INTEGRATED EDUCATION AND LIR INTEGRATED PRIMARY SCHOOL IN BALLYCASTLE

That this House notes that the Northern Ireland Department of Education has a duty to encourage and facilitate integrated education; recognises that the need for mixed housing and integrated education is specifically mentioned in the Belfast Agreement and that the Northern Ireland Office's Shared Future Policy and Strategic Framework for Good Relations contains commitments to `support the development of a more shared community where people wish to learn, live, work and play together', where `separate but equal is not an option' and where `parallel living and the provision of parallel services are unsustainable, morally and economically'; believes that the Government's refusal of funding for the Lir Integrated Primary School in Ballycastle undermines such commitments and relegates integrated education to second class status; agrees with Lir Principal Sharon Lyons that this presents a major equality issue as non-integrated schools already exist locally alongside an Irish language primary; commends the Integrated Education movement for continuing to support the school; and urges Ministers urgently to re-think this decision to allow genuine parental choice.