The Literary and Scientific Society of the Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as the Literific, 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". Being founded in 1850, the society is the oldest society at Queen's University.

History

Prior to adjournment 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.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.'The Life and Letters of Edwin Lawrence Godkin', (1907) The Macmillan Company, p. 10. 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.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.

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".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. The Literific would become dormant in 1967, before being formally dissolved by the Queen's University Belfast Students' Union in 1969.

Union Debating Society The Union Debating Society was founded in 1968 following the adjournment of the Literific. The Union Debating Society replaced the Literific as the university debating society. People's Democracy would be formed following a meeting of the Union Debating Society in 1968.

The Union Debating Society had practically disappeared, in 2007 the Debating and Mooting Society would be formed replacing the Union Debating Society. By 2011 interest in the Literific reached the Debating and Mooting Society and the society particularly it's Vice-President Paul Shannon would be reformed in 2011.

Post-adjournment Following the revival of the Literific, Paul Shannon would be elected as the society's first president in over 40 years, the Literific would vote to award him the title of "Eternal Leader" in 2012 .

Currently the Society operates as the sole debating society at Queen's Univerity Belfast 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.

In addition to regular meetings, the Society conducts the Godkin and Dufferin competitions in the first and second academic semesters of a given year. The most recent winner of the Dufferin and Godkin competitions is Ashyka Chan Kaur, to date the only person to have won both competitions since the re-establishment of the society.

The society conducts an annual "Literific School's Debating Competition" as an outreach programme to secondary schools across Northern Ireland where a number of schools typically send teams to compete in Queen's with a final being organized in the Senate chambers in Stormont.

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.

In 2025 the Literific again hosted the Grand Final of the Irish Times Debate, on the motion "This House Believes that dialogue is dead." The debate was chaired by Northern Ireland’s chief justice, Mrs Justice Siobhán Keegan, and the judging panel included Irish Times editor Ruadhán Mac Cormaic; pro-vice chancellor for engineering and physical sciences at Queen’s University Belfast, Professor Geert Dewulf; two former team winners of the competition from 2015 and 2024, and Professor Brent Northup once again .

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 Theresa May, Mary McAleese, 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 Ann Widdecombe on the proposition. The motion was defeated by 472 votes to 159.

