Thursday, June 25, 2009
Sshh.. don’t tell anyone..
Announcing the signing of a contract to build four new schools previously, the fact that it is being financed through a Public Private Partnership was relegated to the ‘Notes to Editors’ in the official statement by the Northern Ireland Edcuation Minister, Sinn Féin’s Caitríona Ruane. Yesterday the NI Education Minister “cut the first sod” on “the site of the new £3.5million accommodation” of one of those schools, St Mary’s Primary School, Portglenone. This time there’s not even a ‘note to editors’ to acknowledge that fact, just a reference to “the facilities management and maintenance services for the next 25 years”. Perhaps those European colleagues wouldn’t understand? Or, maybe, it just doesn’t play well with the target electorate elsewhere..
Pete Baker @ 05:26 PM
Pete,
At a ‘national’ level the only other GUE/NGL party I know of in power is the Cypriot AKEL (others may hold sway at regional level). I’d love to know if any other partes in GUE/NGL, sell themselves to business as often, if at all, as SF. They really don’t seem suited to the group no matter how ‘broad’ it claims itself by their actions.
Posted by on Jun 25, 2009 @ 07:22 PMHope it does better than Balmoral High School.
Posted by on Jun 25, 2009 @ 07:59 PMNOTES TO EDITORS:
Balmoral High school is a controlled post-primary school, on the outskirts of West Belfast.
The school opened in 1996 following an amalgamation of Larkfield High School and Deramore High School and a new building was provided in 2002 as part of a private finance initiative (PFI) scheme, designed, built and financed by a private consortium. The BELB and the Department will liaise on the options for alternative uses for the facility.
Media queries, contact the Department of Education Press Office on 028 9127 9701.
Competition time! send in your ideas for alternative uses folks! They will be useful in the near future for the Trumpton assembly.
Posted by on Jun 25, 2009 @ 08:04 PMPFI for hospitals and schools is UK government policy, you do want to be part of the UK Pete don’t you?
Posted by on Jun 25, 2009 @ 08:11 PMMark
No doubt it’s an arrangement that works for those concerned. Financially I’d imagine.
It’s also why what a party does in power is more important than what they say without power.
fin
I’m not arguing for or against PFIs here.
But at least you acknowledge that Sinn Féin are implemented UK government policy.
Posted by on Jun 25, 2009 @ 08:19 PMThe Larkfield lads used to wait in groups to ambush lone fenian stragglers along the Blacks Road - pity this attempt at giving these kids an education failed as miserably as there original school did.
Posted by on Jun 25, 2009 @ 09:20 PMas did my original school it seems - “their” not “there”!
Posted by on Jun 25, 2009 @ 09:23 PMcircles
The demographics were obvious before the new school was bulit. Local short-sighted politics held sway over economics, and, as usual, no-one was/is accountable for the ( next 25 years) drain on the public purse.
PFI’s have worked elsewhere in the UK (possibly including Wellington College here) but parochial considerations often overtake economic ones, and nobody is willing to take the blame.
This is what Stormont has and will excel at.Posted by on Jun 25, 2009 @ 10:20 PMTress and Forests then..?
Hmm and consultant feesPosted by on Jun 25, 2009 @ 11:59 PMPete, possibly you mistake me for someone else, I’ve never been in denial over SF in government, the victory for me is that they are in the big house, and that the ties with the UK are been stretched more and more. PFI is a disaster about to happen, the difficulties ahead for the taxpayer been force to pay out silly amounts of money to PFI companies may prove insurmountable without radical cuts.
The shallow arguement for remaining in the UK is ‘social and economical’ reasons, well the social reasons have been exposed in recent events, and these deals will expose the economical bits in the near future.
Posted by on Jun 26, 2009 @ 05:35 AMBalmoral High is currently being used by St. Colman’s primary school, while their new school is being built at Lambeg. The facilities on the Black’s Road are excellent. Does anyone know what the pupil figures were in Balmoral High’s final year? I heard the ridiculously low figure of approx. 40 pupils, but I find it hard to believe this…
Posted by on Jun 26, 2009 @ 09:39 AMSeimi
It was approx 40 pupils..
The Balmoral High debacle will happen again. No-one will admit responsibility for this liability. The Dept of Education simply reshuffle the culprits.Posted by on Jun 26, 2009 @ 10:36 AM
