Speech by TUV member Kaye Kilpatrick on Education
 
Conference,
 
There can be no doubt that academic selection has served Northern Ireland well and examination results bear that out.
 
Not only do A’ level and GCSE results demonstrate that selection works but we also have the testimony of parents. A major MORI/MRC survey for BBC Northern Ireland in 2004 found that 67% of people wanted to see academic selection retained.
 
On this issue Sinn Fein/IRA is not just out of step with Unionists, they are out of step with the vast majority of Nationalists as well.
 
But I do not wish to focus on the issue of selection so ably covered by the previous speaker. Instead I want to move on to deal with the issue of Irish Medium schools.
 
It is undeniable that there is a direct link between the Irish language and Republicanism. Consider Patrick Pearse, the commander in chief of the Republican forces during the Easter Rising. Did you know that Pearse was not just a rebel leader but an educationalist? Yes! He started his own school where pupils were taught through the medium of Irish. Here is what he once had to say about the language:
"When the position of Ireland's language as her greatest heritage is once fixed, all other matters will insensibly adjust themselves. As it develops, and because it develops, it will carry all kindred movements with it. When Ireland's language is established, her own distinct culture is assured. “
 
Pearse the teacher saw the medium of Irish as a means to other “kindred movements” such as his Republicanism.
 
And don’t let anyone tell you that Republicans have changed today. They are well aware of Pearse’s views and continue to portray him as a hero to be emulated. Keith Harbinson recently highlighted some of the goodies on sale on the Sinn Fein website. Well alongside T-Shirts celebrating the murderous actions of the IRA you will find posters and books idolizing Patrick Pearse and the other leaders of the Easter Rising.
 
Consider also the words of Sinn Fein’s Danny Morrison who once observed that every word spoken in Irish is “an other bullet in the freedom struggle”.
 
What of the cost of Irish Medium education? The Review of Irish Medium Education published by DE last year revealed that over a five-year period (2002/3 – 2006/7) total government expenditure on Irish-medium Education was £49.7 million. Even a report commissioned by a Department headed by Ruanne could not hide the fact that additional expenditure was incurred because of the language in which the education was provided. The report conservatively put this cost at £8.7 million.
 
Additionally, in response to an Assembly question on 4th June 2010 the Minister of Education revealed that she would be spending a total of £13.1 million on an extension and refurbishment of one Irish-medium school and an additional £1.65 million on the construction of another.
 
Friends, the history of the abuse of Irish and specifically it’s use since the 19th century as a political tool to stress distinctiveness from the United Kingdom illustrates that it is much more than simply a language. It is high time that those who want to have their children educated in Irish Medium schools to pay for the privilege! Our party unashamedly opposes the public funding of these schools!
 
I urge you to support the motion.