When Government and Politics teacher Jane McGeoghan enters her Fermanagh Learning Community class, she feels “a great sense of energy and progress” emanating from her pupils.

The Impartial Reporter attended a class and listened while the Year 14 students from Mount Lourdes Grammar School and Enniskillen Royal Grammar School (ERGS) discussed the current impasse at Stormont and outlined their hopes for Northern Ireland.

Explaining why he chose to study Government and Politics for A Level, Enniskillen Royal pupil Michael McBreen said: “This is a really relevant subject, particularly in Northern Ireland where there’s so much to consider in terms of politics and current affairs. Older people are generally aware of politics but it’s important for young people to learn more about it so they can make decisions when they reach the age to vote.”

Mount Lourdes pupil Niamh O’Connor believes “the current impasse at Stormont could be easily resolved if people were more willing to compromise.” She said: “Much more difficult problems have been overcome. Things that would have been considered trivial compared to the problems of the past have now become a sticking point. People could be more willing to listen to their counter-part instead of dismissing them straight away.”

Niamh believes that Power Sharing is a much better option that Direct Rule and is opposed to “some cabinet member in England who has little or no knowledge of Northern Ireland dictating what happens here.”
Enniskillen Royal pupil Cormac Boylan suggested that “Northern Ireland politicians could learn from the Republic of Ireland where TDs don’t follow party lines as much.” He said: “You get TDs challenging more issues rather than just sticking to party lines. They are judged more on constituency issues, not how well you are up in the party.”
Cormac added: “With multi-member constituencies, voters in the Republic can use their third or fourth preferences on an independent TD for example. When party members are fighting among themselves [for seats], it creates more competition.”

Aaron Elliott, from Enniskillen Royal, stated: “We need a budget and that is a priority. If that means Direct Rule, then so be it.”
The class then considered whether the Executive should consider an alternative to mandatory coalition and whether the implementation of a voluntary coalition would lead to nationalist concerns that there would be a return to ‘old-style’ unionist majority-rule.
“We should try something different because mandatory coalition isn’t working anymore – we’ve had no government for over a year,” said Aaron.

Niamh pointed out: “In the last election the amount of nationalist seats increased, therefore, if it was a voluntary coalition it could be different to the past given the make-up of the population.”
Enniskillen Royal pupil Ronan Byrne believes a shake-up at Stormont “would give the smaller parties more of a say – a more organised opposition is needed.”

The class agreed that a formal opposition – first seen in May 2016 when the UUP and SDLP entered opposition – should be retained.
“An opposition is needed, otherwise, too many cooks spoil the broth,” said Niamh, adding: “Without an opposition, there’s not as much scrutiny during question time, committees and debates. You can’t have the government scrutinising itself.”

Enniskillen Royal pupil Sarah Foster commented: “It’s important to prioritise issues. The reality is the DUP and Sinn Féin have the largest mandates because the voters want them to action these issues. Obviously, a Power Sharing government would be preferable but Direct Rule will have to happen if there’s no compromise.”
Considering how Northern Ireland is viewed by Britain, Cormac said: “We are a burden, a drain on their funds. They wouldn’t give us the money until their hand was forced, it shows you what they could have been giving to us.”

Aaron added: “Northern Ireland already gets more per head that any other region of the UK.”

Moving to Brexit, Niamh contended: “If there was a second referendum there would be a completely different result - people didn’t understand the implications of the referendum.”
Niamh, whose garden sits directly on the Border, believes “economically [Brexit] doesn’t make sense”.
She highlighted how the Brexit debate has allowed Sinn Féin  to begin talking about a unity referendum but advised against a unity referendum in the short-term. “Let people see how bad Brexit will be and then hold a unity referendum,” said Niamh.

On the Democratic Unionist Party’s call for a bridge over the Irish Sea joining Scotland and Northern Ireland, the class sounded a positive response.

Sarah said: “The amount of ferries which go over each day, you might as well have a road to connect to the rest of the UK.”
However, they believe that infrastructure in Northern Ireland should be prioritised, with Michael saying: “All the parties have their priorities, e.g. gay rights. They are very important issues for each party, but it would be political suicide for any of them to step off their red lines – that’s what they have been voted in to do. If one concedes, it’s a great victory for the other. Meanwhile, there’s all these actual issues such as roads that need to be sorted.”

On dealing with legacy issues, the group called for a recognition of the past, whilst moving forward on solving important day-to-day problems such as the education budget, the strain on hospitals and poor roads.
Mount Lourdes pupil Karen Adamolekun commented: “It’s good to remember and acknowledge what happened in the past but infrastructure, education and health are more pressing matters now. Hospitals need beds. The past is important, but to bring it up every time an issue arises, is why the government hasn’t been set up.”
Ronan added: “The past is not something we need to go back to Direct Rule over.” He suggested the establishment of an independent body which is kept separate from politics and runs concurrently with everyday politics.

Aaron believes “we missed the opportunity to deal with the past properly – it should have been dealt with at the same time as the Good Friday Agreement.”

Mount Lourdes pupil Sarah Cousins said: “The parties forget that a lot of people in Northern Ireland would be happy to move on with the real issues. There’s a school in Belfast which has had to go half-day on a Wednesday and that’s unacceptable – politicians shouldn’t be getting away with that. Northern Ireland has legacy issues but we still need these economic issues sorted.”

Asked what they have learned from studying alongside each other, Mount Lourdes pupil Aoibhean Colreavy said: “Even with our past, it’s good that the majority of people want to move on and we can sit down and learn politics with people who hold opposite views to us. There’s more that unites us than divides us.”

Sarah Foster commented: “I think there’s one community and Northern Ireland has moved on so much and it should keep going. The Fermanagh Learning Community has been really good. I’ve got to hear other sides of an argument and, while I will stay to my own view, I can understand and appreciate other views.”

Orfhlaith McAnespy, from Mount Lourdes, reflected: “If you’re always around people with the same view you are going to have that view. Being in this class I can understand why people hold certain views and they can counteract your view on a certain subject. On occasion my view on a matter has changed after talking it through with others in this class.”
Michael concluded: “ It’s only really in politics and the past the concept of ‘the other side’ comes out. It used to be ‘them and us’ but we’ve overcome that and now [we are] one community.”

The class recently met Taoiseach Leo Varadkar during a visit to the Houses of the Oireachtas. Reflecting on the experience, Ms. McGeoghan said her class “sent a strong signal that cross community relations are very much alive in this part of the world.”
The “proud” teacher concluded: “I believe my class speak a lot of sense in a very knowledgeable, positive and uplifting way that will be of benefit for the future of Northern Ireland.”