Recent Events!

It's been a busy couple of weeks for the Debating Society - if you've missed out, here's what's been going on...

Congratulations to our first two senior Aoife Begly teams who made it through their first rounds of the competition - especially as they are all first-time speakers. Good luck also to the other two teams who are out tonight in Maynooth, debating the finer points of such blasphemous motions as TTHW Cancel Christmas and TTHW Give Rudolph a Nose Job.  (Torn between wanting to kill the convenor and wanting to congratulate him on his twisted sense of humour!)

Last Saturday saw two Senior speakers - Colm O'Riada and David Bennett - and two Junior speakers who pretended to be Seniors - Heather Fitzpatrick and Chris McMahon - battle it out at the Cambridge Trials which for the third year running have been hosted by CCC. Unfortunately the victory went to Conleth's but they put up a good fight in what was a fiercely competitive day. Kudos also to our Senior and Junior speakers who gave up their time and energy to come down to the school and help out.

On a side note, good luck to all those debators who auditioned for the VEC Festival of Music on the same day!!

Mr Auditor is running an excellent Internal League this year, ably assisted by his Deptuy Auditor, and it has been exceptionally successful in drawing in not only first-time speakers but some of our Junior veterans too. Congratulations to all who have taken part so far, your dedication and debating skills are something to be very proud of. :)

Finally, the much-anticipated Debating Christmas Party will take place next Thursday lunchtime in Room 30 - an event applauded every year by the Society veterans - so make sure you're there unless you want to miss out on all the awesome goodies that Mr Hopkins and Ms McGrath always manage to organise for us - thanking them in advance!!

Internal League Round One

The first round of the 2011/12 Junior Internal League took place last Thursday lunchtime, where we saw two rooms of great speakers debate the motion TTHW Ban Smoking. Both experienced and new speakers pitched an interesting battle against each other, and everything from freedom of choice to the black market to tax and revenue came up. The second round will take place next week or very soon so keep an eye on Mr Hopkins' noticeboard at all times, because all notices, motions and order papers will be put up there first. Best of luck to all involved!!

Denny's Round I and Aoife Begly Teams

Congratulations to the teams of Daire Boyle & Declan King and Ciara Gorman & Aodhán Peelo who both made it through their first rounds of the Denny Leinster Competition last Monday and Thursday respectively, debating on the motions TTHW Make Parents Legally Responsible for the Actions of their Children and TTHW Criminalise Holocaust Denial. Commiserations to Joseph Gregory who was knocked out but congrats to his partner in crime David Bennett, who lives to argue another round in the competition.
   Congratulations also to Alison Fitzpatrick, Cathal Hurley, Heather Fitzpatrick and Ffion Kelly-Rees who will represent the school in the Aoife Begly competition run by NUI Maynooth. First rounds of that will be held the week after the October midterm. These four will fill two teams but we are allowed to send 4, so any seniors interested should tell Mr Auditor, Ellen or Mr Hopkins and preferably turn up with a team-mate. :)

Junior Schools Trials and Teams

Congratulations to all of the Junior speakers who tried out last week for the chance to be on one of our three teams for the Junior Schools Debating Competition this year. It was a tough call, and was especially difficult considering the really high standard of the trials and the fact that we only have six precious places available. So, congrats to Aisling Tully and Chris McMahon, Seán McGuane and Molly Murphy-O'Kane and Ailbhe Kelly and Clíodhna Durand, who have been selected to go through as our three teams, and commiserations to those Juniors who didn't make it through this year.
   The three teams are out next Wednesday night, 26th October at 7pm in UCD. Any Seniors who are available, catch the 39A out to UCD and head along to support them if you can make it!! (See the link on the right to the Dublin Bus website.) Fingers crossed!!

Worlds Trials Results

October 8th saw Ciara Gorman and Aodhán Peelo head to Trinity for the second lot of trials to make it onto the Irish Worlds Debating Team 2011/12. Chucked in with a bunch of people from Cork, we debated on things like TTHB Terrorism is Justified and TTHW Force-Feed Hunger Strikers, and had to do a general-knowledge quiz that wasn't general knowledge AT ALL!! Questions like "What was the case that legalized abortion in the US?" (Roe vs. Wade) and "What is the mens rea?" (intent to commit a crime, sort of like a guilty mind) came up and left everyone wondering how on earth the coaches came up with that one...
   Congratulations to Aodhán as he returns to the Worlds team for the second year running - he will venture to Cape Town in South Africa in February 2012 with the team and we wish him all the best with his training until then! :)

Senior Trials, 7th October 2011

Attention all Senior speakers who put their names down to try out for Denny's and Aoife Begly, don't forget that trials are on this Friday in room 30 after school!! The motion is TTHW Elect Martin McGuinness, and if you're in doubt about the speaking order etc check out the glass noticeboard beside Mr Hopkins' office!

Also a reminder that there is a mace on in UCD on the 14th and 15th of October, if you're interested please see the sign-up sheet on Mr Hopkins' door or contact Aodhán or Ellen.

If in doubt about upcoming dates, check out the swanky new calendar feature I added over on the right!!

