissey, Cabinteely (foreground) who was asked to share a platform with European Commission President  Jose Manuel Barroso and other  top policy-makers.

The event is the culmination of the first phase of the 2009 European Citizens’ Consultations, involving some 250,000 online users and 1,600 randomly selected citizens from all 27 Member States in a large-scale deliberative process designed to produce recommendations for action at the EU level.

The citizens' recommendations and the full report of the European Citizens' Consultations's first phase can be viewed here.

The debate will close on this website but you can still take part here.