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Literary and Scientific Society (Queen's University Belfast)

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QUB Literary and Scientific Society
Established1850
PresidentDermot Hamill
WebsiteOfficial website

The Literary and Scientific Society (commonly referred to as the Literific) of the Queen's University of Belfast is the university's debating society. The purposes of the Society, as per its Laws are to "encourage debating, oratory and rhetoric throughout the student body of the University and beyond".[1]

History

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The first president of the society Edwin Lawrence Godkin

The Society was founded in 1850 as a paper-reading society for students of the new Queen's College, with its first president being Edwin Lawrence Godkin.[2][3] The Literific was also used, during its early years, as a democratic body which could negotiate with the College on behalf of the students until the formation of the Students' Union Society and the Students' Representative Council in 1900.[4]

The Society established itself as the principal debating body of the University, however in the 1960s the Literific came under fire and was banned for several weeks in 1964 "in view of the disorders and improprieties of conduct and obscene language".[5] Later in the decade the Society merged into the Union Debating Society (later the Debating and Mooting Society) from which it re-emerged in 2011.[6]

Currently the Society operates as the sole debating society at QUB and has an affiliation with the Queen's University Belfast Students' Union as well as to the University itself. The Society holds weekly meetings on a particular motion of interest during term.[7]


Presidents

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List of Presidents (1850-1967)

