Debate contribution: Integrated Education: Fresh Start Funding for Capital Projects
Debate contribution by Ms Kate Nicholl on .
- MLA
- Ms Kate Nicholl
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 12 March 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Integrated Education: Fresh Start Funding for Capital Projects
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4267066
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I rise as a member of the Education Committee and the Alliance Party but also as a representative for South Belfast, a constituency that has been particularly impacted by the gutting news about the Fresh Start funding. The community of South Belfast is devastated that the much needed new builds for Forge Integrated Primary School and Millennium Integrated Primary School have been impacted by the unilateral change in the funding arrangements by the UK Government. The school leaders, Barry Corrigan from Millennium and Neville Watson from Forge are in the Gallery today. I thank them for their attendance and resilience and the work that they are doing to reassure the school community. For them and the students, it represents yet another obstacle in what has been a series of obstacles on the journey to getting the buildings they deserve and have been promised. For children, it is more time spent in buildings that are, frankly, not fit for purpose, and it is not good enough. I spent some time at Millennium Integrated Primary School just a couple of weeks ago, alongside my colleague Paula Bradshaw, and saw at first hand the significant work that has already been undertaken by the school to get ready for its new building. You can literally see that the ground is flattened and ready for the build.
Yes. Go ahead.
I completely agree, and that has an impact on the children. We did a Q&A session at the end, and the kids wanted to know when their school would be ready. They are so upset about that. They have been looking forward to their new school; the whole community has. Those hopes have been dashed for now, and that is why we have tabled the motion. It feels like we are getting into an integrated versus shared education debate, and it is not. We tabled the motion because 10 integrated schools are ready to go, and we want to see them built. That is our focus.
I appreciate the Member's intervention. It was not directed at the Member; it was about how the conversation so far has been about these different schools and "What about those schools?". Of course, I understand that. As a constituency MLA, you want to speak up for your constituency, but the schools are not on the EA list of capital builds because they expected to get the Fresh Start funding. On the amendment and the specific point about shared education, we need to acknowledge that integrated education can be genuinely transformative for society in ways that shared education just will not be. That is an Alliance position —
— and it should not come as a shock. Shared education —. I will clarify. I can see that that has come as a shock to you. I do not know why you would be surprised that an Alliance Party MLA —.
Thank you, Deputy Speaker. Shared education as a stepping stone towards integrated education is one thing, but, if shared education is in itself the end goal, we are merely deepening and amplifying its otherness in proximity. Mr Butler referenced Baroness May Blood yesterday in his speech. I commend him for doing that: she was a fabulous woman who should be remembered by everyone for all the work that she did. I remind the House of her words in the Lords 18 years ago, which remain as true today as they were then:
"While I welcome any steps that could be taken to bring schools closer together in any form, I hope that shared campuses do not become the easy thing for the Government to do—the soft option. The desire of parents and children to have integrated schools is clear, let us not waste it. There is greater potential here than sharing sports halls."
The schools that are ready to go are integrated schools. They have been waiting for years and have been let down time and time again. They need the reassurance of all of us that we will do everything in the short term to redirect to them the investment that was taken away without consultation and scrutiny. That is the focus of our motion: the 10 impacted schools. Integrated education is a crucial tool in building a more shared and reconciled society. It is not a silver bullet, but it has a crucial role to play. We ought to give far more children the opportunity to access an integrated education system that is intentional. Integrated education is not just about sharing; everything about it is intentional. It is therefore crucial that the funding promised under Fresh Start is delivered. Ultimately, the motion is about the 10 impacted schools.
780 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.25 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.84).
- No identity-based framing was identified (0.67).
- Subject area: Education structures, integration and community division.
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.16 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.03 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.05 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.09 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.15 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.84 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.25 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.67 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.03 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.04 |
| Adopts it | 0.26 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Education structures, integration and community division | 1.00 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 09:48 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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