The Education Minister has come under fire in the Assembly over a decision to proceed with the £710,000 construction of a new football pitch at Lisneal College in Londonderry.
Paul Givan told MLAs that those who are now questioning the decision — in which he denied any role — are doing so for “political reasons”.
Mr Givan said they should now apologise to the school for dragging it into “a very unseemly, very nasty, petty political squabble”.
He called it “shameful and disgraceful”, adding that it was “blatantly obvious what this is about. Please retract and apologise to Lisneal College for your disgraceful behaviour, using the school as a rod to have a go.”
“I had no role in funding this particular scheme,” the minister added. “The decision does not sit with me.
“Contrary to what has been reported, the project was funded within the normal EA [Education Authority] minor works. The EA has delegated authority for works up to £1m. EA followed [its] own procedures in selecting the project. This issue pre-dates my time in office.”
Last week, the Belfast Telegraph revealed that a grant of £710,000 was awarded to Lisneal College for a football pitch without a formal application being made.
Over the weekend, the Education Authority said the decision was not “influenced by any recent discussions” and was not a response to a funding application.
The school, the DUP and all relevant departments were contacted for comment by the Belfast Telegraph.
No response was received from neither Lisneal College nor the DUP.
The artificial grass sports surface at Lisneal College (Photo: Martin McKeown)
Alliance MLA Michelle Guy said the funding for a new football pitch at Lisneal College “legitimately raised concerns”.
“The fact of the matter is we have an education minister whose credibility is under scrutiny once again,” she told the Assembly.
“We will press for answers and full transparency on this issue, whether the minister exerted any influence in terms of the prioritisation of that project over others.
“Schools are all crying out for investment,” she added.
“This is not about individual schools; every school deserves to have great facilities. It is right that the question should be asked and answered.”
In response, Mr Givan said: “I have noted the member’s contribution on social media on this and she may wish to reflect on that.
“Members in other parties have a greater say in EA funding than me, as they have representatives on the EA board. Let’s not repeat a false narrative. Facts are facts.
“Opinion and conjecture on this has been completely wrong. Members should apologise not to me, but to Lisneal College and the principal at the school.”
He added that £7.6m has been spent on non-controlled schools in Foyle.
“That doesn’t suit the narrative,” he said.
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DUP MLA Phillip Brett accused those who had come out to criticise the funding of “naked sectarianism”.
The minister responded, adding: “I understand that frustration and the sentiment.
“When this story was out on Friday, it was despite the information provided by the EA. A statement was released by the EA to provide the facts, yet members, either unsettlingly or, as I feel, deliberately, are trying to use this for their own political agenda.
“I am happy to be held to account on my department’s policy. I will not stand by and have my integrity and the integrity of others in this issue denigrated wrongly in pursuit of that political agenda.
“You can’t make allegations over decisions which were not taken by me.”
Alliance deputy leader Eoin Tennyson accused the minister of a “typically arrogant and evasive” performance before the House, while SDLP opposition leader Matthew O’Toole told Mr Givan: “Your theatrics in waging your culture war today would get you on the stage of any school drama project, but I refer you to your department’s own website where it says, in black and white, a minor work costs less than £500,000, a major work scheme in excess £500,000.”
Mr O’Toole asked the minister if he wished to amend his statement and asked if the department website was wrong “or do you need to correct the record?”.
The minister responded: “The journalist who asked the original question knew the department website was wrong. That was updated. The information was provided before the article was published.
“Whilst we have provided factual and accurate information, people have deliberately manipulated that. Why? They have the accuracy associated with it. I will leave others to judge why some are so opposed to Lisneal College receiving this funding. I see it for exactly what it is.”
The references to the £500,000 on the Department of Education’s website were only removed yesterday, while the Education Authority continues to define minor works as under £500,000 and major works as above that figure.
On Friday, the EA said that, in any year, many minor capital projects are taken forward across the education estate to address issues for the benefit of children and young people.
“In this context, on an annual basis, the Department of Education issues the Education Authority with an annual other/minor capital allocation,” it explained.
“In 2024/25, EA received a budget of £29m to progress the delivery of many hundreds of such projects. In terms of scale, projects range in value from tens of thousands of pounds to many hundreds of thousands of pounds. The value of the work at Lisneal College is typical of a project of this nature.”
It added that a health and safety inspection at Lisneal College in December 2019 identified that the football pitch needed replaced and was deemed a priority project due to risk of serious injury. The pitch has been out of operation since that time.
The EA continued: “A feasibility report was then conducted in May 2022 and a business case submitted in June 2022. Planning permission approval was received in November 2023 and a construction tender was awarded in December 2024. This is the normal timeline for such projects.”