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Presidents prior to the society's adjournment
Session Name Notes
1st (1850-51) Mr. Edwin L. Godkin
2nd (1851-52) Mr. Robert Taylor
3rd (1852-53) Mr. Charles B. Hancock
4th (1853-54) Mr. Robert Dunlop
5th (1854-55) Mr. John Clarke
6th (1855-56) Mr. James Gardner Robb
7th (1856-57) Mr. John McParland
8th (1857-58) Mr. William MacCormac
9th (1858-59) Mr. William Pirrie Sinclair
10th (1859-60) Mr. Hugh Hyndman
11th (1860-61) Mr. Thomas Sinclair
12th (1861-62) Mr. Alexander Hamilton
13th (1862-63) Mr. John McKane
14th (1863-64) Mr. John Park
15th (1864-65) Mr. Samuel James Mcmullan
16th (1865-66) Mr. Thomas G. Houston
17th (1866-67) Mr. James Brown Dougherty
18th (1867-68) Mr. Robert McCrea Chambers
19th (1868-69) Mr. Hans McMordie
20th (1869-70) Mr. James Monteath
21st (1870-71) Mr. James Cowan
22nd (1871-72) Mr. Robert James McMordie
23rd (1872-73) Mr. Robert Henderson Todd
24th (1873-74) Mr. William Wallace Brown
25th (1874-75) Mr. John C. Clarke
26th (1875-76) Mr. Thomas Greer
27th (1876-77) Mr. Hugh A. Clarke
28th (1877-78) Mr. John Howard Murphy
29th (1878-79) Dr. James Young
30th (1879-80) Mr. James A. Lindsay
31st (1880-81) Mr. James D. Osborne
32nd (1881-82) Mr. Henry A. Mathers
33rd (1882-83) Mr. John Joseph Redfern
34th (1883-84) Mr. Thomas Harrison
35th (1884-85) Dr. William N. Watts
36th (1885-86) Mr. George L. Moore Resigned in protest over merger with the Debating Society.
Mr. Robert F. Dill
37th (1886-87) Mr. William A. FitzHenry Elected President on 23rd March 1886.
Mr. William Russell Elected at special meeting on 6th April 1886.
38th (1887-88) Mr. James B. Armstrong
39th (1888-89) Mr. Robert T. Martin
40th (1889-90) Mr. James Hamill
41st (1890-91) Mr. Robert D. Megaw
42nd (1891-92) Mr. William John McCracken
43rd (1892-93) Mr. James Sinclair Baxter
44th (1893-94) Mr. Thomas C. Houston
45th (1894-95) Mr. William B. Morton
46th (1895-96) Mr. Richard H. Ashmore
47th (1896-97) Mr. Henry Hanna
48th (1897-98) Mr. John W.D. Megaw
49th (1898-99) Mr. George R. Reid
50th (1899-1900) Mr. Samuel Clarke Porter
51st (1900-01) Mr. Robert Knox McElderry
52nd (1901-02) Mr. Archibald McKinstry
53rd (1902-03) Mr. William Hawthorne
54th (1903-04)
55th (1904-05) Mr. Robert Henry Leighton
56th (1905-06) Mr. William Hamilton Davey
57th (1906-07) Mr. Thomas M. Johnstone
58th (1907-08) Mr. John Corry Arnold
59th (1908-09) Mr. Robert C. Fergusson
60th (1909-10)
61st (1910-11) Mr. John M. Hamill
62nd (1911-12) Mr. Robert M. McNeill
63rd (1912-13) Mr. Stanley W. Thompson
64th (1913-14) Mr. Herbert Turner
65th (1914-15) Miss Muriel Campbell
66th (1915-16) Mr. James E. Breakey
67th (1916-17) Mr. Samuel G. McConnell
68th (1917-18) Mr. David H. O'Neill De-facto President.
69th (1918-19) Mr. William E. Alexander De-facto President.
70th (1919-20) Miss Amy Woods
71st (1920-21) Mr. James Beattie
72nd (1921-22) Mr. John Couser
73rd (1922-23) Mr. William Hugh Semple
74th (1923-24) Miss G.B. Morton
75th (1924-25) Mr. Hugh Gault Calwell
76th (1925-26) Resigned after the second meeting of the new session.
Mr. Arnold Earls Elected President by 13th November 1925.
77th (1926-27) Mr. George Boyle Hanna
78th (1927-28) Mr. Michael Aloysius MacConaill
79th (1928-29) Mr. James A. Smiley
80th (1929-30) Mr. James O. Bartley
81st (1930-31) Mr. John Boyd
82nd (1931-32) Mr. Walter Shanks
83rd (1932-33) Mr. Moir Wilson
84th (1933-34) Mr. William James Kinnear Millar
85th (1934-35) Mr. Bradley McCall
86th (1935-36) Mr. Edwin James
87th (1936-37) Mr. Norman S. S. Barnett
88th (1937-38) Mr. Ernest Maxwell
89th (1938-39) Mr. David W. Wilson
90th (1939-40) Mr. Thomas Cusack
91st (1940-41) Mr. Gee President and Secretary called up for military service necessitating a new President.
Mr. Nayan Borooah
92nd (1941-42) Mr. James Scott
93rd (1942-43) Mr. John Gallen
94th (1943-44) Mr. Henry Mackle
95th (1944-45) Mr. William Mulligan
96th (1945-46) Mr. Francis Boyle
Mr. Thomas Leslie Teevan Elected President at meeting on 30th January 1946.
97th (1946-47) Miss Sheelagh Murnaghan
98th (1947-48) Mr. John Midgley
99th (1948-49) Mr. Oliver McKeag
100th (1949-50) Mr. Brian Baird
101st (1950-51) Miss Jill Anderson
102nd (1951-52) Mr. Leonard A. Rees
103rd (1952-53) Mr. Graham Landon
104th (1953-54) Mr. Michael Lavery
105th (1954-55) Mr. Michael J. Bradley Resigned part way through term.
Mr. John Gates Former Vice President of the society.
106th (1955-56) Mr. Samuel J. Watt
107th (1956-57) Mr. Julian Russell
108th (1957-58) Mr. James McKenna
109th (1958-59) Mr. John W. Wilson
110th (1959-60) Mr. Raymond I. Skilling
111st (1960-61) Mr. Bernard Kavanagh
112nd (1961-62) Mr. John Murtagh
113rd (1962-63) Mr. Michael Bowes Egan
114th (1963-64) Mr. John Duffy
115th (1964-65) Mr. Eamonn McCann
116th (1965-66) Mr. Cyril Toman
117th (1966-67) Mr. Vivian Gill

List of Presidents (2011-present)

