The society is delighted to announce the election of Richard Clarke, Archbishop of Armagh and ex-Records Secretary, to the position of Vice-President of the Society.

The motion was passed at a Private Business Meeting of the society held on 2nd June.

This House Would Not Give Up on Privacy

Wednesday, 7:15pm, The GMB Chamber

For an incredibly long time, privacy has been a concept that many individuals have cherished and protected closely. Now, with social media and a constant attachment to the internet, individual privacy is facing its biggest challenge. Between location information, media consumption information being shared automatically by services like Spotify, and access to status updates and tweets all of the time, privacy is facing its greatest challenge yet.

With much of the current discussion being controlled by massive corporations, such as Facebook and Google, is the concept of privacy being changed, or even eradicated, without our realising? Is it something that we shall look back on with fondness and a tear welling up, or is this part of a new society – a society where everything is shared, and there are no limits on how much information is put out there about us?

Are we really comfortable with Facebook holding over 1000 pages of data on each of us? Do we want everybody knowing what’s going through our heads all the time, be it music, vision, or even our thoughts? Is an open society a better society? Come along and find out on Wednesday night!

Chairing the debate with be Prof Frank Bannister, Associate Professor in Information Systems, and who specialises in online privacy.

Stormont Trip and Irish Times Final!

Thursday & Friday, Stormont Assembly & Queen’s University

Once a year, in something vaguely resembling one of those films where a bunch of unlikely characters go on a road-trip except with fewer run-ins with the law, the Hist de-camps to Belfast. There, in addition to incurring strange feelings of nationality and displacement, we, along with a group from Queen’s, venture up to Stormont for a private tour around the most fabulous parliament building on the island.

Then, as can be its only reaction when the Hist finds itself looking somewhere parliamentary and impressive, we sit down and hold a debate on a motion related to Northern Ireland in the glittering surroundings of the old Senate Chamber. Yes, you too can debate in a (formerly) real life parliament chamber with all the red leather adversarial seats that implies. The debate is usually one of the finest of the year with the nature and issues of Northern Ireland brought into sharp focus – the controversial and unusual nature of the political settlement, the complex nature of nationality and identity and its unique relationship to both the UK and Ireland. This year’s motion that ‘This House Believes in a United Ireland’ will continue that tradition.

If you’d like to come along or to speak at the debate, email Will at procorrsec@thehist.com. The cost for the trip is €40, with £10 being returned to you on the Friday, and this includes the bus trip up and accommodation on Thursday night.

As well as that, the Irish Times final is conveniently scheduled to take place on Friday evening in Belfast, on the Queen’s University campus itself. With no less than four Hist speakers (and eight Trinity speakers in total!) participating in the final, we’d love to see you up in Belfast to support Cormac McGuinness & Liam O’Neill, Rian Derrig and Kate Brady!

This House Believes in a Right to Die

Wednesday, 7:15pm, The GMB Chamber

As countries such as Belgium, Colombia and Switzerland offer legal euthanasia, we take a look at why they are doing so, and are they going far enough? Should life-ending drugs be available on demand to all, or is the only legitimate justification for ending a life the prevention of suffering? Is the mere threat of losing our very selves to Alzheimer’s or dementia enough to take pre-emptive action, or should we cling onto every last moment of life that we can?

Should human life be preserved at all costs? Or do we think that a person can become so damaged that it’s just not worth going on? In this debate, the Hist asks the difficult question as to whether a person should be able to choose their time to die and what might be a legitimate reason to end it all.

Lavish reception, as always, provided afterwards.

Join the Facebook event at http ://www . facebook . com/events/560450703967607/

Burke Discussion Session: Heroes Through the Ages

Wednesday, 1pm, The Conversation Room

The idea of what makes a hero is a hotly contested one, and runs straight through history from Achilles to Iron Man. What does it mean when a society chooses its heroes? Is there any real difference between a hero and a madman? Who would win in a fight, Batman or Captain America? All of these and more are going to be discussed at our Heroes panel. Come in cosplay and dazzle everyone with stories of the time you defeated an orc wizard in a particularly intense LARP session!

Speakers include: Sally Rooney, epic debater, and Rónán Burtenshaw, Editor of Trinity News!

Join the Facebook event for the Burke Discussion Sessions at https://www . facebook . com/events/520375578007895/.

