Yesterday at 4pm, the College Historical Society (the Hist) held its Colours debate with University College Dublin (UCD) Law Soc. The motion for the debate was “This House Believes That the Road to Trinity is Paved with Notions”. Chaired by Aine Corry, the Hist’s first debate of the year opened with a short speech from new auditor Catherine Kelly.
Kelly appeared to be thriving in her position and told the room she was overjoyed to be a “BNOC” (Big Name on Campus) – joking that she’d have to wait for tomorrow’s issue of The University Times to find out if she’d made the infamous Trinity 20.
Kelly contended in her speech that the road to Trinity was in fact paved with broken Bombay Sapphire Gin bottles and empty Chopped containers. Next up was Niall Maher of the Hist, whose description of UCD as “IT Belfield” landed with the audience, as well as some unexpected digs at Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT). Arguably the best speaker of the afternoon, Maher’s fluid speech received the most laughs.
Next, from UCD, Dara Keenan began that Trinity’s team were unable to find four funny people for their side, which was why they mixed the proposition and opposition sides. He then contended that they’d only been able to find two – and that turned out to be one, Maher. Caoimhe Gethings, also of UCD, spoke about “Woke Trinity” and how the only thing worse than a Trinity student was a Trinity debater.
Caitlín Cooney defended the path to Trinity being paved in notions, referencing the removal of Trinity’s old academic year structure in favour of a semesterised system. Caoimhin Hamill expressed his contempt for the UCD debaters in the room, claiming that his father worked in UCD for many years – which explained why he was always so miserable.
All in all, the debate was a light-hearted start to the new year for the Hist, which has promised a year of continued notions for any fresher who decides to join.