Presidents List of presidents (1850-1967) +Presidents prior to the society's adjournmentSessionNameNotes1st (1850–51)Mr. Edwin L. Godkin2nd (1851–52)Mr. Robert Taylor3rd (1852–53)Mr. Charles B. Hancock4th (1853–54)Mr. Robert Dunlop5th (1854–55)Mr. John Clarke6th (1855–56)Mr. James Gardner Robb7th (1856–57)Mr. John McParland8th (1857–58)Mr. William MacCormac9th (1858–59)Mr. William Pirrie Sinclair10th (1859–60)Mr. Hugh Hyndman11th (1860–61)Mr. Thomas Sinclair12th (1861–62)Mr. Alexander Hamilton13th (1862–63)Mr. John McKane14th (1863–64)Mr. John Park15th (1864–65)Mr. Samuel James Mcmullan16th (1865–66)Mr. Thomas G. Houston17th (1866–67)Mr. James Brown Dougherty18th (1867–68)Mr. Robert McCrea Chambers19th (1868–69)Mr. Hans McMordie20th (1869–70)Mr. James Monteath21st (1870–71)Mr. James Cowan22nd (1871–72)Mr. R. J. McMordie23rd (1872–73)Mr. Robert Henderson Todd24th (1873–74)Mr. William Wallace Brown25th (1874–75)Mr. John C. Clarke26th (1875–76)Mr. Thomas Greer27th (1876–77)Mr. Hugh A. Clarke28th (1877–78)Mr. John Howard Murphy29th (1878–79)Dr. James Young30th (1879–80)Mr. James A. Lindsay31st (1880–81)Mr. James D. Osborne32nd (1881–82)Mr. Henry A. Mathers33rd (1882–83)Mr. John Joseph Redfern34th (1883–84)Mr. Thomas Harrison35th (1884–85)Dr. William N. Watts36th (1885–86)Mr. George L. MooreResigned in protest over merger with the Debating Society.Mr. Robert F. Dill37th (1886–87)Mr. William H. FitzHenryElected President on 23 March 1886.Mr. William RussellElected at special meeting on 6 April 1886.38th (1887–88)Mr. James B. Armstrong39th (1888–89)Mr. Robert T. Martin40th (1889–90)Mr. James Hamill41st (1890–91)Mr. Robert D. Megaw42nd (1891–92)Mr. William John McCracken43rd (1892–93)Mr. James Sinclair Baxter44th (1893–94)Mr. Thomas C. Houston45th (1894–95)Mr. William B. Morton46th (1895–96)Mr. Richard H. Ashmore47th (1896–97)Mr. Henry Hanna48th (1897–98)Mr. John W.D. Megaw49th (1898–99)Mr. George R. Reid50th (1899-1900)Mr. Samuel Clarke Porter51st (1900–01)Mr. Robert Knox McElderry52nd (1901–02)Mr. Archibald McKinstry53rd (1902–03)Mr. William Hawthorne54th (1903–04)Mr. Robert Henry Leighton55th (1904–05)Mr. William Hamilton Davey56th (1905–06)Mr. Thomas M. Johnstone57th (1906–07)Mr. Andrew A. Rutherford58th (1907–08)Mr. John Corry Arnold59th (1908–09)Mr. Robert C. Fergusson60th (1909–10)Mr. John M. Hamill61st (1910–11)Mr. Robert M. McNeill62nd (1911–12)Mr. Stanley W. Thompson63rd (1912–13)Mr. Stanley W. Thompson64th (1913–14)Mr. Herbert Turner65th (1914–15)Miss Muriel Campbell66th (1915–16)Mr. James C. Breakey67th (1916–17)Mr. Samuel G. McConnell68th (1917–18)Mr. David H. O'Neill69th (1918–19)Miss Marion C. Alexander70th (1919–20)Miss Amy I. Woods71st (1920–21)Mr. James Beattie72nd (1921–22)Mr. John Cowser73rd (1922–23)Mr. William Hugh Semple74th (1923–24)Miss Anna B. Morton75th (1924–25)Mr. Hugh Gault Calwell76th (1925–26)Resigned after the second meeting of the new session.Mr. Arnold EarlsElected President by 13 November 1925.77th (1926–27)Mr. George Boyle Hanna78th (1927–28)Mr. Michael Aloysius MacConaill79th (1928–29)Mr. James A. Smiley80th (1929–30)Mr. James O. Bartley81st (1930–31)Mr. John Boyd82nd (1931–32)Mr. Walter Shanks83rd (1932–33)Mr. Moir Wilson84th (1933–34)Mr. William James Kinnear Millar85th (1934–35)Mr. Bradley McCall86th (1935–36)Mr. Edwin James87th (1936–37)Mr. Norman S. S. Barnett88th (1937–38)Mr. Ernest Maxwell89th (1938–39)Mr. David W. Wilson90th (1939–40)Mr. Thomas Cusack91st (1940–41)Mr. GeePresident and Secretary called up for military service necessitating a new President.Mr. Nayan Borooah92nd (1941–42)Mr. James Scott93rd (1942–43)Mr. John Gallen94th (1943–44)Mr. Henry Mackle95th (1944–45)Mr. William Mulligan96th (1945–46)Mr. Francis BoyleMr. Thomas Leslie TeevanElected President at meeting on 30 January 1946.97th (1946–47)Miss Sheelagh Murnaghan98th (1947–48)Mr. John Midgley99th (1948–49)Mr. Oliver McKeag100th (1949–50)Mr. Brian Baird101st (1950–51)Miss Jill Anderson102nd (1951–52)Mr. Leonard A. Rees103rd (1952–53)Mr. Graham Landon104th (1953–54)Mr. Michael Lavery105th (1954–55)Mr. Michael J. BradleyResigned part way through term.Mr. John GatesFormer Vice President of the society.106th (1955–56)Mr. Samuel J. Watt107th (1956–57)Mr. Julian Russell108th (1957–58)Mr. James McKenna109th (1958–59)Mr. John W. Wilson110th (1959–60)Mr. Raymond I. Skilling111th (1960–61)Mr. Bernard Kavanagh112th (1961–62)Mr. John Murtagh113th (1962–63)Mr. Michael Bowes Egan114th (1963–64)Mr. John Duffy115th (1964–65)Mr. Eamonn McCann116th (1965–66)Mr. Cyril Toman117th (1966–67)Mr. Vivian Gill

List of presidents (2011-present) +Presidents since the Literific's re-foundingSessionNameNotes163rd (2011–12)Mr. Paul ShannonGranted title of "Eternal Leader" in 2012.164th (2012–13)Mr. Andrew Carruthers165th (2013–14)Mr. Adam Kydd166th (2014–15)Ms. Naomh GibsonMs. Tara PouryahyaElected President at an extraordinary general meeting in November 2014.167th (2015–16)Ms. Marie-Louise Synnott168th (2016–17)Mr. Benjamin Murphy169th (2017–18)Mr. Calvin Black170th (2018–19)Mr. Hugh Dobbin171st (2019–20)Mr. Matthew Bradley172nd (2020–21)Mr. Matthew Leigh173rd (2021–22)Mr. Daniel McCormickElected President at an extraordinary general meeting in January 2022.174th (2022–23)Mr. Matthew TaylorResigned as President in January 2023. Secretary Mr. James Orchin served as acting President prior to new elections.Ms. Tailte McSparronElected President at an extraordinary general meeting in February 2023.175th (2023–24)Resigned as President part way through new session.Mr. Daniel ToftElected President at an extraordinary general meeting in January 2024176th (2024–25)Ms. Ella Griffth Mr. Dermot HamillElected President at an extraordinary general meeting in October 2024. 177th (2025–26) Mr. Daniel Devenney178th (2026–27) Ms. Beth Lynam

Current council The Council is the highest-decision making body of the society and has ten members. From within the Council, the President, Secretary and Treasurer compose the Executive. The Council is elected annually at the society's annual general meeting, with the exception of the Technology Officer who is appointed by two thirds of council and is confirmed by society members at the next ordinary meeting. Council serves for a term of one year beginning in June coinciding for the society's sessions.