 St Aidan's CBS, Whitehall, Dublin, Ireland |
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| St Aidan's CBS, Whitehall, Dublin, Ireland |
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Senior students Andrew Linn and Karl Elliot won second and fourth position in Ireland's largest debating competition held in Trinity College on Thursday, April 10th. Both students were competing in the AIB Phil 'Speaks' Competition, which with over a thousand students taking part, is the most contested debating event in the country and is run on an All-Ireland basis. The motion concerned the future of religious education and the house heard fine oratory from St Aidan's speakers who had undergone several difficult rounds before reaching the coveted grand final. Andrew Linn was delighted with his performance and is only slightly disappointed that a split adjudication panel placed him behind a German exchange student who scooped the top prize: a trip to Hong Kong. Andrew had been hoping to win the senior compeition ever since he won the junior event two years ago in a grand final where half of the debaters were St Aidan's students. Karl Elliot, no stranger to debating success as a semi-finalist in the Denny Schools Competition and finalist in the European parlimentary Dublin Rounds was also delighted to having achieved fourth place in the Philosophical Society's tournament. Elliot will be in pole position to sucessfully represent the school and indeed the country next year in the World Debating Championships to be held in England, a chance he won by reaching the Grand Final of the 'Speaks'. Both are avid debaters and highly recommend the many and varied experiences afforded to them by the great number of competitions in which St Aidan's partakes.
T. O’Connor
St. Aidan's speaker in the opulent surroundings of Dublin's Trinity College while the team listens attentively.