Belvedere Mace 2011 and Worlds Trials

Congratulations to Aisling Tully and Rebecca Armstrong who reached the final of the Belvedere Mace on Saturday 3rd October and narrowly missed out on the top spot, losing on a horrible split decision from the judges. Well done also to the other teams from CCC who competed, especially our first-time debaters, and thanks a million to all those Seniors who went over to spectate and adjudicate. For those Junior speakers who unfortunately did not make it through the trials, never fear!! You all did very well, we just didn't have enough places for all of you and there will definitely be other competitions to which we can send you along.

May I just take this opportunity as well to thank Molly Murphy-O'Kane who came along to the first set of trials just to fill in as a dummy speaker off her own bat - what a star of a girl!! And I pass on Mr Auditor's thanks to the Senior adjudicators who came along too.

Speaking of Mr Auditor, congratulations to Aodhán who along with myself somehow managed to claw our way through to the next round of trials for the Irish Worlds Debating team. Aodhán is desperate to retain his place and I'm just along for the ride, really, and commiserations to Daire Boyle who was over with us on Saturday too, but narrowly missed out on a place (it was rigged, I tell you!). If anyone is even remotely interested in coming in to Trinity to watch the next round of trials, it's on at 10.30 in the GMB building (sort of on your left as you come in through the main arch).

Until next time!

Belvedere Mace Trials

The annual Belvedere Junior Mace Competition will take place this Saturday, 1st October, at Belvedere College. As we're limited to sending only 3 teams and have overwhelming interest in attending, trials have been organised for all Juniors who put their name down at last week's meeting.

The trials will take place on Monday 26th and Tuesday 27th after school, so please make sure you have checked the debating noticeboard outside Mr Hopkins' office, where details of the rounds and rooms are posted.

Good luck to all Juniors taking part in the trials, and kudos to any first-years or new speakers who signed up!!

On an additional note, Worlds trials take place on the same day in the Agricultural Science Building in UCD at 10.00 am for anyone who wants to head in to watch!

First Meeting of the Society, 15th September 2011

Last Thursday, 15th September, saw the Debating Society reconvene for the school year 2011/12, with Mr Auditor Aodhán Peelo at the helm of his inaugural meeting. It was great to see so many members back, including last year's winners of the Junior Schools Debating Competition, Sean McGuane and Aisling Tully. PR Representative Ffion Kelly Rees has done an excellent job of recruiting new First-Years, ably assisted by the Fifth-Year Mentors who are members of the Society and Deputy Auditor Ellen Murphy.

The meeting was a busy one, so here's a recap of what you missed in case you were unable to attend:

• Sign-up sheets for the Belvedere Mace were available for Junior Speakers
• A separate sheet was made available to Seniors who wish to adjudicate at the same competition
• Seniors interested in Aoife Begley and Denny's were also asked to put their names forward, trials to be held shortly
• Table topics were also a feature of the meeting, and well done to both new and former members who debated on topics such as why Jedward embody all that is good about the Irish, the finer points of auto-tuning and why corporal punishment should be re-introduced into schools. 
• Workshops in both mace and prepared debating will take place in the near future for all new members

If anyone wishes to put their name forward for any of the above events, please let the Secretary Caragh Kelly-Rees know and she'll look after you. Check out the calendar on the site for the dates of upcoming events, and check back here every now and then to keep up to date with all the latest from the Society!

European Universities Debating Championships

Congratulations to past pupil of Mount Sackville, Catherine Murphy (elder sister of current Deputy Auditor Ellen Murphy) and former member of the CCC Debating Society, Niamh Ni Maoileoin (daughter of veteran debator Mr O Maoileoin) who recently represented Trinity College in the European Universities Debating Championships in Galway.

Debating on motions such as economic policies, philosophy and international relations, the competition was fierce and yet the girls battled to a final with Oxford, Cambridge and Durham. and narrowly missed out on the top prize, having come out the wrong side of the split decision.

However, Catherine was awarded best speaker and Niamh was ranked third in the competition - both incredible achievements as the standard of university speakers in notoriously high. There is an article about them on the Trinity College website - if anyone's interested, the link is as follows:
http://www.tcd.ie/Communications/news/news.php?headerID=1988&vs_date=2011-8-1

Congratulations to them both and we wish them all the best in their future debating adventures!!

Worlds Schools Debating Championships 2011

The prestigious Worlds Schools Debating Championships take place this year in Dundee from the 16th to the 26th of August, and the CCC Debating Society is gleefully promoting the fact that our new Auditor and longtime member of the society, Mr Aodhán Peelo, will be competing alongside a group of other top-notch Irish debaters in this competition.

Having been sent to the trials on the basis of his phenomenal successes in both Junior prepared and mace competitions, and the incredible achievement of becoming the only Junior speaker ever to win the Denny's Senior Championships with his partner Ms Deirdre McGuane, Aodhán impressed the judges sufficiently enough to garner himself a place on the Irish National team.