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Presidents since the Literific's re-founding[8]
Session Name Notes
163rd (2011-12) Mr. Paul Shannon
164th (2012-13) Mr. Andrew Carruthers
165th (2013-14) Mr. Adam Kydd
166th (2014-15) Ms. Naomh Gibson
Ms. Tara Pouryahya Elected President at an extraordinary general meeting in November 2014.
167th (2015-16) Ms. Marie-Louise Synnott
168th (2016-17) Mr. Benjamin Murphy
169th (2017-18) Mr. Calvin Black
170th (2018-19) Mr. Hugh Dobbin
171st (2019-20) Mr. Matthew Bradley
172nd (2020-21) Mr. Matthew Leigh
173rd (2021-22)
Mr. Daniel McCormick Elected President at an extraordinary general meeting in January 2022.
174th (2022-23) Mr. Matthew Taylor Resigned as President in January 2023. Secretary Mr. James Orchin served as acting President prior to new elections.
Ms. Tailte McSparron Elected President at extraordinary general meeting in February 2023.
175th (2023-24) Resigned as President part way through new session.
Mr. Daniel Toft Elected President at an extraordinary general meeting in January 2024
176th (2024-25) Mr. Dermot Hamill

Events

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Irish Times

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In 2018 the Literific, supported by the QUB Law Society, hosted the 58th Grand Final of the Irish Times Debate[9] at which the Training Officer of the 170th session spoke as an individual finalist.[10] The Event saw 12 speakers discuss the motion: “This House Believes That Ireland Has Failed Its Youth”. The debate was chaired by Lord Justice Stephens and judged by Irish Times editor Paul O’Neill, Queen’s Professor Adrienne Scullion, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences; Margaret Elliott who is a governor of the Irish Times Trust and Professor Brent Northup, the chair of communications at Carroll College in Montana.

LitTalks and Great Debates

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In 2020, the Literific launched two new series called LitTalks and Great Debates. The first LitTalk took  place in February 2020 with James Brokenshire, then Minister of State for Security and former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Other LitTalks have included Mary Lou McDonald, Ian Blackford, Naomi Long and Doug Beattie.

In November 2020, the first Great Debate was held on the motion: This House Regrets the Decriminalisation of Abortion in Northern Ireland. The debate attracted much controversy on social media, particularly due to the inclusion of former Shadow Home Secretary Anne Widdecombe on the proposition.[11] The motion was defeated by 472 votes to 159.

Notable people

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Constitution". The Literific. 28 January 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  2. ^ Brian Walker and Alf McCreary, 'Degrees of Excellence, The Story of Queen's Belfast 1845-1995', (1994) The Institute of Irish Studies, Belfast, pp. 16, 19.
  3. ^ 'The Life and Letters of Edwin Lawrence Godkin', (1907) The Macmillan Company , p. 10.
  4. ^ Brian Walker and Alf McCreary, 'Degrees of Excellence, The Story of Queen's Belfast 1845-1995', (1994) The Institute of Irish Studies, Belfast, p. 30.
  5. ^ Brian Walker and Alf McCreary, 'Degrees of Excellence, The Story of Queen's Belfast 1845-1995', (1994) The Institute of Irish Studies, Belfast, p. 124.
  6. ^ L.A. Clarkson, 'A University in Troubled Times: Queen's Belfast, 1945-200, (2004) Four Courts Press, Dublin.
  7. ^ "Debates". The Literific. 23 May 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  8. ^ "Society Presidents". The Literific. 5 January 2024. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  9. ^ "UCD student wins Irish Times Debate grand final". The Irish Times. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  10. ^ "UCD Sutherland School of Law". www.ucd.ie. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  11. ^ "QUB debating society have problematically platformed Ann Widdecombe". Queen's University Belfast. 19 November 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  12. ^ Campbell, WS (1963). "The early history of the Samaritan Hospital (1872-1892)". Ulster Med J. 32: 61–77. PMC 2384899. PMID 14018157.
  13. ^ The Irish Times, 15 May 1946, p. 4.
  14. ^ The Irish Times, 2 November 1964, p. 13.
  15. ^ The Irish Times, 6 April 1965, p. 7.