It was a case of all for one and one for all at a cross-European ceremony in Brussels earlier this month. Students from the 15 EU member states, including the Transition Year students of St Mary's College, Dundalk, Co Louth, with their teacher, Tommy Flynn, gathered for an official "motto" ceremony at the European Parliament.

The ceremony was the culmination of a yearlong process to choose a motto for Europe, and the Dundalk class was chosen to represent Ireland on the day in Brussels.

And the winning motto? "Europe: Unity in diversity", chosen by a panel of 15, including Ireland's Senator Mary Henry. The motto was then handed over to the president of the European Parliament, Nicole Fontaine.

About 80,000 students from around Europe took part in the competition to devise a motto. In all there were 2,016 proposed mottos, narrowed down to seven earlier this year by a jury of 40 journalists, including one from The Irish Times.

The process was organised by the Ouest-France newspaper and the Caen Memorial, a "peace museum" in Normandy.