Literary & Debating Society

Best Society First Year
Winner 2018/2019

Discuss, Disagree, Debate

Message Literary & Debating

The Literary & Debating Society was initially founded in 1795 as part of St. Patrick's College Maynooth and is the oldest society on campus. We believe that the written and spoken word are of equal importance, and therefore we give equal weight to all things literary or debating. We aim to promote freedom of expression, specifically by holding weekly literary and debating events such as house debates, literary circles, debating workshops and talks by guest speakers. Our objectives are to initiate, spark, and facilitate debate within the student body, with no subject too controversial to discuss. Joining Lit & Deb will be one of your best decisions in college as you'll have weekly events, frequent trips to other universities and a great group of people to look forward to. People join the Literary & Debating Society to gain a greater sense of self-confidence and to see different viewpoints on all sorts of diverse issues.

Literary & Debating Society Gallery

Day	Start	Finish	Title	Location
Tuesday	19:00	21:00	Weekly House Debate	John Hume Lecture Theatre 2
Come join us at our weekly house debates to meet new people and gain a deeper insight into important global and domestic issues in a relaxed and entertaining atmosphere. Occasionally we will mix this up with a comedy debate. Refreshments feature every week. Follow our social media to be sure to receive updates about upcoming motions and events - if you wish to speak, there will be a sign up form on Facebook, under the event page!
Wednesday	18:30	21:00	Debate Training	John Hume Tutorial Room 1
If you would like to improve your confidence and public speaking ability then come and join us at our weekly debate training. There will be no pressure to speak, plus everyone who is there is in the same boat as you, so why not pop along? Get constructive feedback in an inclusive atmosphere. Attendance at training is considered when deciding who goes to intervarsity competitions, which are very good fun in themselves. Follow our social media to stay up to date with all our events, the more the merrier!

Day	Date	Time	Finish	Title	Location
Thu	30th Jan	09:30	1st Feb 21:00	Trinity Women's Open and IV	Trinity College Dublin
The next upcoming competition is the Trinity IV (Intervarsity not four). It's a competitive weekend from the 31st of January to the 1st of February. Before that there is the Trinity Womens Open on the 30th which as the name suggests is one for the girls. Its a good competition for novices and of course not novices. If you are looking to go to your first IV the womens open is a really good shout. Keep an eye on our social media for any other upcoming events.
Sat	22nd Feb	09:00	23rd Feb 21:00	The Galway Open	NUI Galway
One of the best competitions on the circuit. No signup forms out yet, keep an eye on our external competitions page for more info!
Sat	14th Mar	09:00	15th Mar 23:00	Maynooth Open 2020!	Maynooth University
The Maynooth Open is Lit & Deb's flagship annual intervarsity debating competition, where we invite national and international debaters to come to Maynooth for a weekend of interesting debates, fun socials and the chance to win a real life sword (more on that later...)! This year, it will take place on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 March, and we are hoping that many of you will consider lending us a hand that weekend - helping us with transporting food, organising debates and generally ensuring that the weekend runs smoothly. We understand that a lot of you go home or work on the weekends, but any time you could contribute would be very much appreciated. If you're free and interested, be sure to message us on MU Life or on our Facebook/ Instagram - we'd love to hear from you! We'll remind you of the Open sooner to the time - it promises to be a fun weekend! All the best, Gavan (Auditor)
Sat	28th Mar	09:00	29th Mar 23:00	National Maidens 2020!	Maynooth University
On Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th March, Lit & Deb are hosting National Maidens 2020! This is a competition focused solely on increasing the confidence and critical thinking skills of people in their first year of university debating. It represents a shared commitment undertaken by all Irish university debating societies, and It falls upon Maynooth to convene the competition this year. We are hoping that many of you will be able to lend us a hand during that weekend - transporting food, organising debates and ensuring that the competition runs smoothly. We understand that a lot of you go home or work on the weekends, so any time you can contribute would be much appreciated! If you're free and interested, please message us on MU Life or on our Facebook/ Instagram - we promise you a fun weekend! All the best, Gavan (Auditor)

