The host nation take on Ukraine at 7pm with the young Ger part of the squad alongside club teammate Mason Munn for the fortnight-long tournament.
Speaking to RangersTV ahead of representing his country at youth level on the international stage where they will also take on Italy and Norway in the group stages, the midfielder commented: “A home Euros being special? Yes definitely, we want the fans behind us as much as possible.
“One of the venues of the games that we are playing is in my home city, all my friends and family will be down watching me and supporting me so that will be huge for me.
“Obviously I am playing two years up, some players are two years older than me some are one.
“It is good to showcase why I have been picked and prove my point of see why I should be there as well.
“It is three tough teams but we are not just going there just to take part. We are going to go the whole way and give it our all.
The 17-year-old has spoken of the step up in age group having previously represented his nation at Under-17s level but is taking everything in as they look to be competitive in the competition.
He continued: “Going from Under 17s to the Under 19s it is a big step up.
“But to be fair I have took it in my stride and I will just keep on trying to improve and just keep on giving everything to the team just to try get the most out of the tournament as possible.”
The youngster has reflected on the memories of his nation’s success at Euro 2016 where his manager scored the goal to send the team to the knockout stages and he feels working under him only benefits the group overall.
He added: “My Northern Ireland memories? Back in 2016 where our manager Gareth McAulay scored the winning header to qualify us for the round of 16 in the European Championships so it is quality to have him as our manager.
“It is class, he is a brilliant role model for the full group and everyone just looks up to him.”