DEAR MADAM - I noted some weeks ago in your newspaper that TUV had highlighted the mistrust of UUP in handling the education of our children.

In that report, the TUV allegedly highlighted a number of matters where elected UUP politicians had failed to support Lisnaskea High School parents in their fight against closure and had also ‘put the boot in to the Collegiate’s fight’ against it’s impending closure.

That mistrust seems to have appeared again last week in that the Ulster Unionist Party failed to give unequivocal support to the Collegiate’s fight to remain a single entity.

In a written response to the speaker, UUP party leader Mike Nesbitt showed the party’s lack of decision making in that it failed to give 100 per cent backing to the Collegiate school campaign by declaring the matter being of public importance.

Rather that recognising the fact that the Portora/Collegiate issue was a matter of public importance to everyone; Mr. Nesbitt stated that, “The Portora/ Collegiate issue is a significant issue to the people of County Fermanagh. Whether it is of public importance in a wider Northern Ireland context is a more open question”.

Mr. Nesbitt’s letter continued, “We suggest that the Speaker’s office should ask the Assembly’s Legal Service to give an opinion on what constitutes a ‘matter of public importance’ in law. We have no objection to the Executive re-examining the decision, subject to legal advice.” His response to the speaker was nothing short of being ambiguous and yet ‘still sitting on the fence’. The contents of the letter itself continues to show families and friends of Enniskillen Collegiate Grammar that UUP continues to be a party, that cannot be trusted in giving support to our schools and the education of our children.

http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/globalassets/documents/raise/deposited-papers/2015/dp1378.pdf Yours sincerely Supporting the Collegiate 100 per cent