Kingsmills Primary School closure plans: UUP and DUP representatives say loss of school would seriously impact on minority Protestant community

The Education Authority plans to close Kingsmills Primary School in August due to falling numbers of pupils and a rising financial deficit.

The school is located in a rural location between Whitecross and Bessbrook and currently serves around 40 pupils.

But local UUP councillor David Taylor, who is a governor in the school, said the closure would remove a critical resource at the heart of the “minority Protestant community”.

He added: "Kingsmills Primary School has been in the local community for over 150 years.

"And it's not just the fact that it's a school, it plays such an important role in other provisions for the community.

"It hosts local functions and local community groups would use it as well for different activities. Obviously it has a close relationship with the local Presbyterian church as well.

"So it is not just the fact that children are educated there, which is the most important part, but it also plays a very important role as a community hub."

He noted the school won a prize in a UK-wide maths competition in the past year, underlining the quality of the education it provides.

Asked if there was a risk that closure would impact on the decisions of young Protestant families to remain in the area, he said: "The presence of a local primary school is an important part of any decision making for young families.

"They will want their child to be educated in a school that's close to them and a school that is renowned for providing high quality education. And that is why families have been sending there children there for generations."

Newry and Armagh DUP MLA William Irwin said the school has played an important role in sustaining the local Protestant community during the Troubles and losing it would "seriously impact" the social fabric.

"The Protestant community in the area has suffered a lot especially during the darkest days of the troubles and the local school and other local resources have played such an important role in sustaining the community through very hard times over the decades," he said. "The rural needs of the community in the general area must be met through accessible, local education and EA officials must recognise this and act accordingly.

“Kingsmills Primary School is an absolutely critical educational resource in the locality and I made my views clear on that point at a meeting with EA officials and the then Minister of Education at the school last October.

"To consider losing this vital rural service would in my view seriously impact and alter the social fabric of the area most negatively. Local children in the area have benefitted beyond measure from the highly proficient teaching delivered by the dedicated staff at Kingsmills Primary School for decades and that service must continue for many years to come.”

The Education Authority and Department of Education have been invited to comment today.