Irish speaking schools are unnecessary and a waste of public money

1. Why did the DUP not challenge the Education Order on the grounds of de facto discrimination against Protestant teachers?

2. In the mid 1980s a Sinn Fein leaflet described the situation regarding the Irish Language: “Sinn Fein proclaimed loudly

that the language question was political…We also have to accept that having the language back will bring an end to the foreign rule in Ireland”

3. Why has the DUP left the education of children in the hands of a Sinn Fein minister?

4. Could it be there is an election coming up and this is “good” political propaganda?

5. This has to be put in the context of Gregory raising this issue some time ago and the result. Nothing happened.

The real question which has never been addressed by any of the unionist parties or the ambivalent Alliance is why are there these

Irish speaking schools: they are unnecessary and a waste of public money. How can they be justified?

Why do I claim that same are unnecessary? Simply the facts back me up:

In 2011/12 the number of pupils who entered for a GCSE in Irish was 1537of which more than 90% attended the Catholic

Maintained sector. In 2013/14 the number of pupils who entered for a GCSE in Irish was 1703 of which more than 90% attended the Catholic Maintained sector.

These facts expose the hypocrisy of Sinn Fein in wasting money on such schools when the education, welfare and

health departments are under financial pressure.

Lyle Cubitt, Ballymena