Literary and Scientific Society (Queen's University Belfast)
The Literary and Scientific Society 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".
History
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. 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. 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". Later in the decade the Society merged into the Union Debating Society from which it re-emerged in 2011. 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.
Events
Irish Times
In 2018 the Literific, supported by the QUB Law Society, hosted the 58th Grand Final of the Irish Times Debate at which the Training Officer of the 170th session spoke as an individual finalist. 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.
Robert James McMordie - President 1871-72, barrister, M.P. and Lord Mayor of Belfast.
Thomas Teevan - President of the Society, barrister and Ulster Unionist West Belfast MP - Youngest Chairman of a local Authority in Northern Ireland at 21. He was also President of the Queen's Law Society and Chairman of the Unionist Association.
Sheelagh Murnaghan - President 1946-47, first female president of the Society, barrister and Ireland Women's hockey player, later Northern Ireland M.P. for the Ulster Liberal Party.
Eamonn McCann - President 1964-65, writer and political activist. Only individual Q.U.B. winner of the Irish Times Debate.
Cyril Toman - President 1965-66, Northern Irish political activist.
