Two Irish teams are among the final 32 due to compete in the World University Debating Championship in Dublin today.
The championship is the largest university debating competition in the world, with 324 teams entering this year. Both remaining Irish teams are from University College Cork (UCC) and both two-member teams - made up of students Derek Lande, Stephen Cootes, Diarmuid Early and Tony Murphy - are representing the college's Philosophical Society.
This year the event is organised by University College Dublin's (UCD) Literary and Historical Society. Among the topics debated so far are the West's military support of Pakistan, the prospect of Japan holding a permanent seat on the UN's Security Council, whether the Catholic Church should allow the use of condoms in the fight against HIV/Aids in poor countries and the inclusion of intelligent design on science curriculums in schools. Teams are given 15 minutes to prepare for each motion.
UCC was the last Irish university to win when students Brian Hassett and Siobhán Lankford took the 1986 event held at Fordham University in the US.
Some 20 Irish university teams entered this year, while some Irish students also represent their US and British universities.
The final takes place in the O'Reilly Hall at UCD at 4.30pm tomorrow, and will be followed by a championship dinner in the Burlington Hotel.