NI Schools Debating Competition
Belfast Buildings Preservation Trust believes that regeneration is built upon active civic participation and engagement with how Northern Ireland builds a sustainable future. Aware of the need to foster support for this notion the Trust organises and sponsors the Northern Ireland Schools Debating Competition.
Founded in 1993 by Fionnuala Jay-O’Boyle, the competition places active participation in civic life and the development of citizenship skills in young people at the core of its mission. With an average entry in excess of seventy teams from across Northern Ireland it is the pre-eminent debating competition for young people in the region.
Taking its cue from the relevant social, political and economic debates of the time, the Motions for debates have included “This House would tax and spend” to “This House believes in a European federal state” – as well as topics specific to Northern Ireland, including issues regarding the abolition of academic selection, the role of local government and the development of mature politics in the region.
The competition involves 16-18 year olds and runs from September each year through to the Final of the competition, held each April in the Senate Chamber of Parliament Buildings at Stormont. Guest judges at the Final are drawn from the worlds of politics, academia, the law, journalism and business. They have included Dan Hannan MEP, Lord Black of Brentwell, Times leader writer Rosemary Righter, Lady Trimble, Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove MP, Lord Dubs of Battersea, Lord Cranbourne, Maurice Manning, President of the Irish Human Rights Commission and historian Andrew Roberts.
The NI Schools Debating Competition has as its President Lord Cooke of Lexton and Strangford, historian of the Conservative Party and former Director General of the Independent Schools Council. The Nobel Prize-winning former First Minister of Northern Ireland, Lord Trimble, is the competition’s Patron.