Debaters, Assemble!

Yes, we punch above our weight at rugby, basketball and hockey… and we are THE fencing school in Ireland…and our knights rule the Leinster chessboards… but when it comes down to picking the one extracurricular activity that defines us, the one arena of engagement where we are (literally) world-beaters, it has to be Debating. The lists of Leinster, All-Ireland and Irish Times Champions and the rosters of Irish and Worlds School/University/Senior Debating Teams are replete with the names of Conlethians, now hallowed by their noble and inspiring rhetorical deeds. Well, the Wards, O’Dwyers, White, Roche, Gilligan et al have moved on to even more imposing rostra across the globe, and while they argue for human rights (or cash in, via corporate law), a new stable of stars has arisen at No. 28 Clyde Road.

Corkonian (and honorary Conlethian) Rory O’Sullivan, our debating lanista, has shaken the provincial dust from his robes and expertly assembled Senior and Junior teams that are taking Leinster (and whatever lies beyond) by storm. Front and centre is our Cicero and Orator/rix of Debates, Turlough Dineen. Turlough is ‘pure Conleth’s’: the perfect mix of affability, quirk, mischief and intellectual profundity. Personally, he has been named to the Irish Schools Debating Team, and, as a team player, he and his motley gang of raconteurs have ridden roughshod over the vaunted Leinster debating qualifying rounds, once going ‘three for three’ in ‘winning their rooms’. Take a bow, Lochlan Flynn, Hugo Sweeney, Finley O’Dea, Senan Corry and Milo Smith! And our Junior team is nipping at their heels. Ciaran Doyle, Patrick Kennedy, Peter Murphy and Shane Carroll have already won a national Mace competition and are currently charging through Leinster. And, just in case you thought our debating scene was just a boys’ club, this news just in: TYs Brooke O’Connor and Anna Carroll finished third in the UCD Law Society Mace Debate… competing against mostly Fifth and Sixth Years. Photo, slightly more composed than those above and below, to follow!

by Charles Latvis