IRISH TIMES DEBATES: Anti-American sentiment has swept Trinity College Dublin's debating elite, and this Friday six TCD students will confront Brian Cowen and try to infect an audience with their arguments.
The occasion is the final of the Irish Times Debates. The motion is "That this house regrets the American response to September 11th". The chairman is Cowen. The venue is NUI Maynooth's Aula Maxima. And the luck of the draw - together with Trinity's debating prowess - means that, amazingly, the debate breaks down as Trinners versus the Rest: all six TCD debaters, including two teams from the Hist and individuals from the Hist and the Phil, are proposing the motion.
Twelve debaters have come through to the final from four closely fought semi-finals held in recent weeks.
The first semi, held in Trinity, saw three TCD debaters sweep through: the team of Louis Mooney and Brendan Kelly from the Hist, and individual debater Francesca Reinhardt from TCD Phil.
The Hist had more success in the second semi, even though it was held far from College Green, in UCC. The team winners there were Jim McElroy and Mánus De Barra from TCD Hist, and the individual was Conor Buckley from UCC Philosoph.
Appropriately, the UCD-based semi was the only one with no Trinity winner. Team Brian Flanagan and Simon Larragy from UCD Law, along with Ian Kehoe of DCU, progressed.
A marathon adjudication in Limerick, complete with novel weighted voting systems, rewarded Will McKechnie and Imogen McGrath from King's Inns, plus John Cleary from TCD Hist.
