Today, six members of DU’s Debate Team will travel to Trinity College in Dublin to compete in the prestigious debate tournament, The Irish Times.

The team will be competing against many major universities in Europe, including Oxford, Cambridge, the London School of Economics and the Sorbonne.

The DU debate team travels for debate competitions around 8-10 times a year, all within the national circuit. This is the first time in over 10 years that they will travel abroad.

The Irish Times, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2010, is considered one of the most important tournaments in the world debate circuit. It is the second largest debate tournament in Europe, behind the one held at Oxford.

“We are going because of… the opportunity to compete against these elite universities, and it will be an extraordinary educational opportunity for the students,” said faculty advisor Darrin Hicks.

The debate team members will participate in a style of debate known as British Parliamentary Debate, which is modeled after debates in British government.

There are four teams of two, with two teams representing the government and two representing the opposition. They are presented with topics relating to current issues of government and policy, as well as long-debated value conflicts, such as the government’s responsibility to maintain a minimum standard of living for its people.

“We will no doubt be debating whether the fiscal policy demanded by France and Germany on those countries in the EU with troubled economies, like Greece, Italy, Ireland and Spain, are fair, [as well as] topics like current immigration policy, the Russian elections, the war in Afghanistan, Iran’s nuclear facilities and the like,” said Hicks.

The teams are given 15 minutes to prepare their cases. No electronic devices or reference materials are allowed, so each team must already posses the knowledge required to debate an issue. Debaters are judged according to how well they speak in addition to their argumentation.

“Debate is simply the best possible training for critical thinking, persuasive speaking and research available to a college student,” said Hicks. “This is why so many debaters go on to be successful lawyers and many go into politics. This is especially true in Europe. We will certainly be debating against many future members of parliament.”