LIT AND DEB, A GIB’S VIEW

Having been an avid debater in school, I was really looking forward to getting involved in University. So from day one my mission was to seek out and infiltrate the Literary and Debating society. On societies day I headed over to the IMI on an intelligence gathering mission. So as not to betray my true identity as a closet debater I cunningly roamed around, ruthlessly joining other societies in the hope of blending in. Suddenly I spotted my target, hidden effortlessly between the PDS and Law Soc. I decided the time had come, it was now or never, I had to make a direct hit. I checked out the stand ( and that wasn’t all I checked out) and suddenly spotted my opportunity; one of the committee members was free He seemed like a prime target, he was young, baby-faced and probably very easily taken in.

Or so I thought! Oh how wrong I was. I spoke to the ever so helpful young gentleman for about five minutes and left with a feeling of impending doom. Here was I an innocent little first year and they wanted me to speak that night at the Gibs symposium. What was I going to do? They’d given me five motions and they expected me to pick one, write a speech and give it within the space of a few hours. What a ridiculous proposition I thought. They might as well have asked me to draw blood from a stone because there was no hope of me being able to do either. However, resigned to the fact that I was about to crash and burn in front of the entire Lit’n’Deb, I headed up to the library in the vain hope of writing a speech about shaving my legs.

That night I turned up at 8 p.m. sharp not knowing what to expect. To my surprise I discovered 12 well dressed people all of whom welcomed me with a big grin. I was soon to discover who these weird and wonderful individuals were. Before I knew it I found myself listening to what sounded for all the world like a stand up comedy routine. It was of course the venerable Auditor of the Society Mr Ferghal Crehan giving his usual warm up speech, which always manages to rally the troops. After introducing the committee (fine bunch of layabouts) to the house, Ferghal opened the floor to PMT. This I have to say took me by surprise, I failed to see the connection between my menstrual cycle and debating. After much laughter Ferghal kindly explained to us innocent Gibs that PMT stood for Private Members Time where anyone in the house could propose a motion, needless to say none of us wanted to be the sacrificial fresher and thankfully one of the committee came up with something. As the night progressed it became clear to me that debating in college was nothing like I expected. I had envisaged a polite and restrained forum for intelligent conversion, where tradition was all important and rules were strictly adhered to. Instead what I found was a place where if you were brave enough to stand up in the first place, you ran a serious risk of being humiliated by the sharp words and wisecracks of some of the more senior members of the house. But to my surprise this didn’t really bother me. To tell the truth, I got quite a buzz from it, It was there and then that the Lit’n’Deb bug really hit me and I haven’t missed one meeting yet.

That was seven months ago now and at this stage I feel like I’ve been involved for years. I love all of it, the corny jokes, the heckles and most of all the characters. I’ve already mentioned the committee, that group of wacky individuals who keep Lit and Deb going. I have to say they’re extremely funny. They all have their own wee’ quirks. Some of them are renowned for saying “eeh” constantly while debating, others for rubbing their chins in a contemplative manner as though they expect some form of divine inspiration. Now and then we hear a “wee story’ in the middle of a four minute speech that goes on for ten. Some people always use a three pronged argument, while others completely bewilder us with their constant use of atrocious puns.

It’s not just the people that entertain us, sometimes it’s the strange motions they propose. The ones that will stay with me till the day I die are “That the colour is yellow”, “That this house would commence whaling in our waters” (a vain attempt by the Defence Forces to try and find something to keep themselves occupied with while they wait for their compo claims to be processed) and of course the by now infamous motion about ‘Crusties and their dogs’.

On the whole, it has to be said that from a freshers point of view Lit’n’Deb is not really all that terrifying. Once you pluck up the courage to head down to Jurys for a few drinks and a chat, you realise that everyone’s very nice and easy to talk to. Even though Lit and Deb isn’t exactly what I expected it to be I can honestly say I’ve not been disappointed.

Cliona O’Keeffe (1st Science)