Waterford IT’s debating team emerged as the winner of the Great Agri-Food Debate on home turf yesterday evening (Thursday, February 14).
Announced as winner of the contest by Bord Bia CEO Tara McCarthy, Waterford beat Northern Irish team CAFRE Loughry Campus, which was making its debating debut this year.
WIT’s Michael Martin won the prize for the best speaker in the final debate, which saw both teams deliberate over the motion: “Vegan diets are better for people and planet”, with CAFRE Loughry proposing and WIT opposing the topic.
Held in the Waterford Institute of Technology Arena on Wednesday and yesterday, the fourth annual debate saw Waterford prise the title away from UCD, which had won the previous three years’ events on the trot.
These included: University College Dublin (UCD); Cork Institute of Technology (CIT); Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT); Queens University Belfast (QUB); University College Cork (UCC); Institute of Technology, Tralee (ITT); and CAFRE, Loughry Campus.
Three colleges made their debating debut at the event: IT Tralee; Queen’s University Belfast; and CAFRE Loughry Campus – marking the first year that teams from Northern Ireland took part.
A YouTube video from the event is available below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gx1iaOEu0u4&fbclid=IwAR2N97I2WQCrajLW0kqv4QJd9EEk3pQENJV6WwnJjpAFVEVhsZHdAXH8TSE&app=desktop
Each college was represented by a team of six students at the event. The debate was hosted by Dawn Meats and McDonald’s Ireland.