Fancy yourself as a good speaker? Do you have what it takes to be a politician, a barrister or spokesperson for a large organisation? The Concern debates are the perfect opportunity in TY to put your oratory skills to the test
DEBATING IS A PASTIME that has been enjoyed since ancient Greek times. Back then, huge crowds of people would come from far and wide to listen to thinkers such as Plato, Aristotle, Sophocles and Socrates argue the issues of the day.
That tradition is still alive and kicking, especially in our schools and universities. None more so than Athlone Community College - the 2008 winners of the Concern Debates competition. The debates begin next month on a league basis, with four schools in each group. The winners in each group go on to compete in the knock-out stages.
"There were nine rounds of debates with a different development-related topic each time," explains 17-year-old Caoimhe McManus of Athlone CC. "When we started last October our first debate was in a little room with a crowd of 12 people. By May we were debating in the RDS in Dublin in front of hundreds. It was brilliant."
Athlone CC is the first school to win the debates two years running - no mean feat. Every year for the last 25, schools have been debating development issues for Concern. Currently, around 160 schools take part but there's always room for more.
"It's not always the same schools who compete," says Gráinne O'Brien, development officer with Concern. "Every year we have new ones getting involved for the first time. This year we included a prize for the best new school."
2008 marks the 40th anniversary of Concern Worldwide, so RTÉ's Fergal Keane chaired the final debate and broadcaster Pat Kenny was guest speaker. "The topic for the final was whether or not biotechnology is the answer to world hunger," says Thomás Keogh of Athlone CC. "We were the proposition. I was always the fourth (or last) speaker on my team and tended to be the funny one. It's difficult. On the one hand you don't want to be making light of serious issues, but on the other you don't want to be lecturing people the whole time.
"There were some really interesting topics throughout the competition, though: 'are celebrities doing more harm than good in the developing world?'; 'the links between development and the environment'; and whether 'the western media are superficial in their portrayal of the developing world'. It really got you thinking the world around you. I also learnt that, in debating, success has a lot to do with how much research you do."
For Concern the debates are about raising awareness and increasing an interest in development issues from early on. "It's a huge benefit to us," says O'Brien. "It gets students talking about issues like hunger, poverty, HIV and Aids, and they have to go off and research for themselves. Our first debate was whether overseas development was a waste of money. That is a topic that they can really relate to as so many Irish schools do fundraising. It makes them look at different media and try to understand things from different perspectives. We have people working in the organisation now who were first introduced to Concern through the debates."
The prize for winning the debates is more than just glory. Each year winning students are brought to developing countries where Concern is busy setting up projects. In the past they have visited Haiti and Zambia. This year, students from Athlone CC and Holy Family Community School in Rathcoole, who were the top fundraisers for Concern in 2008, went to Malawi.
CONOR TIERNAN (16) of Holy Family CS spent his transition year organising fasts, 24-hour silences, non-uniform days and bag-packing with his classmates for Concern. For his sterling effort he got the chance to travel to Malawi with the debates winners. "It was the best trip I've ever been on," he says. "Going to Africa was such a big deal for me and, while there, we were so involved in everything. It was all so new. Concern do a number of different projects over there: housing, education, health, irrigation. What they do is set up projects and then the Malawian people take over and finish the job.
"Going to visit schools was the highlight for me. I loved interacting with students my own age. They held a debate for us, showed us around their schools and organised a soccer match - the Irish versus the Malawians. They didn't have any shoes, we were using a gaelic ball and there was no grass, just dirt. I couldn't believe how good they were. We lost 3-2 in the end."
Caoimhe McManus of Athlone CC also learnt a lot about Malawi from her Malawian peers. "I knew it would be poor and tried to prepare myself before we left. But the people are so happy and so friendly. They definitely need help but they're really gracious for what they get. They came out singing and thanking us. Some of the kids had never seen a white person before. They'd shout, 'azoongoo', meaning foreigner, as we passed by.
"It's a cliche but they've taught me to be thankful for everything I have," she adds. "We went into a secondary school to speak with students our own age. It was like talking to teenagers from Ireland. They wanted to be nurses and engineers and shared the same interests as us. The only difference was they didn't have the opportunities we have. One girl told me she wanted a career but couldn't as her dad was going to marry her off to provide income for her family."
The Concern debates begin again soon so any schools interested in participating have until October 1st to get their applications in. In addition, Concern is always looking for new judges to volunteer their time and adjudicate at the debates which take place all over the country.
"The judges are usually teachers from participating schools, ex-teachers, people from other NGOs or just interested parties," says O'Brien. For more information on the debates check out www.concerndebates.net
The motion: 'To end hunger the world must embrace biotechnology'
FOR
1 Conventional methods will not be enough to feed the world's growing population.
2 Crops adapted by biotechnology can be grown in adverse conditions such as droughts and flooding.
3 Crops can be made resistant to pests and diseases, increasing yields for developing world farmers.
4 Biotechnology can make contaminated water drinkable, a major factor in ending hunger.
5 It helps provide vital vitamins and minerals in existing crops to help deficiencies from hunger.
6 Medical biotechnology can provide medicines to cure diseases associated with hunger and malnutrition.
7 Biotechnology provides new methods of immunisation and vaccines.
8 GM foods have so far been proven safe and are already being used in richer countries.
9 Food is more easily transported and costs can be eliminated.
10 Food charity alone will not end hunger. The lack of available land to produce food means we must embrace biotechnology.
AGAINST
1 The real way of solving hunger is not new technology but old news.
2 Better distribution and supply must be introduced and biased world trade must be ended.
3 We are growing too little to feed the world.
4 Conflict is one of the main causes of hunger; we must address the causes of conflict.
5 Our western lifestyles are extravagant and wasteful; we need to reduce our drain on the world's resources.
6 Biotechnology would not help the poorest people because they cannot access the money needed to use it.
7 GM crops are actually producing less, not more, than organically produced crops.
8 It is not a good idea to invest in biotechnology, an inexact science that produces varying results.
9 Hunger is far too complex to solve by simply producing more food.
10 We must look at the way industry works, the waste, the grain in your SUV tank, and the subsidies that divide our world.
