It has been revealed there were “ten accidents” reported involving the football pitch at Lisneal College, as officials at the Department of Education were quizzed again over the matter at Stormont.
The Londonderry school has been at the centre of a political row after the Education Authority (EA) green-lit funds of £710,000 for an upgrade following a meeting between the DUP’s Education Minister Paul Givan, the party’s Economy Minister Gordon Lyons and the college’s principal last year.
Officials were invited before Stormont’s Education Committee on Wednesday to brief on capital funding, with vice-chair Pat Sheehan asking how funding is prioritised in education.
Paul Givan during a visit to Bunscoil Phobal Feirste in west Belfast
During the discussion, department official Seamus Gallagher was pressed by Sinn Fein’s Mr Sheehan about other schools having “rain coming in through windows”.
Mr Sheehan said “a raw nerve” had been struck in many school communities over the funding decision.
Responding, Mr Gallagher said: “The Lisneal project was one EA project, within their designated funding limit and identified as a priority-one criteria. I have no doubt a window leaking would also be a priority-one criteria.
“If a school has a leaking roof, someone is sent out to fix it immediately, or as soon as practically possible. It is not something that we let slide.
“As far as I understand on the Lisneal project, there were ten accidents reported. There was also a report which said it was unsafe.”
Mr Sheehan then pressed Mr Gallagher on why the pitch continued to be played on if it had been deemed “unsafe”.
“I have no objections to a school getting a new pitch,” he added, “but I have one school in my own constituency with 1,500 pupils and they don’t have one pitch. There are school communities where a raw nerve has been hit over this.”
Paul Givan talking to pupils at Bunscoil Phobal Feirste on Wednesday
Mr Gallagher said it is his understanding that the EA was “continually making contingency actions on the pitch to make it safe”; however, they “only lasted for a short period of time”.
He said the pitch was inspected before every use, “but there were still ten accidents”.
Mr Sheehan added: “We were told the pitch in question had not been played on, but it was.
“We were told someone suffered a serious leg break on the pitch, but ‘footballer breaks leg on football pitch’ is not in the realms of ‘Freddie Starr ate my hamster’.
“Meanwhile, there are schools with rain coming through the roof. How to those two things equate?
“People are asking whether the processes that are in place to identify, prioritise and fund minor works programmes in particular are robust and fair.”
Mr Gallagher said he believed there are “robust procedures in place, but part of the problem is the length of time from beginning to end”.
“The last actual call for minor works was way back in 2017 and, unfortunately, we haven’t had the budget to deal with all projects other than those classed as priority-one projects,” he said.
“In the interim, we have only been taking forward projects which were health-and-safety statutory, and we also have to have a mechanism for identifying projects which are ‘inescapable’.
“That is either done through the school making an application or through an issue which was identified by statutory inspection, through EA visiting a school as the result of a call to their maintenance helpdesk.
“All of those projects are a priority. Some of them will be bigger-scale projects and take longer to deliver than others.”
Paul Givan was greeted by Bunscoil Phobal Feirste principal, Séamus Ó Tuama, pupils from the school council and Sinn Fein MLA Órlaithí Flynn after the bell rang on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Education Minister was pictured on Wednesday enjoying a walkabout while visiting NI’s first Irish-medium school, where he was serenaded by the choir before being taken on a tour of the west Belfast facility.
The minister was greeted by Bunscoil Phobal Feirste principal Séamus Ó Tuama, pupils from the school council and Sinn Fein MLA Órlaithí Flynn shortly after the school bell rang.
“The minister viewed a wonderful performance by the school choir, toured the school and discussed a number of issues including sports facilities, enrolments and increasing number of pupils presenting with special educational needs,” his department posted on X.
Photographs showed Mr Givan engaging with pupils around the classroom table and next to a digitised whiteboard which displayed vibrant rainbows and green shamrocks.
It follows confirmation that one school has signed up to take part in a pilot project aimed at limiting the use of mobile phones in class, which is due to launch in September, with another eight to subscribe in the next academic year. Around 8,000 pupils will be involved.