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News from 2019

2019 News

Competitions at Queen's University Belfast

French Winners
Omagh Academy

Sixteen schools registered for the French debates and ten were selected in a live draw to take part in the competition. The event took place in March 2019 and was held in the Council Chambers at QUB. Five motions were debated, and the judges were impressed by the high level of language demonstrated by this year's participants. The winning team came from Omagh Academy, who were awarded the "Cercle Français de Belfast" shield. Glenlola Collegiate were runners-up, taking home the NICILT cup. Congratulations to the Best Speakers: Matthew French (Antrim Grammar School), Amber McCalmont (Belfast Royal Academy), Ellie Curry (Foyle College), Sara Reid (Lumen Christi College), Kyle Sawyers (Omagh Academy), Faith Sproule (Omagh Academy) and Aoife Colleary (Our Lady and St Patrick's College, Knock). Our thanks go to the Cercle Français de Belfast for supporting the event, and to our judges Dr Leanne Henderson and Mr Thomas Murray from QUB, and Dr Douglas McCulloch from the Cercle Français de Belfast.

German Winners
Strathearn School

Six schools took part in the competition, which was held in the Lanyon Building in March 2019. This was a one-day event and consisted on 3 debates in total. The judges were impressed not only by the high level of language shown by participants, but also by the care pupils took in preparing their arguments and their overall understanding of their topics. Strathearn School came first and won the NICILT cup by defending the motion that 'Today's young people have fewer life chances than their parents at the same age'. The runners-up team came from Rathmore Grammar School. Congratulations to the Best Speakers: Igor Silin (Methodist College), Hannah Cowie (Strathearn School) and Jack Campbell (Wallace High School). Our thanks go the Goethe Institut London who kindly provided prizes for all the winning pupils, and to our judges, Dr Dirk Schubotz and Frau Barbara Boyle from QUB, and Dr Angela Vaupel, Honorary Consul of Germany to N.Ireland, from St Mary's University College.

Spanish Winners
Omagh Academy

Ten schools took part in the event held in February 2019 in the Council Chambers, QUB, debating a total of 5 motions. The judges were impressed by the spontaneity and fluency demonstrated by pupils in their use of language and the well reasoned arguments forwarded by teams in each debate. The winning team came from Omagh academy, who won the NICILT cup by challenging the motion that 'Tourism has more advantages than disadvantages'. The runners-up team came from St Malachy's College. Congratulations to the Best Speakers: Patrick Burns (St Malachy's College), Louis Gault-Reid (Bangor Grammar School), Kyle Sawyers (Omagh Academy), Ross Gallagher (Holy Cross College) and Alice Ruas (Our Lady's Grammar School). Our thanks go to the Consejería de Educación en Gran Bretaña e Irlanda who kindly provided prizes for the winning team and to our judges, Dr Anne Holloway from QUB, Mr Adolfo Carbón from the Consejería and Mrs Aine MacParland.

IRISH

The Abair is a public speaking competition for pupils studying for GCSE and A-level Irish. It is co-ordinated by Gael Linn and supported by NICILT.

Students choose their own topics and are awarded marks for delivery, quality of ideas conveyed and fluency in Irish.

Preliminary heats are held in early spring before the regional final which takes place at Easter.

Abair is an excellent way to prepare for GCSE and A-Level Irish oral examinations. 

Full details are available on the Gael Linn website here.