Member's statement: Scoil na Seolta: East Belfast
Member's statement by Mr Peter McReynolds on .
- MLA
- Mr Peter McReynolds
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 4 November 2024
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Scoil na Seolta: East Belfast
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4625163
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I support and encourage the large number of local parents who have registered interest in their children attending Scoil na Seolta in East Belfast. The school will offer integrated education in East Belfast for the first time, bringing together communities and healing many of the divisions that we still see today. It will also do that through the medium of the Irish language, increasing bilingualism in young people from an early age. Research has well established that bilingualism improves critical thinking, creativity, memory, focus and problem-solving skills and helps children to think beyond themselves and see the world from a different perspective. Those are important and welcome values for children in Northern Ireland in 2024. I am fortunate to have met, on multiple occasions, the driver for that, Linda Ervine, who, in 2021, was recognised by the Queen with an MBE, no less. Her passion for education and reconciliation is clear for all to see, and she regularly says to me that our children will be the future. Members will be aware of the recent intimidation that has unfortunately plagued the school, with banners erected by unknown people and cheerled by the usual voices on social media platforms. That is despite the school having gone through a rigorous public consultation in the Belfast City Council planning process. Two objections were received: neither was from the immediate area. It is, sadly, nothing new, and I have seen it before with projects in which Linda has been involved. I see it every year in East Belfast, and I have already been involved in debates in the Chamber about unhelpful antagonism from a small minority being reflected as a majority view. I saw it when Turas first started operating out of the Skainos Centre on the Newtownards Road. As someone who studied languages before becoming an MLA, I can say that no one owns a language. Languages are organic. They are for everyone, and those who try to control languages or limit access to them are the ones who miss out in the end. We have seen that across history. We are seeing it today, and we will see it in East Belfast. Integration and bilingualism offer hope for the future, and I commend Linda, her team and the parents who want the school in East Belfast. History will remember them and their positive impact on Northern Ireland. It will not remember angry people in the darkness, those shouting on social media or the criminal gangs that agreed with them.
417 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: 0.17 (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).
- The text criticises or condemns the framing or division (0.92).
- 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 | 0.44 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.07 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.25 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.15 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.19 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.37 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.17 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing | 0.07 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it (chosen) | 0.92 |
| Adopts it | 0.01 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Education structures, integration and community division | 0.48 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.34 |
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.18 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:27 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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