His gruelling training consisted of having to get up early on a Saturday and make his way into town for long, arduous hours beating out tough motions in preparation for the action in Dundee this week. The format of the competition is alternations between prepared and mace rounds. The prepared motions have been released - examples include granting dictators immunity if they step down from power, universal primary education is a misallocation of funds in the developing world, and - for the Grand Final - This House believes that autocracy is impossible in the age of Facebook. Sounds fun, right?

Hence, the Society and the Webmaster wishes Aodhán the very best of luck in his efforts in Dundee!! :D

Debating Summer Party

Thursday, 19th May, was the date of the Debating Society's traditional end-of-year summer party. Everyone had a great time thanks to the organisational/shopping skills of Ms McGrath and Mr Hopkins, which was very much appreciated by all members of the society (but probably not by their teeth)!

Outgoing Auditor Ciara Gorman gave her closing speech and presented the newly engraved Auditor's Invitational Trophy to winners Aodhán Peelo and Peter Murphy (1st Prop). Declan King claimed Best Individual. Congratulations to them and all the Senior speakers who took part. Commemorative plaques were also presented to Peter and Deirdre McGuane, our two Sixth Year students, as they were made honorary lifelong members of the CCC Debating Society. We wish them all the best in college and the future, and thank them for all the support and fine speeches they have given to the Society during their time in CCC.

Ciara was presented with The Bell as a commemorative of her year as Auditor as she welcomed the Incoming Auditor Aodhán Peelo to his inaugurational meeting. The Incoming Deputy Auditor is Ellen Murphy and she succeeds the current Deputy Auditor Daire Boyle. 

The Society will reconvene in September 2011 and we hope to see everyone back again. :)

Auditor's Invitational Showcase Debate

Well done to all of our senior speakers who participated in what was a very engaging and lively debate this Tuesday, 10th May. The results of this debate, which encompassed everything from the glorification of terrorism to the celebration of who we as a nation are to the Immaculate Conception and the birth of Jesus, will be announced on Thursday. The winning team will be presented with the trophy currently held by our Deputy Auditor, Daire Boyle.

   Special thanks to our guest chair, Ms Roxane Frim, and to Ms McGrath for adjudicating. 

Reminder: Auditor's Invitational

Senior speakers, don't forget that the Auditor's Invitational Showcase Debate will take place this Tuesday, 10th May in Room 30 at 12.20pm sharp. All Junior Speakers are invited to attend!

 

If you've forgotten your team position/the motion/all about it, please check the order form on the noticeboard outside Mr Hopkins' office. 

The motion is TTH Believes the State Should Not Celebrate the 1916 Rising.

Thanks to all who attended the Elections last week!

Ciara

Mme Auditor

Aoife Begley Grand Final

The Grand Final of the Aoife Begley Senior Debating Competition took place last Thursday, 5th May in the John Hume Building in Maynooth, where two of our Senior speakers - Ellen Murphy (5th Year) and Declan King (TY) - debated the motion TTHW, When Faced With Overwhelming Assault, Fight to The Death. Ellen was a Prop individual and Declan spoke in Opposition. It was a 'fight to the death' between two speakers who had started the competition as a team and were then brutally split in their second round. However, each proved to the other that while they did work as a team, they could also stand on their own two feet.

Loreto on the Green (1st Prop) walked away with the team prize, but after a valiant fight Declan was beaten by Ellen, who gave one of her best speeches ever to claim the prestigious Individual Prize. She had the judges eating from the palm of her hand, and Declan offered a great contribution to the complex debate with what was only his fourth speech ever.

Congratulations to both speakers, and thanks to the support that travelled out on the night, with special mention to The Poster Makers and Mr Troy (who very kindly drove us out and back in the mini-bus).

Leinster Junior Schools Debating Championships - Grand Final

Congratulations to Aisling Tully and Seán McGuane, our Junior team who made it to the Grand Final of Junior Schools on Thursday, 14th April and gave two incredible speeches to claim the trophy! They spoke in front of a large audience in UCD, as 1st Opposition to the motion TTH Believes Violence is a Legitimate Tool in the Pursuit of Democratic Goals. They brought the trophy back to CCC for the second year in a row, following in the footsteps of the previous winners Ciara Gorman & Aodhan Peelo.
 
Congratulations to all the Junior speakers who participated in what was a very successful competition this year and we encourage all other Juniors to participate next year.

Sean & Aisling with their trophy and the supporters
who travelled to the debate on the night

Denny's Senior Debating Championships - Grand Final

Congratulations to Transition Year students Ciara Gorman and Aodhán Peelo who gave a great performance in the Grand Final of the Denny's Senior Leinster Championships on Monday, 28th March, which took place in the Astra Hall in UCD. They spoke as 1st Proposition to the motion That This House Believes Violence Should Be a Legitimate Form of Civil Disobedience against teams and individuals from St Conleth's, Loreto Balbriggan, CBC Monkstown, Gonzaga and Belvedere.
   Unfortunately they did not bring home the trophy but went on to battle it out in the National Repecharge the following Sunday and took second place, in 2nd Proposition to the motion TTH Believes Nations Should Be Allowed to Intervene in Humanitarian Crises Without Approval From the UN.