UCD LawSoc Representatives Reach Quarter-Final of World Debating Championship
By Niamh O'Regan | Jan 3 2017
A LawSoc event from last year.[br]THE 2017 World Universities Debating Championships in the Hague have declared UCD Lawsoc to have one of the best debating teams in the world. The team in question is comprised of LawSoc Auditor Aodhán Peelo and LawSoc Maidens Debates Covener Adam Stairs. Competing in the quarter-final, the motionon which they were speaking was “This House Believes All Governments should designate and publicly announce a list of all financial institutions they would bailout in the event of a crisis”.They first competed in nine preliminary rounds before breaking as one of the top sixteen teams in the competition. While they did not progress to the semi-final, UCD Lawsoc and the UCD debating community are incredibly proud of their achievement. Speaking to the University Observer, LawSoc Vice-Auditor Isabel Cooke said “this is an incredible achievement for Adam and Aodhán and for LawSoc. We are so incredibly proud of them and indeed the whole delegation for the work and commitment they have given, to the competition and to the society”.This is not the first time the two have spoken together successfully, most recently reaching the final of the Lund University Inter Varsity in Sweden in early December. Both have also previously reached various finals and semi finals in intervarsity competitions across the country and Europe.The competition itself consists of more than 250 universities representing over 90 countries, covering several branches including streams for those speaking with English as a second language and those with English as a Foreign Language as well as a separate masters competition. Beginning on the 27th of December with speaking workshops, the competitive element began on the 29th with three rounds preliminary rounds a day. Speakers make seven minute speeches in the position which they are assigned, irrespective of their personal standing on the motion. Today, January 3rd, is the day of all the finals, with the semi finals having taken place between last night and this morning. Of the teams they competed against in the quarter final, those from the University of Oxford and USU progressed to the semi final. At the time of writing, the break for the final has not yet been announced.UCD Lawsoc were also represented by speakers Laura Hogan and Conor White and judge Valerie Tierney, UCD Literary and Historical were represented by speakers Juliette Barnes and Aisling Tully and judge Talia Yussuf. While Aodhán and Adam were the only Irish university speaking team to advance, Dee Courtney and Gavin Tucker of Trinity College Dublin, progressed as judges as did Clíodhna Ní Chéileachar who, while a UCD student attended as an independent judge.