James Power is the kind of kid of who makes the ‘Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence’ theory rather redundant: you aren’t left scrambling and scraping for something that he is good at- he is great at everything! Thankfully, James also has a sense of humour to go along with the academic, sporting and debating prowess, which limits the begrudgery. James proved the debating skills in his recent third place finish at the Leinster Junior Schools Debating Finals, almost matching Turlough Dineen’s accomplishment in the Senior division.

Part of the reason for our continued inter-school debating success is the hot house nature of our domestic debating: winning Room 4 in our after-school debating dust-ups is not much easier than taking a Leinster Semi-Final. Debating Coach Rory O’Sullivan and Auditor Oisín Power have been working with a particularly strong group, across the different years, and we thought we would give you a glimpse of them, as we head into the in-house debating finals period. Over the next few weeks, The O’Connor, The McCarthy, The Gardner and The Kinlen Cups, as well as The Bouchier-Hayes Plate, will be awarded in debate competitions for the various year groups. And this year, a new debating award, The Francis John Barrett Plate for Maiden Speakers, will be presented. Stay tuned!