An official presentation of the Spike Milligan public speaking competition prize took place today at RCSI.

This year is the first time in the competition’s history that RCSI has won the competition. Rajeev Sachdeva and Paul Dhillon, the winning students, were chosen by a panel of judges at Beaumont Hospital to represent RCSI at the Irish Intervarsity Psychiatry Competition.

The Spike Milligan Public Speaking Competition is organised by the Irish Division of The Royal College of Psychiatrists' Public Education Committee in order to foster lifelong positive attitudes and promote communication skills among doctors in training, particularly in the area of mental health. The Award is named in recognition of the late Spike Milligan’s work in destigmatising mental illness through his books and public appearances.

This year the final was held at the Grand Hotel, Malahide with teams from University College Galway, Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, Queen's University Belfast, University College Dublin, University College Cork and Trinity College Dublin all competing to win the prestigious award.

This year’s topic, 'Lost in Translation: No rough guide for this lonely planet', provoked a lively and informed debate from the participating teams in the competition. All speakers were of a high standard. The winning candidates spoke eloquently on the subject matter and were well deserved winners.

Dr Selena Pillay coached this year’s team and along with Professor Murphy they provided valuable feedback and support to the team. For the first time a large contingent of student supporters from RCSI were present adding greatly to the atmosphere and enjoyment of the evening.

The sculpture, carved from black Kilkenny Limestone, was presented to the winning team was commissioned from Dick Joynt, who was thought perfect to capture the spirit of the competition.

The competition was part funded by an unrestricted education grant from Eli Lilly & Co (Ireland).