Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Kielty pride over joint education is no joke..
Comedian named integration patron
COMEDIAN Patrick Kielty has told of his pride as he’s today unveiled as a patron for mixed education.
The Co Down man joins boxing champ Carl Frampton as a high-profile supporter of the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education.
Around 93% of children here still attend either exclusively or predominantly Catholic or Protestant schools.
Earlier this year, Kielty presented a BBC documentary about the Good Friday Agreement and the killing of his dad by loyalists in Dundrum in 1988.
He said: “If we want to change the HEAVY-DUTY gates at a well-known interface could be replaced by a transparent barrier.
They are located at Townsend Street in West Belfast and divide the Shankill from the Lower Falls. But a Justice Department spokesman said future we need to start with our kids, letting them discover what they have in common.
“When I visited Shimna Integrated College earlier this year it was great to see young people with opposing political opinions freely expressing themselves as friends.
“We’re one society made up from different backgrounds, not two communities. Let’s celebrate it and move forward together.”
Frampton and broadcasters Conor Phillips and Holly Hamilton have also stepped forward to become patrons they are “at the end of their useful life”. Locals are being asked for their views on new barrier options, with one being see-through and the other a solid-style gate.
The transparent version is similar to the gate fitted at Workman of NICIE. There are currently 65 schools of mixed religions in Northern Ireland – 20 second-level colleges and 45 integrated primaries
– educating nearly 23,000 Avenue in 2015. The move is being seen as part of wider measures to improve cross-community relations in the area.
The gates at Townsend Street are open Monday to Friday 7am to 5.30pm and closed all weekend. pupils in total. NICIE chief Roisin Marshall said: “I am so excited to have Patrick join us. We are extremely grateful to him for supporting the cause.
“It is a great honour and endorses the work we do in aiming to create a better future for our children by ensuring as many Catholic, Protestant and other families as possible can avail of integrated education.
“All of those working in integrated education are passionate about educating children from different communities together in one school and work hard to ensure we do all they can to meet parental demand for integrated education.”