Pride in Milford as Loreto make it to All-Ireland Debating Competition semi-finals

Loreto Milford School Debate Team made it as far as the semi-Final of the ACCS (Association of Community and Comprehensive Schools) All-Ireland Debating Competition.

On route, the team - made up of Enda Boyce, Jack Mulvey, Hannah McGinley and Leah Neely - successfully overcame some strong teams, including Carndonagh Community School, St Claire's Comprehensive, Manorhamilton from Leitrim and Clifden Community School, Galway.

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The team enjoyed debating a wide range of motions, such as the introduction of a Universal Basic Income, TY being made mandatory and combat sports being banned for under 18s.  

Ms Nicole Brady and Joe Mac Bride said they are very proud of the team's achievement in going so far in our inaugural year of debating.

Mr MacBride said: “It has been an absolute pleasure to witness the four of them develop a close bond and to see them blossom into articulate, confident and top-class debaters.  We do not doubt that the excellent communication, teamwork and critical thinking skills which they developed and showcased during the competition will stand them in good stead as they progress to third-level education and in their future careers.

“The school had not had a debating team in several decades and as we tend to organically debate quite a bit each week in my Politics & Society class, I decided to establish one for the first time this academic year with the help of another teacher, Ms Brady.  

“We held trials shortly after the Halloween Midterm break last year and selected a team of four Politics students to make up our new school Debating team, namely Hannah McGinley, Jack Mulvey, Enda Boyce and Leah Neely.  

“We entered the team into the ACCS National All-Ireland Debating Competition.  We had no expectations entering this prestigious competition other than to enjoy and learn from the experience, but ended up going on a great run the whole way to the All-Ireland Semi-Final in Athenry last Thursday.  Unfortunately, we lost out to a formidable Gallen Community School Debating team from Co Offaly, despite a gallant effort from our team opposing the motion that ‘Tourism causes more harm than good’."

“Despite the fact that our debate team only made its debut this year, the journey we’ve been on as a group has been incredible,” Jack Mulvey said. “We were put together by our teachers, Mr MacBride and Ms Brady, one lunch break as an amalgamation of seemingly mismatched individuals, but we quickly became a tight-knit team who tackled every challenge head-on. 

“Only a week or two after the school’s first-ever debate team was set up, we competed in our first round of the prestigious ACCS Debating Competition, facing schools from right here in Donegal to further south in Leitrim and west Galway. 

“We started not knowing what we were getting ourselves into, but became one of four teams nationwide to progress to the Semi-Finals of the competition. There, we had to argue against a difficult motion - ‘This house believes that tourism causes more harm than good’.

“Ultimately, we left it all on the pitch and did ourselves proud, but were eliminated by a strong team from Ferbane, County Offaly. However, what we gained as a team in just three months of competing is invaluable to us, and what started as such an unlikely group developed into lasting friendships and support for one another.

“We each have a shared sense of pride for what we’ve accomplished as a team in such a short window of time. The support from our teachers, students and principal made the debates seem less like a challenge and more of a fun experience for us all. Now that we’ve established ourselves as such a strong team, we’ll be sure to come back better than ever next year!”