Irish Schools Debating (Winners & Images)

The Irish Schools debating competition was founded in 1983 and is one of the largest non-sporting secondary schools competitions in Ireland.

Students are given a position and the motion. They have approximately a week to prepare. The winners of a debate are chosen for their oratorical skills and their ability to convince the audience that they are right and not simply by their statistical analysis of a problem.

In the past there have been up to four regional legs: Munster, West of Ireland, Leinster and Northern Ireland. The winners of these regional legs would progress to the National final.

Previous title sponsors of the competition have included: Aer Lingus, ESB and Dennys.

At its peak the competition was organised as follows:

• Leinster Schools Competition

  Organised by the UCD L&H and the TCD Hist
  
  400 competitors from 100 schools in 55 debates

• Munster Schools Competition

  Organised by the UCC Philosophical Society

  
  200 competitors from 50 schools in 40 debates

• West of Ireland Schools Competition

  Organised by the NUIG Lit&Deb
  
  100 competitors from 40 schools in 25 debates

• Northern Ireland Schools Competition

  Established 2007-08

  Organised by the L&H with the support of the QUB Faculty of Law
  
  50 competitors from 10 schools in 7 debates

• All-Ireland Schools Debating Final

  Traditionally hosted by the L&H and the Hist on rotation.
  
  A grand final where the provincial champions compete for the national title