Trinity students win Irish Times Debate final.

Posted on: 26 February 2019

Daniel Gilligan and Ronan Daly from the Historical Society (The Hist) have won the grand final of The 59th annual Irish Times Debate and were presented with the Christina Murphy Memorial Trophy.

The final was hosted by University College Dublin Law Society on 22 February with the motion for the 2019 final of the competition being: This House would rescind Ireland’s position of neutrality in favour of a European standing army.

Harry Higgins and Rory O’Sullivan representing the Philosophical Society (The Phil) finished in second place with Kevin Roche from the King’s Inn winning the individual speaker competition, and Aishling Kinsella from UCD Literary and Historical Society taking the runner-up position. The winners will now be invited to go on a debating tour of the United States.

Contestants from Trinity, The Kings’ Inns, UCD, and the Solicitors’ Apprentice Debating Society of Ireland were all represented among this year’s 12 finalists, which were whittled down from the 200 participants and 98 teams who entered the oldest university debating competition in Ireland.

Former winners include comedian Dara Ó Briain, film director Gerry Stembridge, broadcaster Marian Finucane, Supreme Court Judges Adrian Hardiman and Donal O’Donnell and former attorney general Dermot Gleeson.

President Michael D Higgins, former president Mary Robinson and former Tánaiste Mary Harney were also finalists.