Editorial

It is with the greatest pleasure, that only fat brown envelopes or buxom Venezuelan beauty queens can rival, that I introduce to you the 2001/2002 NUI, Galway College Annual. After a brief hiatus last year, the College Annual, sometimes known as Literatum, has returned to document the trials, tribulations and occasional triumphs of the University and especially its oldest institution - the Literary and Debating Society. Acting as the journal of the society since it came under its auspices in 1913, it has been an outlet for the creativity, sarcasm and prolixity that are endemic of the student populous, many a time in situations when they had no other outlet.

This year, the University has certainly been a hive of activity. Between EcoSoc's protests against the Sellafield reprocessing plant, the battle for SU president to the Múscailt Festival where the college reaffirmed its position as the main centre of culture in the west, the year has been brimming with scandal, gossip and, most importantly, large scale inebriation. It is testament to the strength of the college that it has entered the new century growing in strength and confidence, further expanding its horizons.

The Lit'n'Deb, too, has seen its horizons expanded this last year. As part of the Múscailt Festival, we had the great honour of resurrecting "Criterion", which was a spring board for the careers of Ian Kilroy, Julian Gough and Seamus Heaney amongst others. Our Rag Week fundraiser, the self explanatory "Wet Debate", was quite successful raising a substantial amount for charity, while the ESB Connaught Schools final was an outstanding success, hopefully introducing many more people into the joys of debating. This past year has also seen success in Inter-Varsity competitions with Stephen Nolan and "The Baron Tony McDonald" being awarded best novice debating team at the UCD IV, while in England, Jennifer Regan and Barry Ryan reached the semi-finals of the Oxford Union IV.

As one of NUI, Galway's few bastions of free speech, the importance of this society cannot be played down. It is the heart of the university, its most vital constituent. To deliberately misquote (nay abuse) Voltaire "If the Lit 'n' Deb didn't exist, it would be necessary to invent it". Without a forum similar to the Literary and Debating Society, a college is a banality, a soulless factory for the production of degrees that stunts the intellectual and personal growth of its students,

With that I leave to you the NUI, Galway Col1ege Annua1 2002. This past year has furthered my horizons more than I could ever have dreamed, encouraging me to push myself that little bit further. Though at times stressful, it has been a joy to partake in this years Lit 'n' Deb and publish this fine annual. I can only hope that you, the reader, get the same pleasure from reading it as I did from putting it together.

Declan W. Burke (2^nd Commerce)

Literary Officer

155^th Session