Andrew Carruthers – The Literific

This House Believes Internment was a Necessary Evil

Posted on 23/05/2014 by The Literific in Uncategorized

The 17^th Ordinary Meeting of the 165^th session of the Literific took place on the 6^th of March in the Senate Room. Our guest chair for the evening, Professor John Brewer, had a few opening remarks.

Ryan Jones and Andrew Carruthers proposed the motion. Jones argued that internment is a legitimate tool of war and that the only more effective alternative is extermination. He said it may have been evil but there was no other way to deal with insurgency. Carruthers said that interment showed the people the immorality of Britain and that this forced them to make their voices heard. t forced the people to demand more.

Katy Waller and Harry Adair took centre stage to staunchly oppose internment. Waller told the House that internment took away the rights of stability and movement. Instead of protecting the people, it encourages them to see the state as something to be feared. She said that something that takes rights away should never be seen as necessary. Adair then closed the debate. He said internment was detrimental to community relationships. The alternative to internment, he argued, was to not put innocent people behind bars.

Professor Brewer then summarised and commented on the speeches. Closing statements were heard and the House then went to a vote. The motion was defeated.

This House Would Have a New Northern Irish Flag

Posted on 23/05/2014 by The Literific in Uncategorized

The 12^th Ordinary meeting of the 165^th session of the Literific took place on the 19^th of December in the Elmwood Hall. It began with an opening address from the Secretary of State, Theresa Villiers. She talked about the importance of a united community – her entire speech is here as we probably could not do it justice.

Derek Crosby, Dr Dominic Bryan, Ciaran Gallagher and Tina McKenzie spoke in proposition of the motion. Crosby argued that the Union Jack and tricolour both cause divides in the community and suggest there is no Northern Ireland. Dr Bryan said that while dealing with the past was more important, a new flag would do little harm. Mr Gallagher decided that a flag would be a good foundation for progress, for harmony and peace. He commented that a flag is easier to change than the population. Tina McKenzie, NI21, said that the people of Northern Ireland are united in character and that the real problem is Stormont. She told the House that politicians wish to promote segregation.

Nigel Macauley, Conor Conneally, Trevor Ringland and Andrew Carruthers all spoke for the oposition. Macauley countered the idea that leadership needed to bring both communities together through a flag does not exist, that both communities are separated at birth and trying to force them together would cause riots. Conneally said that flags are boring and if both flags cannot be flown with both communities respecting each other then there should be none. Mr Ringland stated that instead of a flag, he asked that real change be made to tackle sectarianism. Carruthers agreed that time should not be wasted on a flag but to instead spend time to make real change, that a flag would just distract from the real problems.

The debate then went to the floor.
We then went to a vote, there were 34 nays, 4 abstentions and the motion passed with 38 ayes.

This House Believes the United States is So 20th Century.

Posted on 22/05/2014 by The Literific in Uncategorized

The 7^th Ordinary Meeting of the 165^th Session of the Literific took place on the 14^th of November in the Canada Room (boo Canada).

Julia Andrade-Rocha, Vincent Wooding and Andrew Carruthers spoke for proposition. Ms Andrade-Rocha felt that the US is pushing people away by spying on them and that no one is taking it seriously anymore. Wooding listed all that was wrong with America. ALL. He told the House that the US is still in the 20^th century as far as civil rights go. Mr Carruthers explained that although the US has soft power and the substance has changed, that the US remains in the Cold War mentality of the 20^th Century.

Dr Stefan Andreasson, Cormac Manning (UCC) any Mr Tyler McNally opposed the motion. Dr Andreasson paised the US on its continuity and on its formidable influence which is seen through mass immigration, unrivalled military capacity and social media. Mr Manning talked about America’s power in trade and politics and how these two factors are recognized worldwide showing its international power. Mr McNally told the House that he didn’t just hate America but if fact hated the whole world, that the US may be backwards politically but so are all other countries.

The debate then went to the floor.
Both sides summarised and we went to a vote. The motion was defeated.