The Hist Inaugural: The Role of the Arts in the 21st Century

Tuesday, 7pm, The Exam Hall

The Inaugural will be taking place on Tuesday 5th February at 7.00pm in the Exam Hall. The Inaugural is one of the oldest traditions of College and is one of the biggest nights in the Hist calendar! The event will begin with a reception in the GMB at 6:00pm.

Tickets for the Inaugural are free, of course, to Hist members, and will be given out from 12pm-1pm at our stand in the Arts Block on Monday, or from the Hist Committee Room any time a committee member is there. The Inaugural is black tie, and dressing up will be well worth it – after a lavish post-reception in the GMB, we’re going on to SamSara to celebrate.

Guests include:

Professor Germaine Greer

Professor Greer is an Australian academic and journalist. She is currently Professor Emerita of English Literature and Comparative Studies at the University of Warwick.

Dorothy Cross, Artist

Dorothy Cross is an artist and a member of Aosdána. Her best known works include the Udder series and the Ghostship that was moored in Dublin Bay in 1999 and the Virgin Shroud which is in the collection of Tate Modern in London. The Irish Museum of Modern Art held a retrospective show of her work in 2005.

Joseph Woods, Poet & Director of Poetry Ireland

Joseph Woods is an Irish poet and Director of Poetry Ireland since 2001.He won the Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award in 2000 for his collection of poetry, Bearings.

Willie White, Artistic Director, Dublin Theatre Festival

Willie White is the current Artistic Director of the Dublin Theatre Festival and was previously Artistic Director of Project Arts Centre. White also founded Loose Canon Theatre Company and the Irish Theatre Magazine and in 2008 was awarded the Jerome Hynes Fellowship on the Clore Leadership Programme.

While you’re waiting for this awesome event, check out the event page at http ://www . facebook . com/events/285191851607018/.

This House Believes Nationalism is an Unfortunate Hangover From History

Wednesday, 7:15pm, The GMB Chamber

This week, the Hist delves deep into the structure of society as we ask if nationalism has a positive or negative effect on us and those around us. Does nationalism do more harm than good? Are the divisions that it creates worth putting up with for the sense of belonging and community that it brings? Or should we just abandon the concept of a nation in favour of something else? All these questions, and probably some cleverer ones will be answered on Wednesday night!

Followed by one of our generous receptions.

Hist Schools Mace

Friday and Saturday

Didn’t have enough debating banter last week? Or didn’t know the IV was on? Well, here’s your chance for more judging and running fun! The Schools Mace is run every year by The Hist, and is a really valuable chance for school kids to get some debating experience in an IV-type setting. But the best thing about the Mace is that The Hist can provide some of the best judges in the country for the competition.

And that’s where you come in – we need you to help us judge the competition! It’s good judging experience for you, and invaluable experience for the kids for whom this opportunity doesn’t come along often. And as Sally Rooney, winner of an awful lot of competitions, is CA, there’ll be some kick-ass motions to boot.

The competition begins on Friday morning, and runs through until Saturday evening. Come along and help out!

This House Does Not Believe in Copyright

Wednesday, 7:15pm, The GMB Chamber

Should you be able to own an idea? Should artists be granted protection over their creative output, or should it be free for the world to spread and mould as they see fit? Should companies be able to protect their products, or should there be a competitive free-for-all when new inventions are introduced? These are just some of the questions that we’ll be addressing at this week’s debate.

Some of the top speakers that Trinity has to offer will be joined by Shane Wallace, Director at Deloitte, and Dr. Fiachra O’Brolchain, School of Ethics in DCU, to discuss whether patents or poisonous or if genius should be generic.

One of our trademark receptions will follow straight after the debate.

With thanks to our sponsors, Deloitte and Foresight.

Burke Discussion Session: Fear

Tuesday, 12 noon, The Conversation Room

What does it mean to be afraid? How does fear enter our lives, and what effect can it have on how we act and understand? That’s the topic of our first Burke Discussion Session, taking place this Tuesday.

Speakers include Dr. Norah Campbell, who will be discussing the use of fear in marketing, Eamonn Bell on changing approaches to representing and eliciting fear in music, and Jonathan McKeon discussing how fear affects the stock market.

Join us for the first of our Burke Discussion Sessions, kindly sponsored by Arthur Cox, this Tuesday at 12!

