Schools are 'in the cold'

Education Minister Caitrona Ruane revealed the list of schools that will benefit from a 13m windfall last week, with the biggest projects being Strathearn Grammar in east Belfast and Bangor Grammar.

UUP MLA for Upper Bann, Sam Gardiner, said: “There are no surprises in the fact that the Sinn Fin Education Minister in announcing 14 windfall projects across Northern Ireland schools has not named a single school in Upper Bann. I hope the voters of Upper Bann take note when they go to the polls next year and realise that Sinn Fein is doing nothing for Upper Bann.”

He said the complaints about delays in building both Portadown and Lurgan Colleges were met with plausible excuses, but that he views this exclusion from the list as a case of bias.

He said: “What has Sinn Fin done for Upper Bann? Let them tell us one way in which Upper Bann has benefitted from their tenure of several government ministries. They ran a mile when I suggested several times doing something about the railway level crossing which closes Lurgan town centre to motorway traffic 90 times a day. Sinn Fin is just bad news for Upper Bann.”