Emily McMullan, age 11 from Dundonald Primary School was revealed as the winner after she, and her fellow finalists, were invited to a special ceremony at Hillsborough Castle.

Emily’s design was chosen from over 2000 colourful and creative entries to the competition, from children in schools from every county in Northern Ireland.

Emily was joined in the final three by Fiadh Rose Kerr, age 6 from Omagh Integrated Primary School and Thomas Porter, age 8 from St Joseph’s Primary School.

Emily will visit Ulster Carpets later in the summer, working with their professional designers to turn her ‘snapshot’ into a wonderful rug.

Once completed the specially designed jubilee rug will be delivered to Her Majesty the Queen as a gift from the children of Northern Ireland in her Jubilee year.

Minister of State for Northern Ireland Conor Burns said:

“I’ve been overwhelmed by the truly amazing artistic and illustrative talent that I have seen in response to the Northern Ireland Office’s Platinum Jubilee Rug competition.

“Emily’s design shows some of the very best of Northern Ireland, with its well known landmarks instantly recognisable and synonymous with this beautiful place.

“”I can’t wait to see Emily and the designers at internationally recognised Northern Ireland manufacturer Ulster Carpets bring the winning design to life over the summer ahead of the rug to be presented to the Royal Household as a gift to mark the incredible and historical 70 years of service of the Queen.

“I’m incredibly proud of Northern Ireland’s young people – from schools in every county here – and grateful to their parents and teachers who have helped make this idea such a success. Thank you all.”

Group Managing Director of Ulster Carpets Nick Coburn said:

“We are delighted at the wonderful artistry shown by primary school children across Northern Ireland and the fantastic response to the design competition.

“Selecting a winner was an extremely difficult task and we can now look forward to transforming Emily’s wonderful design into a rug for Her Majesty The Queen.”

Headmaster of Dundonald Primary Julian Byers said:

“We are delighted that Emily’s picture has been chosen as the winner. Her magnificent drawing, showing the iconic landmarks of Northern Ireland, transformed into a rug, will be a lasting memory of Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee, taking pride of place in Buckingham Palace.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

• The finalists of the Platinum Jubilee Rug competition are
  • Emily McMullan, P7, Dundonald Primary School & Nursery Unit
  • Thomas Porter, P5, St Joseph’s Primary School, Ballycruttle, Downpatrick
  • Fiadh Rose Kerr, P2, Omagh Integrated Primary School

Thank you Mr. Chairperson,

I am delivering this statement on behalf of my own country Albania and 45 other participating States: Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Republic of Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Mr. Chairperson,

On 11 July OSCE participating States received the second independent experts’ report of the Moscow Mechanism. The report documents violations of international humanitarian law, and violations and abuses of human rights law, that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Ukraine between 1 April and 25 June 2022.

The mandate for the experts was to:

Consider, follow up and build on the findings of the Moscow Mechanism report received by OSCE participating States on 12 April 2022 addressing “human rights and humanitarian impacts of the Russian Federation’s invasion and acts of war, supported by Belarus, on the people of Ukraine, within Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders.”

We also requested that ODIHR provide any relevant information or documentation derived from the mission to other appropriate accountability mechanisms, as well as national, regional, or international courts or tribunals that have, or may in future have, jurisdiction.

Our collective invocation of the Moscow Mechanism on June 2, 2022, with the support of Ukraine, reflected our shared concerns about the impact of Russia’s invasion in Ukraine.

While our capitals and delegations are still reviewing the 115-page report in detail, we would like to highlight a number of critical conclusions made by the experts in the report.

This report has shone a light on two new alarming trends.

The first is the reported “establishment and use of so-called filtration centres […] by the Russian armed forces”. “ Civilians are detained for at least 30 days as part of a filtration process, with those deemed the most “untrustworthy” […] obliged to remain for two months.”

The second trend is the reported tendency of the “Russian Federation to bypass its international obligations by handing detained persons over to the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics and letting these two de facto entities engage in problematic practices, including the imposition of the death penalty resulting from trials that fail to meet the basic standards of the fair trial.” These entities have no international or domestic legal authority.

Furthermore, the second mission has “largely confirmed the conclusions reached by the first mission. It has discovered clear patterns of serious violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) attributable mostly to Russian armed forces in many areas which its investigations referred to.” The report emphasises “the magnitude and frequency of the indiscriminate attacks carried out against civilians and civilian objects.” The events concerning the towns of Bucha and Irpin, which were visited by the mission, are two emblematic examples of these grave violations.

The independent experts note that Russia’s invasion has impacted both on Ukraine’s food security and global food security – exacerbated by the theft of Ukrainian grain and the suspension of movement of commercial vessels in the Sea of Azov.

As the report notes, “millions of tons of grain remain trapped in the Ukrainian ports and on ships unable to move, which significantly affects the global food and agricultural supplies threatening to result in a global hunger crisis.”

In terms of recommendations for additional actions, the report expands on the linkages between the Moscow Mechanism report and other accountability mechanisms and notes the role played by justice institutions.

Mr. Chairperson,

We would like to thank Professors Bilkova, Guercio and Sancin for their tireless work in preparing this report in such a short period of time. As stated, this report will require careful consideration and study, in the OSCE region and beyond. The broad conclusions, however, are presented in a clear and compelling manner. We would like to express our support to Ukraine and its citizens. Now participating States and the international community must ensure we undertake the necessary actions – this includes making full use of the OSCE and its tools under the human dimension.

Thank you Mr Chair, and I ask that this statement be attached to the journal of the day.

The Mid-life MOT is a review for workers in their 40s and 50s that helps them take stock of their finances, skills and health, and enables them to better prepare for their retirement and build financial resilience.

As part of the expansion, Mid-life MOTs will be delivered online, in the private sector and through the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP’s) national network of jobcentres.

The jobcentre expansion will see staff sit down with older jobseekers to examine their retirement planning and help them to not only identify how to overcome barriers to employment, but also explore any avenues to help improve their earning and saving potential.

Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion Guy Opperman said:

The challenges we’ve faced over the last few years have highlighted the importance of financial resilience. As people live longer and healthier lives, planning for work, wealth and wellbeing in later life is vital.

Our Mid-life MOT expansion will give people the tools they need to assess where they currently are and how they can get to where they want to be – whether it’s that next career move or ensuring they’re on track for the retirement they want.

These new measures form part of a wider £22 million package to help over 50s find new careers and earn more money by boosting time with Work Coaches and bringing in specialist support.

Alongside this, a face-to-face Mid-life MOT programme will be trialled through employers with employees in three areas: the North East of England, Cornwall & Devon, and East Anglia. DWP will also be working in partnership with the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) to develop an enhanced digital Mid-life MOT tool.

The new plans follow the successes of private sector pilots and government-funded trials delivered through ten Local Enterprise Partnerships last year.

This increased support is in addition to 37 50:PLUS Champions covering every district across England, Wales and Scotland who will work with local employers to help them realise how their recruitment could benefit from the talent of older workers.

These initiatives will help more people, both in and out of work, to assess their options and opportunities to ultimately enjoy a more financially secure retirement.

Additional information

• The funding is part of the enhanced package of support for older workers which was announced in the 2021 Spending Review.

Media enquiries for this press release – 0115 965 8781

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