The following platform piece by TUV leader Jim Allister appeared in today’s News Letter.
While attention has focused on the threat posed to St Mary’s University College by the withdrawal of the specialist institution premium it is important to highlight that the same situation applies to Stranmillis. In fact, the situation when it comes to Stran is much more serious as it is but the latest stage in a campaign against the existence of the College.
TUV has long highlighted the Alliance’s Minister’s plan to undermine Stranmillis. Back in 2011 we warned that the Minister “hopes that financially it will bleed to death.”
It is also sadly the case that there is a telling lack of voices from within the board of governors of the College speaking out in defense of its future. For a number of years now I have been aware of concerns within Stranmillis that the case for their survival was not being articulated clearly.
This is in stark contrast to the situation with St Mary’s where a robust and determined campaign has been mounted against the Minister’s plans.
Sadly Unionist representatives have been largely absent from any effort to save Stranmillis while Nationalists and Republicans have, quite literally, taken to the streets over St Mary’s.
I know from meetings I have had with staff and past and present students of Stranmillis that the college not only has an excellent academic reputation but a unique culture and identity which sets it apart from other places of higher education in Northern Ireland. That is valued greatly and student satisfaction is incredibly high. The loss of the college would be a huge blow to Northern Ireland.
It seems that the Executive is pursuing a destructive agenda when it comes to education and particularly in relation to the controlled sector. The scandalous decision of the Education Minister to close the Collegiate in Enniskillen – a school which is oversubscribed and has produced, and continues to produce, wonderful results – which was rubber stamped by the new Sinn Fein Speaker in his first day in office made this clear. Many in Fermanagh view that decision as blatantly sectarian.
Now it seems that Stranmillis could become a sacrificial lamb to the Alliance Party’s policy of social engineering. It’s imperative that that isn’t permitted to happen. I fear that unless a stand is taken Northern Ireland won’t fully appreciate what is lost until after it is gone.