Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
PARENTS KEEP THE SCHOOLS RUNNING
Mums & dads digging deep to plug funding gap 2 years after Stormont collapse
PARENTS are chipping in £60 every month to plug a funding gap in schools following the collapse of Stormont.
The “voluntary” extra is for basics such as stationery for their children, as principals fight a budget squeeze.
Head teachers’ union boss Geri Cameron said: “We are at crisis point. Parents have had a very strong voice in telling us that it is not
KAREN Bradley has come under fire for what critics have labelled a “disastrous” first year as Secretary of State.
Two years on from the collapse of the Assembly, the Tory MP – who has spent 54 days in Northern Ireland since she took up the job – has been described as “underwhelming” and “frustrating”.
She has also been blasted for her “tremendous lack of leadership”.
As well as failing to secure any significant political progress last year, the Staffordshire MP faced a hammering in
September after admitting that prior to taking up her current post, she hadn’t realised unionists did not vote for nationalist parties, and vice versa.
Ms Bradley was also accused of “dragging her feet” over cutting MLAS’ pay. In
September – 605 days after Stormont collapsed – she did finally order a wage reduction from
£49,500 to £35,888.
Also that month,
Civil Service boss David Sterling raised concerns over the MP’S pledge to hand more powers to civil servants, saying officials could “never be a substitute for democratically elected and accountable ministers”.
And in November, the Tory was criticised by MLAS after a meeting with Northern Ireland’s five main parties lasted around 45 minutes.
Ulster Unionist MLA Doug Beattie said: “These things have been incredibly frustrating.
“Not only for the obvious reasons but because they distract from the major problem here – the tremendous lack of leadership in getting devolution back on track.
“Her decision to give more power to the Civil Service completely undermined any intention to get MLAS back to work, and the blunders took attention away from the real issues.
“The reality is Karen Bradley seems to be entirely driven by Brexit – but she is still Secretary of State and we need to be her priority. Her first year in the job has been a disaster.”
South Belfast MLA Claire Hanna criticised Ms Bradley’s failure to get talks
started. She said: “During her tenure as Secretary of State, Karen Bradley has been underwhelming.
“Whilst few would envy her thankless job, it is nonetheless exactly that, her job.
“Her lack of action around reviving a talks process has been frustrating, as has her reluctance to take decisions. The SDLP have been on
record consistently calling for Karen Bradley to kick-start a talks process that is inclusive and transparent. This message has not changed.”
We Deserve Better campaigner Dylan Quinn, who completed a 90-mile walk from Enniskillen to Stormont earlier this week to mark two years since the impasse began, said Ms Bradley had shown a huge
lack of vision. He added: “Her first year has been disastrous,.
“When you look back to big figures like Mo Mowlam, you knew they had a vision for how things could change.
“They were confident in what they wanted and how to make changes.
“Karen Bradley has completely failed in that regard. She has shown no vision – in fact she even failed to
show a very basic knowledge of Northern Ireland.”
Alliance leader Naomi Long added: “We have put solutions on the table – our Next Steps Forward document – almost a year ago.
“We outlined constructive suggestions to re-establish devolution and get MLAS back to doing their full job.
“The onus is on the Secretary of
State to either act on those proposals or come forward with better ones. Continued drift is not acceptable.”
A UK Government spokesperson said: “The Secretary of State regularly meets local politicians in both Northern Ireland and Westminster as well as frequent engagement with the Irish Government.”