The annual First Year Public Speaking Competition was held in Tuar Ard Community Centre on Friday 12th April. This exciting competition displays the talent of our fantastic First Year students in the world of Public Speaking.
All first years wrote a speech on a topic of their own choosing in their English classes over the course of a week. Heats were then held in class and sixteen students were chosen to take part in the semi-finals, where they performed their speech for Ms McCormack and the Senior Concern Debating Team. The finalists were chosen, and the date was set – the final would be held in front of the entire first-year cohort and we would hear speeches from the following first years: Ally Duffy – Electric Cars, Molly Hynes – The Effects of Vaping, Tommy Nally – Farmers on the Brink, Conor Dwyer – Artificial Intelligence, Molly Keating – Secondary School Students Expectations, Rachel Scanlon – School Vs Hobbies, Ben Whyte – Farm Safety.
On the day of the competition, we arrived at Tuar Ard ready to hear from our seven speakers. We were joined by esteemed judges Mr. Lowry, Ms. Kelly, and Ms. Keogh. Ms. Farrell introduced the competition and each of our speakers and we were off. Each first-year student in the audience was enraptured by fantastically written and performed speeches, and we were even treated to a mini pink electric car demonstration.
After hearing all of our speakers, the judges were asked to leave and make their decision. Our judges certainly had a tough job on their hands! Mr. Lowry commented on the extremely high standard of all the speakers, stating this was the best year of the competition yet. After thorough consideration, the judges decided to award three students in first place: Ally Duffy, Molly Hynes, and Tommy Nally. Conor Dwyer, Molly Keating, Rachel Scanlon, and Ben Whyte all jointly received second place.
This is an outstanding achievement for all involved, and we encourage them to continue their public speaking in the future with MCS.
Tommy Nally
Ally Duffy
Molly Hynes