Dear Madam, - I was Principal of the Collegiate in the early 1990s when last the WELB published a development proposal to merge Portora and the Collegiate.

I am no longer directly involved and have other personal pressures constraining the time I can give to the issues but it has been suggested to me that it might be of some interest, in light of my previous experience, if I were to set out my observations.

In reflecting on the current proposal and the total and sustained opposition to it from the Collegiate and its friends, opposition just as strong as the last time, I have been struck by the following.

“A substantial number of comments received by the Department of Education during the consultation period were resolutely opposed to the proposal. This level of opposition did not augur well for the success of a new coeducational school.” I agree with this conclusion but in fact none of the words in that paragraph are mine. So who did write them? The Department of Education itself that’s who! They come from a document I managed to access again very recently. They were written by the Department of Education to explain part of its reason for turning down the WELB proposal in 1992.

Is the level of opposition any less now or the issue any less divisive? The evidence would certainly suggest not. I reminded the Department of its previous stance in a letter I sent during the recent consultation but they seem to have a different agenda now. The current proposal envisages a two site arrangement for an unstated number of years. That was also proposed in the 1990s. The Collegiate was and I believe still is implacably against this as well. Just as we did in the past it sees such an operation as bringing with it all sorts of timetabling and logistical problems exacerbated by the nature of Enniskillen as an island town. It might well also create delicate issues related to staff morale nor would it be likely to be an inducement for the retention and recruitment of teachers.

Whether all these difficulties could be surmounted is an open question. In effect therefore it would be to a degree experimental. The guinea pigs in such an experiment would be the pupils and their education.

Let me quote again from the Department of Education document in relation to this. It says “There would be considerable disruption and logistical difficulties associated with the interim proposal for a split site grammar school pending the amalgamation on a single site. This would have created very significant organisational problems for several years and could have placed educational standards at risk.” This was one of the reasons the Department listed for rejecting the proposal in 1992. Is it any less relevant now? The Department now appears to be arguing against its former self.

We were led to believe in the 1990s that our viability as separate institutions was in doubt and our only hope for a guaranteed future lay in a merger. The Department rejected that viability argument also. Those predictions of potential doom were made over 20 years ago but strangely enough neither school has collapsed in the ensuing years. Somewhat similar forecasts that a merger would be our best hope seem to have been aired again. Are they likely to be any more reliable this time? The Collegiate pupils and parents have certainly made it very clear they do not see the school as being in imminent terminal decline.

It is interesting that the Department’s document in 1992 identified the whole issue as a matter of “very widespread public interest”. The Speaker at Stormont seems to take a different view. 7000 or so signatures on a recent petition would appear to be to be a significant total and to once more indicate very significant public interest. I wonder how many signatures would be needed to satisfy whatever his criteria are?

Although our positions in the 1990s were diametrically different my and our differences with our opponents were professional not personal and relations remained and still remain cordial. Whatever the eventual outcome of the present situation I would hope they will remain so.

Yours faithfully George Young Collegiate Principal 1976-1997