Aquinas students debated the motion “This House believes that Belfast City Council took the correct decision on the Union Flag on December 3rd, 2012”. Speaking in support of the motion were Ciaran Foster and Donal Tinneny, whilst Rose Lynch and Saoirse Cowan spoke against.

The arguments posed by all four speakers were extremely well informed and of a high intellectual quality, addressing a range of issues we face in Northern Ireland. The panellists were asked probing questions from the floor and held their positions well. Ultimately, in the end, the floor had the final say via a show of hands for or against the motion. To everyone’s surprise the result was an exact 50/50 split!

It was left to Fionn Price, the Chairperson, to break the deadlock and pick a winner. He opted for the arguments from Saoirse Cowan and Rose Lynch and thus the motion was ultimately defeated. Fionn was keen to emphasise that as Chairperson his decision was “purely on how well they presented their argument” and not on his personal choice.

Nonetheless, the final result is that Aquinas students believe that the Union Flag should not have been removed from Belfast City Hall.