Please bear with us…

…we shall be updating this part of our website soon.

Soon you will be able to access photographs, posters, audio recordings and furthur information about the 323rd Session of The University Philosophical Society.

The 323rd Session

On Thursday 10 May 2007, the society gathered for the final meeting of the 324th session – the Annual General Meeting. The first part of business was the Election Overseer’s Report (EOR), presented by HMC Edward Gaffney, detailing the results of the elections. The second piece of business was the Officers Conduct Report (OCR), presented by Vice President Laura Hughes – Mc Manus.

After both reports had been read, outgoing members of council (Officers, HMCs and MCs) delivered advisory speeches to the newly elected council. The final piece of business was the exchanging of keys and office to the new council, thus closing the 323rd Session.

Elections to the 324th Session…

Elections for the 8 officerships and the various council positions for the 324th Session of The University Philosophical Society were held on Tuesday the 29th of April and the results of the elections were announced that evening.

The results of the elections were:

Officers

President - Barry Devlin (sch)

Secretary – Brendan Curran

Treasurer - Cearbhall Maguire

Registrar – Kiera Healy

Librarian - David Adamson

Debates Convenor – Jonathan Wyse (sch)

Steward – Orla Marnell

Schools Convenor – Ciara Finlay

Members of Council

Vice President – Declan Meehan

Pro-Secretary – Emma Reegan

Pro-Secretary – Jonathan Waugh

Pro-Debates Convenor – Sinead Waldron

Pro-Debate Convenor – Conor Sullivan

Pro-Librarian – Dominique English

Pro-Steward – Nikki Wong

Pro-Steward – Fergus Poynton

Pro-Schools Convenor – Joelle Grogan

Pro-Schools Convenor – Liza Cox

The 2008 Reenactment of The Trials of Oscar Wilde…

Oscar Wilde was one of the most renowned student of Trinity College (and during his time at Trinity, he was a member of the society). Wilde’s trials, led to his two year imprisonment in Reading gaol for ‘acts of gross indecency’. To celebrate the day, students wandered around campus dressed in Victorian Costumes reciting some of Wilde’s more famous works.

The re-enactment was written by ordinary members, Marianne Cassidyand Davey Kelleher using transcripts from the original trial. The performance took place in the period settings of the GMB and encouraged audience interaction. Upon arrival, each member of the audience was treated like a jury member, and presented with a ‘book of evidence’ containing copies of the letters, poems and prose originally used to convict Wilde. Each member of the audience was also presented with a carnation (Wilde’s favourite flower – he was said to never leave his house without one).

The Maggies Grand Final…

On April the 17th 2008, the grand final of the socity’s prestigious ‘Maggies Debating Competition’ took place. The winning team were HMC Kevin Lynch and Ordinary Member, Kiera Healy. The best speaker and winner of the Maggies Sword was Ordinary Member, Darren Mooney.

The Student Politics Debate…

On Thursday the 21st of February 2008, we students of Trinity College debated a topic close to our hearts. The role that student politics have, and whether or not student politics are dead. The evening debate was proceeded by an afternoon Q&I session between the potential 2007/2008 SU Presidents, Cathal Reilly, Robert Donohue and Eoin Moore. The evening debate, chaired by Senator Alex White, former SU President and former council member of The Phil, was incredibly lively. With half the audience feeling that student politics have fallen into disarray, lacking a unified purpose or direction and the other half feeling that the voice of students are still a prominent voice in society. Student speakers joined guest speakers in the debate, included Steven Conlon an officer of the USI, Richard Morrisroe, a former USI President, former and current SU officers and Tom McEnaney of the Irish Independent.

The Iran Debate…

On Thursday the 7th of February, the student members of The Phil debated the motion “This house would take immediate action against Iran”. During a passionate debate, student speakers and members of the college staff were joined by Maryam Namivie, the Chair Of The International Council Of Iranian Refuge, Michael Axworthy, the head of the UK Foreign Office Iran Desk, Senator Joe O’Toole, Torab Saleth and Chair of the Workers Left Party of Iran and Paul Gillespie, the Foreign Editor of the Times.

The 2008 Trinity IV…

The Irish Government Debate

On Thursday the 10th of January, the students of Trinity College had the opportunity to air their views and debate the integrity of the Irish Government, with political figures from the Fine Gael, Labour and Finna Fail parties of Ireland. Guest speakers at the debate included John Lahart, Lucinda Creighton TD, Joan Burton TD and Trevor Gilligan. The debate was heated, and the motion was passed by the audience in a vote, ‘This House Has No Confidence In The Irish Government’

The Drugs Debate…

On Thursday the 15th of November 2007, the students of Trinity College debated the issue of drug legalization in the Chamber of the GMB. Guest speakers included, Danny Kushlick of the Transform Drugs Policy Foundation, Patrick Kroupa of Sacrament of Transition and Luke ‘Ming the Merciless’ Flanagan. Debating alongside the guests speakers were figured internal to Trinity College, including Prof. Joe Barry of the Health Sciences department and Kevin Lynch an HMC of the society.