Royal School, Armagh

Excerpt of Headmaster's Speech - Speech Day September 2010

"Your Grace, Sir John and Lady Shiel, Mayor and Mayoress Speers, Reverend Jones, Honoured Guests, Governors, Parents, Members of staff and pupils of the Royal School; it is my privilege and honour to welcome you to our annual speech night in this warm and familiar setting of St Mark’s Church.

Reverend Jones, I am delighted to echo his Grace’s warm invitation to you. As a longstanding friend of the school, it is indeed a privilege for us to see you back among us to share this important occasion and to hear your message later on to the school and the leavers.

Ladies and Gentlemen the motion for the 1608 Royal Schools Debating Final, unveiled to finalists only 30 minutes before they debated, was ‘What costs little is worth little’. The debate motion was tinged with irony because the nub of the intended counter arguments was what we hoped the finalists, Hannah Watson and Lauren Mortimer, were going to experience and indeed, what we hoped they had gained from their schooling.

Let me elaborate......."

Download the full version here.