Trinity students Andy Cullinan and Martha McKinney-Perry won first place at the European Debating Championships (EUDC) in Glasgow, Scotland. The EUDC is Europe’s largest and most prestigious debating competition, second globally only to the World University Debating Championships. This victory marks Trinity College’s second win, following a victory by Dylan McCarthy and Jack Palmer from the Phil in 2022. It is the first time a team from the Hist has won, with McKinney-Perry making history as the first Irish woman to win the Championships.
Cullinan and McKinney-Perry defeated teams from the University of Oxford, the University of Manchester, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in the final, arguing against the motion, “This house opposes the recent rise in distrust of state institutions”.
The Hist shared on social media: “A huge congratulations to Andy and Martha for their massive achievement. They have made not just the Hist, but the entire Irish debating circuit, incredibly proud!”
Cullinan and McKinney-Perry argued that distrust of state institutions can manifest as scrutiny, which holds these institutions accountable and forces them to improve, using the American police force as an example. Their speeches earned them high individual speaker rankings, with McKinney-Perry recognized as the second-best speaker in Europe and Cullinan as the ninth.
“The best mindset one can have at a competition of this scale, and in debating in general, is to take the competition one round at a time. Even the Grand Final is just another debate,” McKinney-Perry told The University Times. Cullinan shared that Rumen Marinov, a former European and World finalist from Bulgaria, advised him that “simplicity in argumentation and a heavy stylistic emphasis on persuasion” were essential for success. The pair have been attending weekly online Hist debate training sessions over the summer, coached by former world finalist Ilija Ivanišević.
The two winners have achieved notable success in other debating competitions. Together, they won the Imperial IV Debating Competition in London this year and reached the finals of both the Split Open in Croatia and the Vienna Online Open. McKinney-Perry has claimed victory in 16 finals, including the Oxford WGM, Glasgow WGM, UCD L&H ProAm, Edinburgh Open, Exeter Open, and Cardiff Open. In his final year of secondary school, Cullinan won both the Oxford and Cambridge Schools Debating Competitions, which are the two largest secondary school debating competitions in the world.
Cullinan, who is entering his second year of PPES at Trinity, will continue to debate with the Hist. McKinney-Perry, who will graduate with a degree in Law and Political Science in November, reflected on the achievement, stating, “Everyone who knows me understands how passionate I am about debating and how hard I’ve worked over the past four years to make something like this possible. It’s a wonderful way to conclude my time as a Trinity debater.”
