A huge congratulations to 6th year student Mark Tynan, who is this year’s Gold medalist winner at Cistercian College in debating with his motion:
“The Leaving Certificate Examination is an unnecessary, stressful and unfair burden on students. It should be scrapped as there are better alternatives”
Mark definitely had the audience eating out the palm of his hand. The Gold Medal has a long tradition in the school and it is awarded each year to a debating student.
Well done to each of the other competitors who also gave excellent speeches and put forward arguments that left us all with food for thought. These were:
Adam Stanley, with the motion:
“Artificial Intelligence will have far reaching consequences for society”.
Raef Donnelly, with the motion:
“The housing crisis is bad for individuals, bad for society and bad for the economy”.
And Ian Anantharajah, with the motion:
“Immigrants from poor countries deserve an opportunity to improve their lives. Rich countries must make it easier for them to migrate”.
This is an excellent event in the College and a huge thank you to teacher Mr. Mark Carey for organising it and the adjudicators: Miss Cody, Mr. Brussels and Miss Tynan.
As Mark Carey pointed out to the students beforehand, public speaking is a great skill, it allows you to challenge yourself , build confidence, it helps with future college presentations and will aid you in future workplaces and so many other areas of life. It is an experience and gift that will always stand to them.
