Second year Law and Economics student Niall Fahy has been elected Auditor of the Literary and Historical (L&H) Society. Fahy beat two other candidates, Janine Ryan and Dearbhla O’Gorman, to the post.

Fahy expressed delight at the election result and said “I think that it was one of those things that could probably go either way, but I wasn’t expecting to win.” He praised his campaign team and that of his opponent Ryan, saying “I think that both of us had very strong campaigns and I think the credit for that would go to our campaign managers and the campaigners themselves.”

Fahy accredited his success to the variety of people who chose to vote for him, rather than based on the promises of his manifesto. He told The University Observer that “I think that what the possible difference was that a lot of friends in my class in Law are more likely to be L&H members because they’re in second year, whereas Janine’s class would be in third year so they’re less likely to join the society and thus vote.”

The newly elected Auditor has expressed his high hopes for L&H next year, despite the society’s relatively low profile this year. Defending this year’s committee, he stated the society’s ability to attract high-profile guests “just comes down to whether the guests are available or willing to come out, as opposed to measuring the work of someone one year,” adding that the success of an L&H auditor largely “does come down to luck.” Fahy has expressed his hope to secure celebrities such as Dame Judi Dench, Michael Bublé, Kelsey Grammer and Hugh Laurie to UCD to receive the Society’s James Joyce award.

The L&H is UCD’s oldest society, and was founded by the University’s own founder, Cardinal John Henry Newman, in 1855. Next year will see the society enter its 156^th session.