AMAZING! Tipperary secondary school reaches quarter finals of charity debate series

Students from Thurles’ Ursuline Secodary School are getting ready to debate whether Artificial Intelligence is a force for global good, after reaching the final eight of the all-island Concern Debates.

The team from Ursuline will face Cork school, Mount St Michael in the Clayton Hotel Silver Springs in Cork on Tuesday, March 24.

Ursuline will oppose the motion, looking at the possible negative impacts of AI such as jobs being replaced, deepening inequality and harm to the environment.

Over 170 schools took part in this year’s debates programme, with teams from all four provinces of Ireland.

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“Concern Debates encourages young people to engage with global issues while developing their research, critical thinking and public speaking skills. Our goal is to build solidarity with people experiencing extreme poverty around the world, and to inspire the next generation to help create a fairer, better future for all,” said Georgina Eastaugh, Acting Head of Global Citizenship at Concern Worldwide

The Concern Debates programme was started in 1984 to encourage research, discussion and critical thinking about global issues.

The all-island Global Citizenship Education programme is funded by Irish Aid and run by Concern for school teams to debate issues such as poverty and climate change, with volunteer judges deciding which team wins.

Any school interested in taking part in the next academic year’s debate programme, or anyone who would like to learn more about volunteering a couple of hours across the school year as an adjudicator, can email debates@concern.net.