Minister confronted

Sinn Féin education spokesperson Michael Ferguson confronts British Direct Rule Minister on Saturday 17 September at the Holiday Inn, Belfast where she addressed a NILGA conference

Sinn Féin Education and Library Board representatives supported a parents' protest at The Mall, Armagh on Thursday 15 September when British Minister Angela Smith attended the SELB for lunch.

Protesting parents from Mullaghbawn and other areas demanded their children's right to a school bus service.

Sinn Féin Education spokesperson Michael Ferguson said that Sinn Féin members left the Education Boards in April to highlight the financial crisis facing schools. "We only went back on the Boards to challenge the cuts at every opportunity. Sinn Féin will not be policing inadequate budgets or signing off on further cuts to services."

Ferguson said that school transport is one of the foundation stones of an education system, particularly for those who can least afford it or who come from rural, isolated or marginalised communities. "It is crucial that we defend this service and essential that the government gets real with a real budget to support education and Learning."