Trinity IV

Thursday to Saturday

It’s finally here: the biggest and best debating competition in Ireland takes place this weekend, and this year it’s even bigger than some of the highest profile UK competitions too. The Trinity IV is run jointly by the Hist and the Phil, and involves hundreds of debaters taking over the GMB, and some other parts of campus too, between Thursday and Saturday.

On Thursday, the Kingsmill Moore Invitational takes place, with some of the best teams around converging on the GMB for a chance at glory in this prestigious competition. The competition runs all day, with the grand final taking place on Thursday evening.

On Friday, the real party gets started, as over one hundred teams swoop down from all over the world for a weekend of debating banter. The IV takes place over two days, with the final happening on Saturday evening. As well as debates, there’ll be food and socials happening each night as well.

However, to make this competition a real success, your help is needed! We’re looking for volunteers to help out with judging, running, and other admin bits that will need to be sorted over the weekend. If you’re interested, join the volunteers Facebook group https://www . facebook . com/groups/323492771098280/, and come along on Friday. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Lorcan, our Debates Convenor, at dc@thehist.com, or Oscar at prodc@thehist.com.

Kindly sponsored by Dillon Eustace.

This Week at The Hist

Monday: 

- The Hist Goes to Frontline – 8:30pm, meeting at the GMB

Wednesday:

• DEBATE: This House Would Use its Sexuality to Get What it Wants – 7:15pm, The GMB

Friday:

- Tea and Toast: 12-2pm, the Conversation Room

As well as that, we have information about the Trinity IV and Burke Discussion Sessions below as well, both coming up very soon!

And our pool and snooker rooms open up again this week, and as always there are discount rates for Hist members – just bring your Hist card with you!

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @TheHist, and join our Facebook group for all the latest information!

This House Would Use its Sexuality to Get What it Wants – Wednesday, 7:15pm

Are we wasting our time in the library? Would we do better to abandon our degrees, shorten our skirts, and use our bodies as leverage? If you’ve got it, should you flaunt it? And is doing so as legitimate as getting through life with hard earned achievements?

As always, the debate will be followed by a generous reception.*

*Generosity dependant on your ability to bat your eyelids.

Frontline – Monday, 8:30pm

Once again, The Hist is lucky enough to have been invited to this Monday’s Frontline show: ‘Politics – a dirty word?’

When does legitimate lobbying cross over to the offensive? Have we seen a coarsening of our public discourse? Or was it always thus and social media have just made very public a poison already there?

The programme is live at 10:35pm tonight and RTE ask those who are attending to arrive in RTÉ in Donnybrook at 9:20pm with photo identification. It will be finished at around 11:30pm. The usual sandwiches and coffee will be provided.

If you’re interested in coming along, email Hannah at auditor@thehist.com.

Tea & Toast – Friday, 12 – 2

Tea and toast returns this Friday at 12 for more fun and exciting tea- and toast- (and occasionally, champagne-) based mornings. We’re in the middle of organising our vigilantism debate that will be held in March, so if you’d like to get involved in the organisation and inviting guests for that, come along! It’s also a great way of getting to know people and getting involved in The Hist. What’s not to like?

The Maidens Final: This House Would Ban Depictions of the Prophet Muhammad

Wednesday, 7:15pm, The GMB Chamber

This black tie debate showcases the best that first year has to offer, in what is sure to be a lively debate on the topic of freedom of speech and freedom of religion, chaired by the Hist favourite, and Vice President of the Society, Dr Patrick Geoghegan.

This year, we’re promised spot prizes for the funniest and also the least offensive speech (If there all of the speeches are exceptionally offensive then the funniest speech will receive two prizes).

The speakers will be:

Michael Barton

Jamie Buckley

Luke Daly-Ronayne

Hugh Guidera

Liam Hunt

Claire Ni Cheallaigh

Hugh Guidera

Stephen Stack

Followed by a generous reception and reasonably priced refreshments in Cafe en Seine, it’s always one of the best nights of the Hist Calendar.

The Maidens this competition this year has been sponsored by Mason-Hayes and Curran, and we’d like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude for their continued support of the Maidens competition.

The Maidens competition has been run by our Record Secretary, Cormac, and you can contact him at recsec@thehist.com.

