# Literary and Scientific Society (Queen's University Belfast)

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".

## 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 (later the Debating and Mooting 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.

## Presidents
### List of Presidents (1850-1967)

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. |
| 36th (1885-86) | Mr. Robert F. Dill | |
| 37th (1886-87) | Mr. William H. FitzHenry | Elected President on 23rd March 1886. |
| 37th (1886-87) | 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) | Mr. Robert Henry Leighton | |
| 55th (1904-05) | Mr. William Hamilton Davey | |
| 56th (1905-06) | Mr. Thomas M. Johnstone | |
| 57th (1906-07) | Mr. Andrew A. Rutherford | |
| 58th (1907-08) | Mr. John Corry Arnold | |
| 59th (1908-09) | Mr. Robert C. Fergusson | |
| 60th (1909-10) | Mr. John M. Hamill | |
| 61st (1910-11) | Mr. Robert M. McNeill | |
| 62nd (1911-12) | Mr. Stanley W. Thompson | |
| 63rd (1912-13) | Mr. Stanley W. Thompson | |
| 64th (1913-14) | Mr. Herbert Turner | |
| 65th (1914-15) | Miss Muriel Campbell | |
| 66th (1915-16) | Mr. James C. Breakey | |
| 67th (1916-17) | Mr. Samuel G. McConnell | |
| 68th (1917-18) | Mr. David H. O'Neill | |
| 69th (1918-19) | Miss Marion C. Alexander | |
| 70th (1919-20) | Miss Amy I. Woods | |
| 71st (1920-21) | Mr. James Beattie | |
| 72nd (1921-22) | Mr. John Cowser | |
| 73rd (1922-23) | Mr. William Hugh Semple | |
| 74th (1923-24) | Miss Anna B. Morton | |
| 75th (1924-25) | Mr. Hugh Gault Calwell | |
| 76th (1925-26) | Mr. Hugh Gault Calwell | Resigned after the second meeting of the new session. |
| 76th (1925-26) | 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. |
| 91st (1940-41) | 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 | |
| 96th (1945-46) | 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. |
| 105th (1954-55) | 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)

Presidents since the Literific's re-founding :
| 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 | |
| 166th (2014-15) | 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. 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. |
| 174th (2022-23) | Ms. Tailte McSparron | Elected President at extraordinary general meeting in February 2023. |
| 175th (2023-24) | Ms. Tailte McSparron | Resigned as President part way through new session. |
| 175th (2023-24) | Mr. Daniel Toft | Elected President at an extraordinary general meeting in January 2024 |
| 176th (2024-25) | Mr. Dermot Hamill | |

## 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.

### LitTalks and Great Debates

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. The motion was defeated by 472 votes to 159.

## Notable people

* Edwin Lawrence Godkin - First president of the Society, later editor of The Nation and the New York Evening Post.
* 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 (Limavady Urban Council). He was also President of the Queen's Law Society and Chairman of the Unionist Association.
* Sheelagh Murnaghan - President 1946-47, 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.