The Irish Times is delighted to present the highly anticipated Grand Final of The Irish Times Debate 2024/25. It will feature some of Ireland's leading young debaters, who have successfully made it to the ultimate round of this year's competition. The competition has been run by Convenor Louise Cullen.
The debate will be hosted by QUB Literific, the university debating society and by Queen's University Belfast, as it celebrates 180 years since the foundation of the institution.
The Irish Times Debate Grand Final is open to the public to attend. Places are limited and are allocated on a first come, first serve basis. Please register to attend below.
The details of The Irish Times Debate Final are below:
- Date: Friday, February 28th
- Time: 7:00pm sharp
- Venue: Elmwood Hall, Queen’s University Belfast
- Dress code: Black tie required for competitors and invited guests only.
This House Believes that dialogue is dead
The Irish Times Debate is the oldest intervarsity debating competition in Ireland and considered to be the most prestigious. It has been running continuously since 1960. The competition was set up when the Union of Students in Ireland approached The Irish Times and asked them to consider running a competition similar to the British Observer Mace (renamed the John Smith Memorial Mace since 1995).The competition is an all island debating championship open to any full time third-level student and has been since its inception. The objective of the competition is to promote excellence in oratory and debating. During each semi-final 12 speakers compete and three from each round (one individual and one team of two) go through to take part in the final.