By Two members of the Talking Saints forensics team visited Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, to compete in a British Parliamentary debate tournament on the weekend of February 4-5.
Vicente Gallardo, a senior from Butte, majoring in international relations and political science, and Roisin O’Neill, a senior from Lake Oswego, Oregon, majoring in political science, had the opportunity of going on a trip to Ireland to represent the Talking Saint’s forensics team abroad.
Both debaters have a connection to Ireland. Gallardo’s Irish mother is a Gaelic speaker, and O’Neill has a rich family history that hails from the Irish counties of Ulster and Galway.
Gallardo was born and raised in Butte, a town flush with Irish heritage.
“In Butte, they fly the Irish flag higher than the United States flag,” Gallardo said. “Butte is proud of their Irish history. I am, too, I had the great fortune to visit my family farm in county Claire. Definitely a great experience to visit the country that my ancestors left. Especially engaging in debate with them.”
During their extended weekend away, they traveled across Ireland to Galway, a county on the west side of Ireland, where there they visited the Galway city museum and the famous Galway coastline.
During their time in Dublin, they stayed at the home of Senator Ronan Mullen, a former Irish debate champion and a friend of Talking Saints coach Brent Northup.
“Ronan was so considerate and made sure we had everything we needed and offered to take us into town. He was a good liaison into everyday Irish culture. He also offered to meet up with us if we’re ever back in Ireland. We were lucky to have him host us,” O’Neill said.
“We bought him a bottle of wine and cheese at the end of it to say thank you,” Gallardo added.
Sen. Mullen invited O’Neill and Gallardo to a session of the senate, where they heard their names announced in the chamber.
“The senate session was exciting,” O’Neill said. “Ronan got us into a tour of the Daíl, the Irish senate, at the very last minute, and after our tour, we sat in on a session. They announced our names, where we were from, and why we were in Ireland. Our names are in the ledger of Irish history forever.”
O’Neill noted how exciting it was to hear her Irish name pronounced correctly.
The competition featured some of Europe’s best teams. The Carroll team started strong, then found themselves against Europe’s best, and reality set in. Bulgaria’s Maria Matcheva and Biser Angelov of Sofia University won the tournament, defeating two teams from Trinity College and one team from Oxford University in the final round.
Gallardo and O’Neill described international debating as quite different from what they see in the Pacific Northwest.
“It was really cool to see how styles vary by country,” Gallardo said. “The different international norms of debating were an interesting learning experience.”
“Every debater was working under different paradigms of how it would look,” said O’Neill. “For example, we had a round about Northern Ireland and whether Ireland should be reunified. In that round, there was a team from Canada, a team from Oxford, us, and a team from Trinity. One of those Trinity debaters was from Northern Ireland. Everyone in that round had a different understanding of what reunification would look like and what it would mean for the region. I did appreciate that the European teams use a bit more humor though.”
Although the team didn’t leave with any trophies or designations, the experience of the trip was consolation enough.
“I was thrilled at the opportunity to experience a debate tournament with so many different perspectives,” O’Neill said. “This trip has allowed me to work to be a more well-rounded debater. It was so unique and exciting to connect with a culture I had heard so much about.”
Gallardo will be staying in Helena next year and hopes to join the coaching staff of the Talking Saints before working for an international food corporation. O’Neill is headed to law school.
“Being on the debate team has made it easier for me to look at different perspectives that may not be my own. Going to international tournaments like this one has given me skills that will be incredibly useful in my law career,” O’Neill said.
The Talking Saints will host the Irish national champion debate team on campus on Thursday, March 30 at 7 p.m. in the lower cube. Irish music, Irish dancing, and Irish food. No Guinness, however.
