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!