This House Fears China’s Influence on African Development, in Association with SUAS

Wednesday, 7:15pm, The GMB Chamber

This week we hold our development debate, which looks at the influence and sway that China holds in African development. Is China exerting pressures beyond what it should be? Are they manipulating African states in exchange for economic benefits? Or is all of this just one massive case of the boy crying wolf?

Join us as we, in association with SUAS, debate this hugely topical issue this Wednesday night, followed by a lavish reception.

Speakers include:

Dr. Pádraig Carmody, TCD Lecturer on Development Geography

Join the Facebook event at http ://www . facebook . com/events/342604755838783/

Alexander McCall Smith, acclaimed author, addresses The Hist

Wednesday, 4pm, The Conversation Room

Best known for creating the highly acclaimed ‘The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency’ series, that is only one of the strings that Alexander McCall-Smith has on his wide-ranging and impressive bow. A respected expert on medical law and bioethics, he was formerly a member of the International Bioethics Commission of UNESCO and chairman of the British Medical Journal Ethics Committee, but gave up those commitments to concentrate on his writing.

As one a leading academic and one of the most prolific and successful fiction writers to this day, The Hist is delighted to have Alexander McCall-Smith address the society this Wednesday.

Join the Facebook event at http ://www . facebook . com/events/135020516651503/

New Ireland Panel Discussion

Monday, 7pm, The Conversation Room

Following on from the Wedensday night discussion held two years ago, The Hist’s ‘A New Ireland’ panel discussion returns, to shift from debates on a united Ireland and partition to discussion on what a new Ireland could/should look like.

The discussion will begin with a presentation from Dr. John Robb, a former Senator, political activist, and founder of the New Ireland Group, which will focus on the current economic and political crisis, and comparisons to the Swiss system of participatory democracy.

Student representatives from a number of groups, including Young Fine Gael, Labour Youth, An Cumann Gaelach, and the Socialist Party among others, will then give their view of what a New Ireland should look, from a multitude of perspectives, and on aspects such as political reform, social change, national identity, and the Irish language.

Join us for a fascinating evening where we work out where we’re headed with our country this Monday at 7pm.

Join the Facebook event at http ://www . facebook . com/events/180174888787756/

Master Class on US Politics by Craig Gordon, Managing Editor of POLITICO

Tuesday, 12 noon, The Conversation Room

Craig Gordon gained experience covering three presidential races when he lead POLITICO’s coverage of the 2012 campaign between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. Before this Gordon was the Washington bureau chief for Newsday, a job that took him everywhere from Baghdad to the White House briefing room. He covered the Pentagon starting the day after the Sept. 11 attacks. He was embedded with the U.S. Marines in Afghanistan when they took Kandahar Airport. He anchored Newsday’s coverage of the Iraq war from the U.S. base in Qatar and reported from Iraq immediately after the fall of Saddam Hussein.

For Newsday, Gordon covered Republican George W. Bush’s presidential campaign in 2000, and eventually Bush’s White House from 2005 to 2007. He covered Sen. John Kerry’s presidential campaign in 2004, and in 2008, he covered former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s presidential campaign and wrote extensively about Obama, Hillary Clinton and Sen. John McCain.

As such, we think you’ll agree that Craig Gordon has the qualifications to give a master class on US politics – and he’ll be doing just this exclusively for the Hist on Tuesday!

Join the Facebook event at http ://www . facebook . com/events/181127598693775/

That This House Believes Retribution has no Place in Justice

Wednesday, 7:15pm, The GMB Chamber

Many of us associate the administration of justice with the use of iron bars. But can this truly be called just, or is it merely a brutal hangover from a draconian penal system?

Is it in any way moral to cage a fellow human being, and does locking away our problems benefit society or the offender? What is the role of imprisonment in our society – is it an effective form of rehabilitation, does it reduce crime or is such a method of punishment warranted at all. We discuss this oft-neglected issue this Wednesday at 7:15pm.

Chair: Michael McDowell, Former Minister for Justice

Senator Ivana Bacik, Reid Professor of Criminal Law

Dr. David Kenny, TCD Lecturer of Law

If you’re interested in seeing a particular topic being debated next term, send on your ideas to clerks@thehist.com – we’d love to hear what you want to see!

Join the Facebook event at http ://www . facebook . com/events/533017370060771/