A TEAM from Macquarie University in Sydney has won the Murphy's Irish Stout World Debating Championships. The Australians triumphed over opposition from London and Edinburgh in the final, which was held last night in University College, Cork.
Since last Thursday more than 700 young people from more than 30 countries gathered in Cork for the 16th edition of the annual debating and public speaking competitions.
About 400 of the participants talked themselves hoarse in 192 debates before the top 32 teams did battle in a knock out competition culminating in the debating finals in Cork's City Hall last night. The event was described as the largest non sporting student contest in the world.
In the finals, four teams of two only one participant was a woman were given their motions 15 minutes in advance and, as decreed by the organisers debated in British parliamentary fashion in front of supporters, admirers and the plain curious before setting off to a midnight dinner and disco.
The separate finals of the public speaking competition took place earlier in the pillared and domed Allied Irish Bank on the city's mall. The eight public speakers were all men. Each was given a red box to be opened five minutes before they spoke.
The boxes contained a common object about which they had to speak a red brick, a mobile telephone a red candle, a toy cowboy gun, a box of cigarettes, a pen, a yellow volleyball and a bottle of milk.
To all the speakers these be symbols the milk of our paternalistic society the pen over the might of the sword the telephone of the need for face to face communication the candle of the need for laughter the ball of the negative side of competitiveness the cigarettes of the need to believe in life the brick of the need for humour and the gun of freedom.
Mr Brian Crowley, the Munster MEP, in an opening address, urged the participants and the audience never to be afraid to express what they felt. "Only through silence do evil men survive he said.
Except for the obligatory coughing and the occasional cheering and applause, the audience was well mannered.