Government has no right to deny integrated education: Parsley

10.16.00pm GMT Sun 5th Mar 2006

The Alliance Party Conference has called for the party to go straight to the Prime Minister with the case for four integrated schools denied funding by the Minister for Education on Friday. The call was in response to a motion by Party Vice Chair, Castlereagh Councillor Michael Long.

Seconding the motion the Chair of the party's youth wing, North Down Councillor Ian James Parsley, stated: "We are often seen as a party which will not rock the boat -- well let me tell you, we'll be rocking the boat on this issue. We are often seen as a party of tolerance - but let me tell you, we will not tolerate the destruction of parents' rights to send their children to integrated schools. For that is what the Government is doing.

"Those parents are rightly asking, how dare the Government talk of a shared future when it cannot even manage a shared present? While we continue to invest in segregation, we will continue to endure economic stagnation, social backwardness and political instability.

"While hiking up our rates, forcing water charges upon us, and charging us for third-level education and personal care for the elderly, the Government goes on tolerating segregated health centres, segregated leisure facilities, even segregated bus stops all at our expense. But worst of all it spends our money on buildings before books, investing in segregated school buildings while telling us it cannot afford school crossing patrols, proper teacher salaries or even appropriate text books.

"But above all, this is a rights issue. Others squeal about 'rights for Protestants' and 'rights for Catholics' -- well what about rights for people, and rights for people determined to do the right thing and have their children brought up together? When it comes to a basic right to choose your child's place of education, Alliance is the only party prepared to stand up to the challenge. How dare other parties talk about 'human rights' when they refuse to challenge such an obvious breach of them?

"Outsiders who come to Northern Ireland simply cannot believe we carry on educating our children separately when that is so obviously the crux of our divisions. So we demand that the Government come forward with a long-term strategy to end the funding of segregated education here, and to put books before buildings, with money spent directly on pupils and teachers. As a first step, where parental consent is so clearly present for integrated schooling, the Government has no right to deny it to them."

After the motion was introduced, there were then calls from the floor for the party to take the issue direct to 10 Downing Street as part of the talks process.

ENDS