This article is from page 36 of the 2009-02-17 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 36 JPG
A TRANSITION-YEAR – student from Scoil Mhuire in Ennistymon will represent the county in the All- Ireland final of the Soroptomists Public Speaking Competition later this month.
Sharon Howley will pit her wits against some of the most talented young debaters in the country at the national final after winning the re- gional heat in Tralee last week.
“Both myself and my friend Niamh Brosnan made it through to the sec- ond qualification round in Tralee and
I was lucky enough to qualify from the national finals,” she said.
“The finals will take place on the 28th of this month in Athlone. You keep the same topic throughout each round so I will be using the same speech for Athlone as I used in Tral- ee. The judges sometimes tell you to change a few bits from round to round but after Tralee they told me to keep the speech that I have.
“There will also be an impromptu round in Athlone. This means that we will be given just two minutes to prepare a speech on a subject – it can be any topic under the sun – and you
have to speak on it. Everyone gets the same topic but no-one knows un- til exactly two minutes before you go on so it is very challenging.”
Sharon qualified for the final after winning in the last round of heats Where she debated on the subject of education. “I decided to talk on the subject of education. The main phrase of the talk was that “education is what remains’ so I spoke on the underachievers in education and how the system has to change. Things have been discovered but real chang- es need to be implemented to make it a success,’ she continued.
Both Sharon and Niamh were pre- pared for the competition by Scoul Mhuire teacher Mrs O’ Flaherty.
Meanwhile, Gort Community School’s under-15 public speaking team – which includes Francis Whe- lan, Amy Quirke and Meagan Mulcair – are also through to the All-Ireland final of the Women’s Business Insti- tute public speaking competition.
After winning the local heat by speaking on the subject of the envi- ronment, health and relationships, they will now represent the west of Ireland in Trinity College on Febru- Na PACe