Northern Ireland schools urge Education Minister Peter Weir to close schools early for Christmas West Belfast Area Learning Community (ALC) outlined their plea in a letter Education Minister Peter Weir (Image: Liam McBurney/PA Wire) Want the biggest politics stories sent to you every week? Simply sign up here and we'll do the restInvalid EmailSomething went wrong, please try again later. Subscribe When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Your information will be used in accordance with ourPrivacy Notice. Thank you for subscribingWe have more newslettersShow meSee ourprivacy notice More than 50 schools in Belfast have written to the Education Minister asking him to rethink his stance on early Christmas closures.