Definitely Missed

It was an honour and a pleasure to speak at Irene’s retirement dinner in the summer.

This was my introduction then, it still stands…

Irene is a confident and articulate young woman, passionately devoted to the world of debating in all its aspects; linguistic, historic, social and emotional. She is determined to furnish herself with the widest possible knowledge, to which end, in her own time she has studied just about every subject under the sun! She is unfailingly positive and honest (but with an arresting tendency to be brutally so at times). That said she is an individual of the highest quality and calibre and woe betide anyone who might claim otherwise… they will be set upon by a horde of equally articulate and fierce debating types! Irene is an all-round good egg.

Generous to a fault she supported and encouraged me as I stepped into this daunting and demanding role. She was always there, offering much needed hugs or sending a message at just the right time. I cannot thank her enough for her honesty, energy, love and care. She challenged me, corrected my typos, sent missives about debating success and chased for references, always with a smile and a laugh.

In 1980 when Irene joined the school, she inherited a great tradition of debating, and has coached and mentored many teams who have found success. Success that continued beyond school with countless debaters in highly respected professions, many becoming firm friends and integral to Irene’s wider family.

Fiona Dewar, in 1999, was the first (of many) representatives on the Scottish Debating Team and went on to win the World Debating Championships, beginning a dynasty of world class debaters coming from the HSD stable. They are listed below, I know Irene also cherishes the many pupils, stalwarts who came so close to national selection, always being ‘robbed’ of a place. We know who all of you are!

1999 & 2000 Fiona Dewar – World Champion

2003 Gavin Illsley

2004 James Moir

2006 & 2007 Neil Dewar – World Champion

2008 Lauren Pringle (Chamberlain)

2009 Lauren Pringle & Scott Ralston

2012 April Shepherd & Neil Dewar (coach) – World Champions

2015 & 2016 Clara Mitchell

2017 Ivan Kapelyukh & Steven Roy

2021 Dominic Westwood

I am sure many of us can remember attending the 2011 World Championships in Dundee with Irene as convenor and Fiona Dewar as keynote speaker, an amazing event with such a feeling of pride in our pupils, our school and our city.

As Coach of Team Scotland for many years Irene was elected to the World Schools Debating Competition Executive and then Board of Directors, where as Secretary, she has been at the very heart of world debating. So it was fitting that she should be recognised on the Queen’s Honours list with a British Empire Medal.

In 2008 Irene assumed responsibility for checking all UCAS references alongside Val Vannet as Deputy Head. In 2014 Personal Statements were added to this and Irene assumed overall responsibility for managing, checking and sending all applications. It is difficult to do justice to the scale of this task and we often take for granted our outstanding record in helping pupils to secure places at their chosen universities, colleges, conservatoires, and schools. Further, we are grateful for the support and coaching that she provided to the teams of people involved in this task, confident that we will continue to provide the very highest levels of support and advice to our young people.

Simply put she is an institution. I had the privilege of chairing a show debate in the summer when seven of her prodigies (some of whom had travelled great distances) dusted off their debating credentials and put on a display of wit, repartee, intellect, creativity and deep affection for the woman who had, in their view, been at the root of their successes. It was a powerful and moving day.

Irene has unlocked potential, supported the underdog, ignited intellect and changed lives. A fitting gift from the debaters has allowed us to establish a Prize in in her name that will be presented alongside the Cambridge Gavel for services to debating.

She is missed, by me and many others.

Lise Hudson