Ardscoil Mhuire’s team makes history by competing in Concern’s first ever Shield Final.
Ardscoil Mhuire’s Concern Debates team simply would not allow Covid-19 to interfere with their participation in the competition, moving seamlessly to online debating and battling all the way to the first ever All-Ireland Shield Final.
Whilst all in Ardscoil Mhuire’s school community are deeply proud of how well their debate teams perform in any given year, the dedication, creativity, and passion demonstrated by this year’s team was singularly inspirational.
Since September 2020 they have met, planned, written, rehearsed, performed, and supported each other exclusively through online platforms. This adaptability and team synergy saw them remain undefeated through the year, earning them a place in the final of Concern Worldwide’s flagship schools’ programme.
The Final took place live over Zoom in late April, and saw Ciara Grimes (Captain), Ali Sheehy, Katlyn Hourigan, and Tara McDonagh deliver a robust argument against the motion that “even beyond 2030, the SDGs are beyond humanity’s reach”.
They dug deep, impressively drawing on their knowledge of global issues, politics, history, and science during the debate to great effect. Despite a narrow loss by majority decision to Friends’ School, Lisburn, the team took pride in placing among the top teams in the country, continuing their school’s tradition of excellence in debating.
Ardscoil Mhuire would like to acknowledge and celebrate the entire team for contributing towards this wonderful achievement for their school community. They are: Abby Purcell, Ali Sheehy, Christine Houghton, Ciara Clancy, Ciara Grimes, Ellen Garcia Breen, Emanuela Vasic, Katlyn Hourigan, Olivia Kiely, Sara-Jane Williams, Tara McDonagh, and their mentor, Mr Huff.