The morning of 4th March 2005 hadn't even had a chance to dawn bright and clear as our twenty-seven delegates assembled at Belfast International Airport to make the journey to Kingswood School in Bath to participate in their fifteenth annual MUN conference. Undeterred by the early start, the representatives of Greece, Botswana, Panama, Kyrgyzstan and Oman were bright eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to join the forty-nine other schools from all over the UK, Europe and even as far afield as Israel, who would be taking part.

The city of Bath with its Georgian architecture made for an atmospheric setting and our early arrival there at around 10am gave us plenty of time to make ourselves at home in our palatial quarters at the YMCA and to explore the streets of the city, its Roman baths and, of course, its shopping facilities (for no true delegate can be considered equipped for the task of international debate without an extensive and stylish wardrobe, as many of the female members of our party illustrated).

That evening we tackled what was to be one of the greatest challenges of the trip - the notorious half-hour "climb" to Kingswood which sits on a hill top overlooking the city - to attend the registration and pre-committee lobbying which opened the conference. With a huge number of delegates present, our diplomats were under pressure to make the most of Friday night's lobbying session to see their resolutions accepted for debate the following day. While some of our number left that evening rather disappointed that their resolutions had not been passed by the Approval Panel, it only made determination to succeed the following day all the greater.

Saturday morning saw another early start to attend the conference's opening ceremony with its address from the Secretary General before all the delegates divided into their committee groups. Topics as diverse as climate change, the AIDS pandemic, child labour and the current situations in Afghanistan and Iraq were all discussed. With over 600 delegates present, committee groups were large, but the MCB team acquitted themselves well. Our delegates on the UNCHR, Security Council and Middle East Committee, in particular, were rarely away from the lecterns for long.

The alliances forged in committee groups proved to be worth more than political convenience alone and by Saturday afternoon participants from all over the UK were making plans together for social events that evening.
Such entertainments certainly made Sunday's nine o'clock start more difficult than Saturday's and Bath's taxi services made small fortune from the convoy of MCB pupils whose weary limbs and heavy cases all had to be brought to the school. After some final debates in committee groups it was time for the grand finale of the weekend: the General Assembly. The delegations of each country were now reunited and joined by their advisors for the final debates. Even in front of so daunting an audience the MCBMUNers continued to shine. The closing ceremony saw gavels awarded to Nick Hall and Simon Fairweather as 'Best Delegates' while James McMordie, Sarah Henderson, heather Murphy, Graham Richardson and Richard Armstrong were all named as 'Commended Delegates'. Greece (Evan Hill, Sarah Rainey, Nick Hall, Sarah Henderson, Simon Fairweather and Heather Murphy) were a 'Commended Delegation' and Kyrgyzstan (Robert Sanlon, Kate Nicholl, Patrick Mackay, Richard Armstrong and Fergal Carey)managed to bag the coveted, unofficial, award of 'Most Awesome Delegation'.

Congratulations are due to all twenty-seven MCBMUNers who made the trip a most enjoyable success: as an MUN novice I couldn't have had a better introduction.

S. Rountree