Schools bid to defend their Toastmasters titles

SPEAKEASY Toastmasters Club will host its annual schools public speaking competition in the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow on Thursday, 29th November at 8pm.

Since its inception in 2006, this competition has grown in stature and attracts participants from secondary schools all over North Cork and beyond. Among the participating schools this year are Scoil Mhuire and Colaiste Treasa, Kanturk.

Last year’s competition was a fruitful one for Kanturk. The winning speaker was Darragh Healy-Fitzgerald from Scoil Mhuire and in second place was Charlotte Giles of Colaiste Treasa. In addition, the Colaiste Treasa team won The Best Overall School Award.

At last week’s meeting, Don McSweeney of Kanturk acted as Toastmaster of the Evening, or Chairperson. Marie Lynes, a native of Newmarket, acted as Topicsmaster and conducted a hugely entertaining impromptu session on subjects as varied as epitaphs, Christmas decorations and road rage incidents.

At the meeting’s conclusion, awards were presented to Theresa O’Reilly of Newmarket for Best Speaker and Kieran Butler of Cecilstown for Best Evaluator.

Now in its 26th year, Speakeasy Toastmasters draws its membership from all over the North Cork from Western Duhallow to North Avondhu. Guests are always welcome to come along to our meetings. If you wish to improve your communication skills or simply want an entertaining night out, why not pay us a visit?

Business Awards

BEST of luck to company MD Dan Twomey and Waterpower in the Duhallow Business Awards on this Thursday, November 22 in Newmarket.

Waterpower are in the final four of the Best Established Business Category.