First Minister Peter Robinson has vowed to stand up to the Catholic Church in
the escalating war of words over his call for a single integrated schooling
system.
In a strongly-worded counter-attack from the US, Mr Robinson accused the
Church of “hysteria” and said he would not be “cowed” by name-calling.
Supporters of integrated education last night voiced concern about the shared
schooling debate being sidetracked into political and sectarian “wrangling”.
In a major speech on Friday night, the First Minister described Northern
Ireland's education system as a “benign form of apartheid” and criticised
the state funding of church schools.
The remarks provoked a heated response from the Catholic sector. Mr Robinson
has now hit back strongly at claims he had been engaged in “rabble rousing”.
Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph in Washington, he said: “I don’t think that
anybody could, if they have their sanity, suggest if they look at my speech
on Friday and the references to having shared education, that that could
ever be considered as rabble rousing.
“Whoever made that comment really does need to see somebody with a white coat.
“That kind of hysteria from the Catholic Church indicates just how vulnerable
they think they are. I rather hope that we’ll get a more sane debate when
they sort of get hold of themselves again.”
The SDLP yesterday said its most senior politicians would be meeting Catholic
Bishop Donal McKeown over the First Minister's comments.
The party's deputy leader Patsy McGlone said: “There is a lot of anger in the
Catholic community about the tone and thrust of Peter Robinson’s speech,
which is being compared to the sort of thing we used to hear from ministers
in the old Stormont regime addressing Orange rallies on the 12th.”
In a statement, the Integrated Education Fund said it had been seeking an open
political debate for years on “divisions and duplication” in schooling.
It added: “It would be shame if the First Minister’s comments on Friday
referring to the ‘benign apartheid' of our schools became part of just
another political or sectarian wrangling, instead of the beginnings of a new
conversation about where we want our communities to be.”
Alliance MLA Chris Lyttle issued a plea to politicians and church leaders,
saying: “The current economic situation has focused minds on the financial
waste involved with our segregated system and has presented us with a major
opportunity to unlock significant savings and promote a more shared and
integrated model of education for our children and young people.
“I would therefore call on all political and church leaders to approach this
important issue with the consideration it deserves.”
The First Minster is in Washington for a major Northern Ireland investment
conference.
Critics of his education speech included Dr Seamus Quinn, the head of the
Catholic Principals Association in Northern Ireland.
He branded it as “little more than rabble rousing and a throwback to the bad
old days of religious intolerance”.
Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said Mr Robinson should avoid a
“collision course” with the Catholic Church which “will lead us into a total
and absolute mess”.
The First Minister responded: “No doubt we’ll have a chat. We’ve talked about
education, and integrated education many times over the years.
“And I think his view is that, if we had a blank piece of paper, this is not
what we would have started to do.”
Mr Robinson also stated: “My position is that I’m not afraid of the Roman
Catholic Church. And I’m not going to be cowed by them.
“They can wield a stick as much as they like, and they can call me as many
names as they like. It doesn’t change the validity of the argument.”
SIC: BT/UK