The last group of finalists for the annual Irish Times Debate has been confirmed, with students from University College Dublin and Dublin City University advancing from Friday night’s semi-final.
Tori Kelly and Nicole McFadden of the UCD L&H won the team award while Róisin McCormack of DCU won the best individual speaker.
The Irish Times Debate is now in its 66th year. The competition’s last semi-final took place in the Graduates’ Memorial Building in Trinity College Dublin, with contestants debating the motion that “that this house believes that it is time for a men’s rights movement”.
The adjudication panel was chaired by Irish Times Ireland and Britain editor Mark Hennessy.
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Friday’s debate featured 12 competitors, comprising four teams of two and four individual speakers. UCC Philosophy’s Darragh Walsh and Jonathan Walsh and UCD’s L&H’s Noah Mullen Clarke and Olivia Monahan spoke in favour of the proposition in the team competition. Queen’s University Belfast’s Literific’s Ella McMullin and Henry O’Riordan along with the eventual winners, also from UCD L&H, spoke against.
In the individual competition King’s Inns Oísin Horgan and TCD Phil’s Matilda Brew spoke in favour of the proposition; TCD Bram Stoker’s Thaddaeus Tirone and the eventual winner DCU Debating Society’s Roisín McCormack spoke against.
Friday night’s winners will be joined in the team final by UCC Law Soc Tara Kennedy and Joyce O’Sullivan, King’s Inns Christina Mohan and David Leahy and TCD Hist’s Anya Wilson and Athena Wu.
The other three finalists contesting the individual prize will be King’s Inns Eoin Ryan, the Solicitor’s Apprentices Debating Society (SADSI) Cian Carew and Cadet Lehane from the Army Cadet School.
The final will take place on Friday, February 27th in Dublin City University, and the chairwoman for that debate will be human rights lawyer Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC.
