Dear Madam, - Your nameless contributor last week purporting to be ‘A supporter of all schools in Fermanagh’ makes an array of inaccurate statements in relation to the campaign to save the Collegiate.

It was the DUP, and Mrs Foster, who brought this case to the Speaker of the Assembly. That was the only mechanism by which this issue could be brought before the NI Executive. At that stage the DUP, along with fellow unionists in TUV and UKIP, joined together in advising the Speaker of the clear and undeniable public interest in this issue. Sadly your contributor seeks to brush over this fundamental point in a feeble attempt to divert attention from the fact that the UUP did absolutely nothing to assist in this. Instead, the UUP gave the Speaker a ‘get out of jail card’.

The salient point in all this debate is not about DUP actions; it is the latest bout of UUP inaction. Indeed, the attitude of UUP Leader Mike Nesbitt MLA is entirely consistent with the attitude of Tom Elliott. Looking back on the debate in the NI Assembly late last year on the closure of these schools, Mr Elliott did not at any stage in his comments state that he was against this merger. Rather, he was speaking while perched on that fence again trying to be all things to all people. Indeed, some UUP Councillors, such as Councillor Baird, have been chief cheerleaders of John O’Dowd’s and Sinn Fein’s plan to close our schools.

With reference to Lisnaskea High School, the author of your letter seems to ignore some fundamental differences between its case and that of the Collegiate, namely that the Board of Governors of Lisnaskea High School voted to amalgamate with Devenish College, but the Collegiate board have not. Furthermore, it is worth noting that the Collegiate is oversubscribed yet still being closed, unlike Lisnaskea High School which had sadly fallen below enrolment requirements. Incidentally, can the author of your letter point to any campaign by the UUP to save Lisnaskea High School? No – because they did nothing.

Those campaigning to save the Collegiate and Portora know all too well that Arlene Foster and the DUP - its Leader, MPs, MEP, MLAs and Councillors – are united in support of saving our schools. No amount of spin and mudslinging by others clearly desperate to save face will fool the Fermanagh public.

Yours faithfully, Councillor David Mahon DUP Councillor for Erne North