A
s part of Coláiste Iognáid’s activities surrounding this year’s centenary of the 1916 rising, Sinn Fein Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh took on the Coláiste Iognáid Debating Society to oppose the motion that ‘This House Regrets the Celebrations of the 1916 Rising’.Senator Ó Clochartaigh worked with student debaters Eoin O’Cianna, Amy O’Gorman and Jack Counihan in opposition to Conor O’Sullivan, Harry Redfern, Kate Duggan and Ross Gorey. Sarah Gibbons chaired the debate and questions from the floor and eventually a vote where over a hundred pupils eventually decided that they did not regret this year’s celebratory events.With points that ranged from interrogating the legitimacy of the Rising itself and to evaluating the state of modern Ireland in relation to the ideals expressed in the Proclamation, the hour-long debate was lively, may have been occasionally heated but it certainly celebrated the ideals of free speech essential in a modern democracy. Ó Clochartaigh, who remembers being defeated by ‘Jes’ debaters when he was at school, expressed relief that he was on the winning side!
Photo (L to R): Ross Gorey, Kate Duggan, Harry Redfern and Conor O’Sullivan:Sarah Gibbons (Chairperson),Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh, Eoin O’Cianna, Ruby Lynch (timekeeper), Amy O’Gorman and Jack Counihan: