Literary and debating society :Minutes for 11/02/09

It was green week and all thoughts turned to soft, liberal, lefty ideas. The indie food vans were in the college for it, running off diesel generators showing that we understood what the green movement was. A pile of unwashed, hemp wearing hippies who were only concered that their falaffel was organic. Ms Jackie Driscoll was in the chair but before we moved to main business, she opened to the floor for Private Members Time motions

TTHB Vegetarianism is the only moral choice

Sean Butler (HLM) and a man who clearly likes his steak

We have a moral obligation to change our eating paterns. The ways in which we farm meat is having a huge effect on global warming through the methane from cows, we should consider the implications of our actions if we were not the dominant species. Fianlly he told us about how raising animals for meat takes 10 times the land and energy than crop farming so we’re costing food that could help stop world hunger.

Conor Kelly (Arts)

Meat is a deliscious part of a tasty lifestyle. It has huge economic roots in the world and certain areas could not just trade over to crop tillage. He went on to explain that the desires of animals were to survive and make make baby animals. Both of these are better served on a farm so they should be happy to be eaten. And finally how what Mr. Butler was proposing was the eradication of a large amount of animals because who would keep pigs if it wasnt for their deliscious bodies?

Beartla De Burca (Graduate)

Informed us that Irish peasents were the healtiest of all peasents on a diet of milk and potatoes and stressed that we dont need meat to survive.

Dave Finn (HLM)

Vegetarianism is evil too. Removing innocent vegetables from the ground to slice and dice them only to boil them alive at the end of it.

James Hope (HLM)

Stressed that it was all about efficiency and meat was not efficient. He also told us of how people percieve meat as prosperous and we need to break that mindset.

Ronan Fitzpatrick (Scienc e)

We created food barriers, subsidies etc. Because we dont want to be efficient. We could solve the problems we’d heard without getting rid of meat so why stop eating it?

Motion was summated and defeated

Main Business : TTHB Ireland should go nuclear

Ms Driscoll gave up the chair for this section of the night and it was Ms Eileen Coughlain in her stead.

In proposition was Dr. Steven Kinsela, Economics lecturer from UL

Most sustainable energies are unpredictable and unreliable. He believed that we should run undersea interconnectors and tap into the new nuclear grid in Britain..

France is a shining example of how safe and cheap Nucler energy is and warned us to not buy into the scaremongering of radiation and terrorism

Its our only option for the next 20-40 years and we need to get going on it.

Oppion was Green Senator Dan Boyle

He told us that this was an unsafe technology. Human error still exists and the potential harm is huge

We still have to deal with the by-products that we dont know what to do with...

We should be focusing on reneawable energies instead, such as the wave power bases in Galway

There are economic benefits to being the world leaders in renewable energies and we should focus on that.

Ronan Fitazpatrick (Science)

Our energy options are getting fewer and fewer, sustainability is the most pressing issue and thats what this provides

Mike Spring (Education)

Peak oil has passed and we are in the decline of oil. The biggest issue here is that we don’t know what to do with the waste and we need to sort that first

Alan Layons (Mlitt)

There is no real risk anymore in Nucler power. Its safe, the issues in Chernoble are now protected against. Remember, its us and not USSR in charge this time

Jackie Driscoll (Medicine)

Pretty good isn’t good enough. Unless this is without risk we cannot approve because of the scale of the potentail harms.

Eimear Spain (Science)

Renewable energies are not good enough. Not developed wnough and not reliable enough. Most of them are at a prototype stage and that wont be able to provide for us

Beartla De Burca (Graduate)

You’re putting your energy supplies in the hands of the british, is that really such a good idea? Why not make a similar intermeshed grid but for renewable energies

James Hope (HLM)

We have 3 choices in from of us.

1. Fossil fuels: Not available)

2. Totally renewable future: Not viable now and wont be for a really long time

3. Nuclear: We need it, fixes clkimate issues, energy needs and new pebbledash reactors cannot go chernoble

Richard manton (Engineering)

Still an issue of finite resources as the materials needed for the cores of such stations are in short suppy. Risks are too high so we can’t accept it.

Motion was summated and Passed

All that was left to do was to thank everytone for their contributions and invite everyone back to the Dail for a well deserved drink

These are the minutes

Conor Kelly, Recording secretary 163^rd session