SDLP's Pat Catney appears to resume practice of implying that schoolboys need tampons too

The press release said “free period products must be available to everyone who needs them”, as opposed to using words like girl, female, or woman.

This type of phrasing is common to transgender campaigners, who believe males also have periods.

It harks back to a controversy some 18 months old, when Pat Catney, then SDLP MLA for Lagan Valley, and now a council candidate in Lisburn North, drew up a bill providing for free tampons in schools.

Called the Period Products (Free Provision) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022, it was first proposed in October 2021, and became law last May.

The News Letter noticed at the time that the 2,000-word text of the bill did not include any of the following terms: woman, women, girl, girls, female, or feminine.

Asked why, Mr Catney told the News Letter: “When I listened the experiences of the people who couldn’t afford period products, men and women, it was clear to me that provision should be universal for all who needed it and it was my decision for the bill to reflect this.”

A few months later, the SDLP performed a quiet U-turn on the wording of its bill, rejigging it to include the word “women” after all.

The party’s press release today, also in the name of Mr Catney, was a reaction to a 40% cut in funding for the free tampon programme.

He said: "This decision by the Department of Education shows the importance of the free period products legislation introduced by the SDLP during the last Assembly mandate.

"While the Department of Education currently has the power to cut this vital funding to schools, when the provisions contained within my legislation are introduced it will ensure that these products are available for free in all schools for anyone who needs them.

“While I understand the pressure facing our public finances, I am despairing at the almost daily announcement of cuts facing vulnerable people in our society, many of them children.

"While working on my legislation I met with groups and those impacted by period poverty and heard firsthand from them how it affected their lives, forcing them to miss school, work and many other important events in their lives, creating shame and robbing people of their dignity.

“Schools have already been clear about the negative impact this decision by the department will have on those who need these products, forcing a further expense on families at what is already an extremely trying time.

"Nobody should have to pay for these products, they are vital healthcare and I look forward to the provisions of my bill being introduced across Northern Ireland so that nobody will have to go without them again.”

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