Fairview students triumph in debating competition

PUPILS at a Northside secondary school were celebrating recently after capturing the top prize in a national debating competition.

St Joseph’s CBS, Fairview, won the 2014 Debating Science Issues All-Ireland Finals held at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), Stephen’s Green. The students debated stem cell research and organ donations.

DSI is a dynamic debating competition, the only All-Ireland collaborative science outreach initiative of its kind. It invites young people to engage in debate on the cultural, societal and ethical implications of advances in biomedical science.

Open to students in the senior cycle of secondary school, the competition provides a great opportunity for students to expand their communication and scientific skills.

The first two debates of the day, in a semi-final format, featured St Joseph’s CBS against Our Lady & St Patrick’s (Belfast), and St Brigid’s (Galway) versus Colaiste Mhuire (Cork), with St Joseph’s and Colaiste Mhuire winning to meet in the grand final.

The two teams debated the system of allocation of donated organs available for transplantation.

Data collected from six cycles of DSI involving more than 4,000 students shows an increase in interest in science as a subject and as a career as a result of participation in the project.