2006 International Final - John Smith Memorial Mace
Saturday 13 May saw Cardiff play host to a contest between teams selected by months of gruelling competition; teams competing for the oldest and most prestigious prize in their field; a championship of champions. Not, in this instance, the FA Cup Final, also played in Cardiff at the Millennium Stadium that afternoon, but the International Final of the John Smith Memorial Mace, the national universities debating championships for Britain and Ireland.
The Great Hall of Cardiff Castle was filled by a crowd of supporters from the four home nations, there to witness of the performance of teams from the Glasgow University Union (representing Scotland); Cardiff University (representing Wales); The Cambridge Union Society (representing England); and The Honorable Society of King’s Inns (representing Ireland). The speakers debated the motion "This House believes that buying fair trade goods is money well spent", selected to mark World Fair Trade day, and doubly appropriate given Cardiff’s status as the world’s first official Fair Trade Capital City. The excellent debate was presided over by ESU Governor Captain Norman Lloyd-Edwards, the Lord Lieutenant of South Glamorgan.
The judging panel, chaired by Mark Malcomson, an ESU alumnus and former convenor of the competitio, and now President of FT Knowledge, eventually declared the Irish team of Barry Glynn and Mark Murphy, champions. Scotland’s David Adams was selected as the best speaker and awarded the inaugural Kenneth Harris Memorial Prize, named after the late founder of the competition who died last year.
The Centre for Speech and Debate would like to thank Captain Lloyd-Edwards, Mark Malcomson, the rest of the judging panel, and the four national convenors for their time and support in running the competition and ensuring the success of the event.
For more information contact
vivienne_thomson@esu.org
ESU Schools Mace International Final at the House of Commons
The 2006 International Final of the Schools Mace, the culmination of the largest and oldest parliamentary schools’ debating competition in the world, was held in the magnificent surroundings of the Palace of Westminster today.
The Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer opened the proceedings for the final of an exciting competition that had attracted secondary schools from across the UK and Ireland. Lord Falconer informed the audience that the committee room which provided the venue for this occasion had done great service to political debate, most notably as the permanent venue for the Conservative 1922 Committee. He also emphasised the importance of debate in a democracy, noting that at no point has political debate been sidelined in Britain’s Parliament, even during the Second World War.
It was then time for the contest as the national champions of separate competitions in England,
Ireland, Scotland and Wales faced each other over two motions, chosen to celebrate the ESU’s partnership with the Department for Constitutional Affairs. Wales and Ireland argued the proposal "This House would introduce quotas for women in parliaments" and England and Scotland debated "This House welcomes the proposals to create a Supreme Court" for the UK.
The debate was chaired by ESU Chairman Lord Hunt of Wirral, who expressed the ESU's thanks to Lord Falconer for his help in securing such an impressive venue. The winners were the English team from City of London School for Boys, Andrew Rose and Timosha Goldfarb. Timosha was also awarded the Kenneth Harris ‘Best Speaker Trophy’. This was presented, for the first time, in memory of the late founder of the tournament, Kenneth Harris, who died last year. David Bussey, the Chairman of the Committee for the ESU Centre for Speech and Debate, spoke of Kenneth’s lasting impact on debate and discourse in Britain and the fondness with which he is remembered by all who knew him.
Final of ESU Schools Public Speaking Competition
The UK final of the ESU Schools Public Speaking Competition was held this morning at Westminster School.
The winning team was from Cheltenham Ladies' College.
Patrick Garety spoke on the topic "The internet is taking over our lives" and won the Best Speaker Prize. Tom Pye was voted Outstanding Personality by the audience.
