As part of the Centenary of the Irish Federation of University (IrFUW) and as a tribute to the late Mrs. Poppy Corbett, founder of the of the IrFUW Annual Public Speaking Competition for girls under 15, the final took place on Saturday, March 22nd in Galway in the Glenarde Suite in the Ardilaun Hotel.

Galway Association of Women Graduates president Ann O’Reilly welcomed over 150 supporters to Galway this year. “For me, this room full of competitors, teachers, parents and friends, in Galway is really lovely to see for us at the Galway Association of Women Graduates. We are delighted to host the final this year and bring the IrFUW Public Speaking Competition back to where it began.”

The Competition’s origins date back to 1957 when Poppy Corbett at the Galway Association of Women Graduates initiated a competition to empower college women. It moved to its current format for girls under 15 years old in 1991 and is now in its 34th year. Poppy Corbett’s daughter Marie Flatley reflected on her mother’s life, her love of music and explained at the event how Poppy Corbett had gone abroad and realised that young girls doing public speaking as opposed to debating would be beneficial for girls on the island of Ireland. “My mother would be very proud to see this event today,” she said,  

Gisèle Scanlon, President of the IrFUW addressing the audience, adjudicators and competitors said “the sixteen finalists are already winners, having won a competition in a prestigious University.” The competition she said, “summed up the IrFUW ethos with women graduates who had successful careers gathering together in the room to support sixteen young participants from across Ireland, North and South.”

 The Poppy Corbett Trophy was awarded at the final to St Leo’s College Carlow, who qualified through the regional heat in University College Dublin on February 15th (at the Lochlann Quinn School of Business, UCD). The winning team’s speaker aspects were as follows Hanora O’Driscoll spoke on Road Safety: Should young drivers be banned from our raods at night; Sienna Smith spoke on Media and Entertainment: Is there too much violence on TV today? and Sinead Tomaszewska spoke on Climate and Environment: For Better or for worse we all have a role to play in Climate change. A huge thanks to the speakers for their interesting perspectives and to their teacher Alison Doyle.

Bailieborough Community School, who qualified through the Trinity College Dublin heat which took place on February 8th at the Graduate Memorial Building, Trinity College, were runners-up and were awarded the Ann Budd Salver. The runners up team’s speaker aspects were as follows Aoileann McDermott chose Media and Entertainment: The more connected we are online, the more isolated we really are, Aoibhin Clarke chose Health and Lifestyle: Healthy Eating is hard work and Maya Orbiston chose Science and Technology: Does Science have a role to play in addressing pandemics. Equally, a huge thanks to the speakers for their interesting topics and to their teacher Caroline Quinn.

Trisha Fernandes from Maryfield College, Dromcondra who qualified through the regional heat in University College Dublin on February 15th won represented UCD and won the Best Speaker in Galway at this March 22nd Final and secured the Joyce Craig Cup for a speech from the Citizenship in the 21st Century topic with a presentation on the aspect Are we still the county of a thousand welcomes or is it a thing of the past? A huge thanks to Trisha and teacher Zia Whyte.

The rummer up speaker Jessica Roache from St Marks Community School, Tallaght who qualified through the regional heat in Trinity College Dublin on February 5th and representing Trinity College Dublin won the runner up speaker in Galway and secured the Arthur Cox Centenary cup for a second year in a row. Jessica’s speech from the Media and Entertainment topic with a presentation on the aspect  Is there too much negativity on social media? A huge thanks to Jessica and teacher Rebecca Morrin.

A special thanks to the public speaking co-ordinators in each association namely; Helena M Daly (UCDWGA), Majella Kelleher (TCDWG), Margaret O’Dwyer (GAWG) and Deirdre McCauley and Paddy Skates (QWG). Looking back on this year’s competition the Trinity Women Graduates (TWG) Public Speaking co-ordinator and compare of the final day in Galway Majella Kelleher said, “It is an event that continues to give me hope for the future and I am convinced that we have at least one future leader in the room today.”

A special thank you to the GAWG Association and to Marie Mohan for organising a beautiful venue.

The IrRFUW would Arthur Cox LLC for their sponsorship of the event again this year.

Read more about the history of the IrFUW Public Speaking Competition here: IrFUW Public Speaking Competition

Full Winners List 2025

Best Speaker: Trisha Fernandes Maryfield College, Dromcondra (UCD) – Teacher: Zia Whyte

Runner Up Best Speaker : Jessia Roache St Marks Community School (TCD) – Teacher: Rebecca Morrin

Winning Team: St Leo’s Carlow (UCD heat), – Teacher: Alison Doyle

Hanora O’Driscoll, Sienna Smith, Sinead Tomaszewska

Runner Up Team: Bailieborough Community School (TCD), – Teacher: Caroline Quinn

Aoileann McDermott, Aoibhin Clarke, Maya Orbiston