Debating is the second largest extra-curricular activity in the College, and the Debating Society is also the oldest in Christian Brothers College, and indeed all secondary schools in the county. The Society run a city and a national competition, as well as entering all major debating competitions in the country. Members have recently won National and World titles, and excel in all debating formats.
Membership of the society is open to all students of the College, and ranges from First to Sixth Year. The Society also has a number of Honorary Life Members. Membership continues to grow, with weekly meetings now being attended by an average of forty pupils.
History of the Debating Society
Christian Brothers' College Debating Society was established in 1911, by a group of students and Rev. Br. Moore and Mr. Reese, who were members of the College's staff at the time.
In 1913, Charles J. Lanktree, Hon. Secretary of the Society was at the forefront of the development of the Society. Captain Lanktree went on to present the first Gold Medal to the Society, and the debate was originally called after him. 1914 is the first year for which records are available of the committee members - an Auditor, Hon Secretary, and committee members. The first 'Lanktree Debate' or 'Prize Debate' was held in 1917, with the final resulting in a tie between Leo Walsh and Brian McCaffrey.
Details on the events of the Society from 1919 to 1930 are unclear, though it is known that debates were held regularly, and the Prize Debate was held annually. According to the Cork Examiner of May 23rd 1947, the event was quite an occasion. The debate was held in the tiered lecture theatre of the School of Art, Emmet Place, and the event was used also as for the presentation of various medals and prizes.
Detailed minutes exist on all debates from 1958 to the present day. Between 1958 and 1980, about six to eight debates as well as the Gold Medal & AGM took place annually.
In the past ten years, the Society has undergone its greatest period of growth. Weekly debates are held and are attended by on average forty students - which marks a significant increase on the attendance figures of a decade ago. The society competes in a number of competitions annually, and has enjoyed considerable success on an International, national and provincial level in recent years.
On the international stage Stephen Coutts and Cian Murphy represented the College on the Irish Schools Team, which won the World Schools Debating Championship in 2002. Ross Frenett also represented the society on the Irish team in 2004. In the European Youth Parliament Competition the Society has also enjoyed success with teams reaching the finals in Portugal in 2001 repesentated by Eamonn O'Flaherty, Mark O'Connor, Eoghan Murphy and Kyle Parfrey. The team of John Daly, John Gleeson, Conor O' Brien and Jody Quirke reached the final in Newcastle in 2004.
The Society has also excelled at national level with the team of JP and Ross Frenett winning The ESB All-Ireland Schools Debating Championships in 2004, the most coveted prize in schools debating. Also Mark Collins and Ross Frenett represented the society in the grand final of the Inaugural National Mace Finals.
On the provincial level the Society has also achieved top honours - JP and Ross Frenett coming second in the ESB Munster Schools Debating Championships in 2003 and 2004. Again on the Mace front the team of Mark Collins and Ross Frenett reached the Munster Mace final coming 2nd and 5th on the tab respectively.
2004 was a particularly historic year not only due to success in competitions. This year saw the re-launching of The Cork City Schools Debating Championships as a junior competition as well as the founding of a new competition, the Sean Lydon Memorial Mace, which was named in honour of the late Sean Lydon, a former teacher who did much to rejuvenate interest in debating in the College. The close of the year also proved ahistoric with a new revised constitution being enacted, which replaced the Society's first constitution, which was enacted in 1996.
A more detailed hostory of the society can be found in the publication "Christians: The First Hundred Years", and the College Yearbooks, which are available for consultation in the College library.
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