Schools from Causeway Coast and Mid Ulster attend 42nd annual Ballymoney Soroptimists Public Speaking competition

Eight post-primary schools took part in the event – Dalriada School, Ballymoney; Ballycastle High School; Dominican College, Portstewart; Loreto College, Coleraine; Rainey Endowed School, Magherafelt; St Mary’s Grammar School, Magherafelt, Sperrin Integrated College, Magherafelt and Coleraine Grammar School.

In front of a good turnout of parents and friends, each girl had a maximum of six minutes to deliver their strongest cases for their chosen topics which included subjects such as Poverty, Space Travel, Lessons learned from WWII, Euthanasia, Cashless Society and the need for Community Gardens.

Each speech was timed strictly. Candidates were shown a green light at the four minute mark, an orange light from the fourth minute and a red light on the sixth minute. None of the girls exceeded their time for which they must be congratulated.

The two most popular subjects were ‘Euthanasia’ and ‘The lessons learned from World War II’ with seven candidates each debating these. All subjects were argued with great enthusiasm, with a mixture of feelings and humour. The standards were good to excellent.

This gave the adjudicators (Muriel Whitten, Alex Tannahill and Alison Steeen) a very difficult job. However, there were clear winners in the end.

1, Talent Maguma of Loreto College, Coleraine, on ‘Eighty years on has the world forgotten the lessons of WWII’; 2, Cliona McDonald, Coleraine

Grammar School on ‘Will we ever become a Cashless Society?’; 3, Sara McEldowney, St. Mary’s Magherafelt, on the subject of ‘Space Travel is a waste of Time’.

Talent will now go forward to the overall finals in Hillsborough on February 1, 2025. A vote of thanks was given by the President Sharon McCaffrey. Event organisers, Ruth Elliott and Elizabeth McFetridge were delighted at the success of the evening.