The DUP thread

[Wildweasel74]

And i have to met this non biased person, in a few weeks time!!

[AustinPowers]

Speaking of providing  Gaelic Games in schools,  why  is that school in Dundalk (or was it Drogheda?)  only allowing Gaelic Games now?

And wasn't  this the same school where students  have been   protesting for months about this?

What's the story? Is  this a protestant school or what?

[Milltown Row2]

Both primary and secondary schools I went to only played GAA, no other sport was played, we would have had a decent soccer team at the time but we weren't allowed!

[seafoid]

Speaking of providing  Gaelic Games in schools,  why  is that school in Dundalk (or was it Drogheda?)  only allowing Gaelic Games now?

And wasn't  this the same school where students  have been   protesting for months about this?

What's the story? Is  this a protestant school or what?

Sport in schools requires volunteers to take sport lessons. Maybe the teaching community doesn't have rugby of soccer coaches.

[Wildweasel74]

Well, why have ulster teams hardly any hurling teams, you need the right people in place to push it.

[johnnycool]

Both primary and secondary schools I went to only played GAA, no other sport was played, we would have had a decent soccer team at the time but we weren't allowed!

That isn't right either.

I've told this story before about an integrated PS school in our locality which was previously a state school but due to dwindling numbers went integrated.

We sent flyers into the school as we were running a fundamentals block in conjunction with a KS1 Ulster Council coach and asked the Principal if they'd give them to the kids to take home.

Not one kid received any flyer from us yet the scouts etc etc were regularly sent out with the kids. We know this as we've some kids from the club at the school in question.

That has kinda tainted my feelings on integrated education, well intentioned but the reality doesn't necessarily match that.
There may be exceptions to that and the likes of Lagan College would have a better reputation as it was probably an entirely new school built out in the sticks.

[DownFanatic]

Not sure if the figure is still accurate but I think up until recently only 7% of the children in the North of Ireland were in official Integrated education.

[brokencrossbar1]

Not sure if the figure is still accurate but I think up until recently only 7% of the children in the North of Ireland were in official Integrated education.

Would be about right I'd say. 2 of my kids went to an integrated primary school but the reality is that it was probably 65% Catholic and that kept rising. School and teachers were good, they had the coaches in from Down GAA,  I did an about on a volunteer basis doing football and basketball. Thing is it was always known locally as the 'Protestant' school. No matter what.

Moved when they were in P5 and P7 to CCMS school. Have to say the level of teaching went up a notch.  That may just be school relative but was the right decision for them.

Integrated though is the way forward but the investment has to happen

[bogball88]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c390914zkd9o

Disappointing but at the same time not surprising.

Parents and Principal both supported the move to integration yet the Minister believes he knows best.

Big new school buildings there and looking like they're struggling to get bums on seats.

St Columbanus would have felt the squeeze if they'd gotten the go-ahead, but Givans rejection tells you all you need to know about where his heads at.

He may have a point though, the "integrated" school might still be much the same, I doubt if they would be impactful on the MacRory Cup.

Fúck McCrory cups, Mageean Cups are more important 

There is a substantial catholic population in the North Down area mostly serviced by OLSPK as the main selective Grammar which has a very high bar in terms of selection and the non selective St Columbanus College, so there might be demand in there for a Grammar school which can take the run off from OLSPK.

I kinda agree also on one point that if these schools want to go integrated they need to do so in a meaningful way, offer Irish language, Gaelic games etc etc and not just lip service.

I've had some first hand experience of Integrated schools in the primary sector. Very much a one sided affair in my experience with no Gaelic, no Irish etc. Even parental complaints, upheld by the school, when a teacher showed up in a Gaelic jersey for a sponsored walk. So much for acceptance and respect for all in an integrated society eh?

Integrated education in theory is brilliant - in practice its not there imo.
We removed our kids from the school at the time as it was very much favouring one side of the community in terms of staffing, teaching and tolerance.
I was actually on the Board of Governors and Mrs. Tbrick was a teacher in the school - the stories I could tell!

Don't stop there man for God sake!

[lurganblue]

I see Givan's decision and of course nothing would surprise you with the DUP.

I'm naive on a lot of this, but if the school wants to act like an integrated school I assume that it can do so anyway? Or is there restrictions based on funding and curriculum? 

[Wildweasel74]

You need approval to go integrated  status. For what it's worth, some maintained schools find it near impossible  to go integrated by ccms/parishes. So he's not the only one who's blocks these. Find it strange Bangor Academy decided to go Integrated, but more open thinking maybe, there some big schools in Belfast would be in a better position to go this route.

[Kidder81]

Was it not a very small number of Catholics, less than 10%? I'm not sure you could class that as integrated if it had went ahead.

Edit - in 2022/23 their enrolment was 1835 enrolled, 1084 Protestant, 54 Catholic & 697 "other".

"Pupils recorded as not belonging to either of the two main traditions are classed as 'other' and not included in the consideration of religious balance."

[Wildweasel74]

Technically Integrated should cover other, but over here ,they focus solely on Protestant and Catholic intake with other category, attending both non-maintained and maintained.

[imtommygunn]

It's 40-40-20 with the 20 being other which is a bugbear of mine tbh. Integrated education but you still need that tickbox. We have ours in integrated and it's grand though there isn't much GAA about but he gets plenty of that at the club anyway.

[93-DY-SAM]

In the medium to long term integrated education further diminishes Unionism as it depends on a hard core and segregation to survive. It's in the DUP's interests to say No. Nothing new or unsurprising about that.