Posted	Title	Author
17th Jan	Christmas Table Topics - 10/12/19	Cameron Moss
To wrap up our Tuesday night events for this semester, we'll be inviting the crowd to participate in our table topics. You guys will be presented with various motions on the screen, and will be given the chance to have an informal debate - simply stand up or raise your hand when you want to make a point for or against!
17th Jan	Literary Open Mic - 9/12/19	Cameron Moss
Lit & Deb, Comedy Soc and Creative Writing will be collaborating on an Open Mic night! If you're interested in speaking, fantastic - you'll have an opportunity to do so on the night and we very much encourage you to get involved. We hope to see you there!
17th Jan	Access Gameshow - 26/11/19	Cameron Moss
In place of our House Debate on Tuesday we decided to take part in Gameshow along with some of Maynooth's finest. All funds went to the SU charity of the year, Ataxia Ireland. Every society ran their own event including ourselves who ran (obviously the best round because yours truly created it) Quickfire Poetry of Death!
17th Jan	Internal Maidens Final - 19/11/19	Cameron Moss
Our 6 novices showed down on the motion "This House Believes That Modern Feminism is Failing Women". Congratulations to the winner Rory O'Hare who became the Maynooth Maidens champion for the 225th session of the Society. Well done to everyone who partook in all rounds of maidens, we hope you continue to hone your skills.
17th Jan	Mental Health Poetry - 18/11/19	Cameron Moss
As apart of Mind Yourself Week. Come along and relieve some of the No Life November stress. A relaxed poetry sesh.
17th Jan	Training w/Cora and Meadhbh - 13/11/19	Cameron Moss
That's right I don't want to say dynamic duo but the dynamic duo are going to be back in action to prepare all going to Cork for Cork. So if you're going to Cork or other IV's (Intervarsities not four :) ) you should probably definitely go. Or if you want to improve at debating this will be a very good opportunity to do so.
17th Jan	Terrorism Debate - 12/11/19	Cameron Moss
‘This House Believes That Terrorism is Subjective’ along with the MU Philosophy Society. There are perhaps multiple ways of defining terrorism, and some say all are subjective. Most define terrorism as "the use or threat of serious violence" to advance some kind of "cause". Some state clearly the kinds of group ("sub-national", "non-state") or cause (political, ideological, religious) to which they refer. Others assert that terrorism is objectively wrong, and that to say otherwise is extremely dangerous to society.
17th Jan	Debate Training - 23/10/19	Cameron Moss
Our wonderful Kemka will be going through a variety of stuff this week. This will be invaluable prep for those looking to brave debating competitions such as UCD Novice IV that is coming up.
17th Jan	Climate Activism Debate - 22/10/19	Cameron Moss
In collaboration with STAND we are bringing you this weeks debate "This House Believes that Peaceful Activism is the Most Effective Method to Stop Climate Change". Following the recent increase in protests carried out in retaliation for the lack of effective climate change policy. We are ourselves discussing the motion and questioning whether peaceful protest is the most effective pathway to pressure our world leaders to enact policy. Is there a superior alternative to tackle the crisis that is climate change? Find out this Tuesday in what is sure to be the great climate debate on display.
10th Jan	Irish Times Debate 19/20 - Congrats!	Cameron Moss
Hi folks, Lit & Deb would like to congratulate Eolain Downey and Kemka Ogbunda, who are progressing as a team to the Semi Finals of the Irish Times Debate Competition 2019-2020! We would also like to pass our congratulations on to Gavan Mc Laughlin, who is progressing to the Semi Finals as an individual speaker. We were delighted to host a Quarter Final round this year, and we are grateful to have been offered the opportunity to host a black tie Semi Final on Sunday, 2 February 2020. We will keep you all informed about that debate nearer to the time, but it is likely that some of our very own speakers will be participating so it would be great if you could pop down and show your support! All the best from your secretary - Cameron Moss. P.S. - good luck in your exams!