There was a great buzz in the school on Friday, 19 May as the final of the Bugler Shield senior debating competition and the First Year Public Speaking took place.
Senior students assembled in the central area to listen to a very serious debate for the Bugler Shield. The competition, hosted annually by the Alpha de Beta Society, is a very popular event on the Bower calendar since the shield was located in a press in the convent a few years ago.
Using debating skills honed during many a lunch time debate, all of the contestants performed convincingly as they argued for or against the motion to allow physician assisted suicide. Proposing the motion were Claire Lemass, Emma Clarke and Rebecca Armstrong while the opposing speakers were Bronagh Mc Cormack, Tierna Maguire and Caoimhe Mannion.
Local politician Senator Gabrielle McFadden was kind enough to adjudicate the competition and was impressed that the speakers acquitted themselves so well.
The winner of the shield for the best individual speaker was Claire Lemass,while her team also carried the motion.