Newton Emerson: North needs new policy on integrated education Only 65 of North’s 1,000 schools are integrated, covering just 7% of all pupils Thu, Apr 1, 2021, 01:00
The first Catholic school to be approved for integrated status in Northern Ireland, Seaview Primary in Glenarm, Co Antrim, has been congratulated by actor Liam Neeson, a long-time supporter of the Integrated Education Fund. The approval is more than symbolic. A Catholic school that becomes integrated will retain much of its autonomy compared to schools directly controlled by the state’s Education Authority. As with the ancient joke about Catholic or Protestant atheists, there will be such a thing as a Catholic integrated school. This should be a positive development, addressing the concerns of some republicans that integration is a unionist plot or a “unionist-lite” ethos by default.