And then there were four

The Concern Debates 2008-09 are nearing their climax.

The semi-finals are scheduled for 22 April at 7pm in the Business School in DCU in Glasnevin. The National Final takes place on 13 May at 7pm in the Astra Hall in UCD’s Belfield Campus.

The final four

The schools remaining in the competition represent Galway, Longford and both northside and southside of Dublin. Scoil Mhuire Longford will take on Gort Community School in one semi final. The other will be between Árd Scoil Ris from Griffith Avenue in Dublin 9 and Sandford Park School from Ranelagh in Dublin 6.

Our spies tell us that all four teams are very good so it should be a close contest!

Topical issue

The topic we chose for the semi final motion caused quite a bit of debate here in the office. Everyone had their favourite way of phrasing it but what won in the end was “Western interventions are exacerbating the HIV and AIDS epidemic in Africa”.

The Pope in Africa

We think it will make for a fair debate with plenty to argue on both sides. Obviously it’s a very topical issue since certain comments made by the Pope on his recent trip to Africa have stirred up a huge amount of media coverage, but there’s more to this debate than that! We look forward to seeing how the teams approach it.

The Final

And as for the National Final…who will make it through? What will they be debating? Which celebrity will be chairing the debate on the night? Watch this space over the coming weeks or check out our new Twitter widget for regular updates.