Cross and Passion College in Ballycastle reaches final of all-Ireland debates

Cross and Passion defeated previous all-island debate winners, Ardscoil Mhuire, Limerick, in the semi-finals in Dublin on April 15.

The students from Cross and Passion - Lydia Doherty, Tiernan McAuley, Katie Anne McGinty and Eimear McAuley - successfully defeated the motion that ‘western democracy is purely symbolic’, to win the debate.

“We’re so relieved, we put so much work into this debate, and it was such a good motion but a wide motion,” said Lydia Doherty from Cross and Passion College.

“We did so much research and it’s a really amazing feeling to have that work pay off and reach the final. We’re definitely excited for the final, hearing the motion, and finding out our side.”

Cross and Passion have been all-island debate winners twice before, in 1986 and 2016.

“To reach the final two teams out of 170 schools is an incredible achievement,” said Georgina Eastaugh, acting head of Global Citizenship at Concern Worldwide.

“The standards of this year’s debates have been consistently high, so to get to the final is a testament to the hard work that both teams and their teachers have put in. This is just the start of their journey as active global citizens, equipped to advocate for people experiencing crisis around the world.”

The Concern all-island debates were started in 1984 to promote positive dialogue and shared learning and is the largest school debating competition on the island of Ireland. Open to schools from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, they are run by Concern with the support of volunteer adjudicators.

Any school interested in taking part in the next academic year’s debate programme, or anyone who would like to learn more about volunteering as an adjudicator, can email [email protected].