De La Salle College Dundalk

Louth County Council
Green Schools Debating Final 2009

On Thursday 30th of April four boys from the De La Salle took part in the final of the Louth County Council Green Schools debating competition. The contest took place in the council chamber in Millennium Hall which made the competition all the more real and atmospheric.
First to speak in favour of the motion "That environmental Protection is more a P.R. Stategy than a Reality" was our captain Conor McArdle. His delivery was entertaining and competent as he informed us of the global reality of environmental protection failure.
Our next speaker in favour of the motion was Fearghal Donnelly who cleverly elaborated on how cynical politicians and celebrities harness the subject of the environment to boost their popularity or electability.
The third speaker for the proposition was Aidan McNally, who "Obama-like" reminded us of the local picture as far as environmental protection was concerned.
And finally Daragh Connolly took to the podium contextualising how P.R. was used to "spin" many disasters through history and in the present time, environmental protection being one of them.
Despite sterling performances from our team, the ladies of St. Vincent's managed to convince the adjudicators that the motion should be defeated. However it must be said that the experience gained by our debaters was top-notch and will stand them in good stead next year when competition time comes around again, not to mention in their futures.