The principal of Lisneal College in Derry has told of having a “tough and lonely week” as his school drew attention over the allocation of £710k for a state-of-the-art pitch without the need for an application.
Michael Allen also said it has been “very isolating”.
During an interview on BBC’s Nolan Show, he was asked about his interactions with Education Minister Paul Givan and other officials over the funding.
It comes amid a row over the school being awarded £710k for a Northern Ireland Football League standard pitch without making an official application, with the Northern Ireland Audit Office and the department previously acknowledging that even “unavoidable works” are subject to a call and applications.
He added: “I’m exhausted, I haven’t slept roughly in a week and it’s been a very difficult time.”
Asked why he hasn’t slept, Mr Allen said: “Suggestions that the meeting that I had with the minister, which I might talk about later, was somehow secretive. There’s been commentary on social media that brown envelopes changed hands.
“It’s tarnished the reputation, I feel, of our school that I’ve given 10 years of my life to try to transform.”
Mr Allen also spoke of being “scared” of anything he says being “misinterpreted”.
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When the BBC put to him that there is a “suggestion at the heart of this that your school has been given special treatment by a unionist minister because it’s a unionist school”, he replied: “That seems to be the inference coming across, again, particularly on social media. It’s nasty.
“We are a school which serves a predominantly unionist – if you want to call it that – community, in a nationalist dominated – for want of a better word – city.
“People have drawn the conclusion that because of who we are and the community we support that somehow or other I would have huge amounts of influence over DUP politicians or ministers. And it’s wrong and it’s unfair.”
Mr Allen suggested he’s been a “pain in the backside” for unionist politicians, citing the pandemic, saying he “didn’t make Peter Weir’s life easy around assessment”.
He said he met Mr Givan “once in my life”, which was at the June 6, 2024, meeting in Parliament Buildings, attended by Minister Gordon Lyons and Foyle MLA Gary Middleton, where minutes obtained by this newspaper show they spoke about “the pitch is 17 years old and the floodlights (previously installed by EA) are broken”.
He added that he didn’t think the meeting went well.
Mr Allen spoke of the other pitches at the school, with the EA previously telling the Belfast Telegraph there are three grass pitches, two used for football/cricket and one for rugby.
There is one 3G astroturf pitch (currently being upgraded) used for breaktime, sports and by the local football academy.
The principal highlighted the number of Catholic pupils at the school during his time has “increased significantly” to about 10%, he said.
In terms of the pitch, Mr Allen added it was in “bad shape” and there were concerns about “tears”, “the absence of those (rubber) pellets” and “hardness”.
The EA initially claimed that, after a health and safety inspection, the pitch was out of operation since 2019.
Then it U-turned, admitting that pupils and the sports academy that shares the pitch had used it continually in the past six years.
Mr Allen admitted the EA “got that wrong” and also said tears were repaired.
On a pitch being prioritised, he said he didn’t want it to “deteriorate further”, adding that it’s “probably used more in a community setting than school setting”.
There were communications with EA since 2018 and ongoing concerns were expressed about “the state it was in in 2019”, he told the BBC.
Funding was subsequently awarded in October 2024 despite the department saying Mr Givan had written to the school to say the project was “on hold” in August of that year.
The principal said he “doesn’t apologise” for having a “huge vision” for what the facilities can become.
Mr Allen said: “There are legitimate queries around ‘why this pitch?’ When you hear stories about school kids being brought in from the edge of classrooms because of rain and the roof, I nearly feel guilty because of that.
“It’s not my fault, but I’m almost made to feel guilty for wanting the best for my pupils.”
Mr Allen made reference to other schools getting a pitch, but did not provide context during the interview as to whether they had applied, how long they waited, or what funding they received.
He said he sought a meeting with the minister in June to “see if anything can be done here”, adding that they have ambitions for a dome and to change one of the grass pitches, “but it was not to ask for funding on that”.