Results 1-20 of 551 for speaker:Mervyn Storey

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Rural Schools (17 Nov 2009)

Mervyn Storey: Does the Member not accept that there is a contradiction in his argument? On the one hand, he commends the Minister for giving an accolade to integrated schools, and, on the other hand, he talks about the cost. He knows that the Deloitte document clearly states that, because we have too many sectors, it costs Northern Ireland plc millions of additional pounds, yet he advocates a sector that...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Rural Schools (17 Nov 2009)

Mervyn Storey: No.

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Rural Schools (17 Nov 2009)

Mervyn Storey: I did not call the Member a hypocrite. I said that his position was hypocrisy. If the Member is happy to have the matter referred to the Speaker, I am quite happy to take whatever punishment that the headmaster feels is necessary.

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Rural Schools (17 Nov 2009)

Mervyn Storey: I have always been sceptical of fanciful terms such as sustainable schools, federations and area planning; they are a cop-out when dealing with the number of schools. Does the Member agree that one of the fundamental issues that must be dealt with is the need for genuine collaboration among rural schools? Does he agree that they should not be allowed to have an advantage either in their...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Rural Schools (17 Nov 2009)

Mervyn Storey: Will the Member accept that the converse is also the case? If there is no local community and no local school, there will be no young people to take jobs and sustain the economy. It is not a case of having either jobs or schools; a combination of both is needed.

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Rural Schools (17 Nov 2009)

Mervyn Storey: First, I will speak in my capacity as Chairperson of the Committee for Education. In July 2008, the Committee provided the Department of Education with a substantive response to the Department’s policy paper on sustainable schools. Some of the issues and concerns that were raised by the Committee, which the Minister of Education responded to in December 2008 — before publishing...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Rural Schools (17 Nov 2009)

Mervyn Storey: Although the aspiration behind that scheme was admirable, we must give serious consideration to the practical outworkings of such a proposal. Our rural schools are at the heart of our rural communities, and they must be protected.

Northern Ireland Assembly: Ministerial Statement: British-Irish Council Summit Meeting (17 Nov 2009)

Mervyn Storey: I thank the junior Minister for coming to the House to make his statement. Does he agree that the current period of devolution has been characterised by what Members on this side of the House would describe as a proper focus on east-west relationships? Previously, an unnecessary emphasis was placed on North/South structures, but we have gone a considerable way to redressing that imbalance.

Northern Ireland Assembly: Ministerial Statement: British-Irish Council Summit Meeting (17 Nov 2009)

Mervyn Storey: [Interruption.]

Northern Ireland Assembly: Ministerial Statement: Together Towards Entitlement (16 Nov 2009)

Mervyn Storey: I respond to the Minister’s statement with a degree of concern. I will speak first as the Chairperson of the Committee for Education. I remind the Minister that there was much debate about the number of subjects to be offered under the entitlement framework, namely 24 for pupils older than 14 and 27 for pupils older than 16. In May 2008, officials from the Minister’s Department...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Adjournment: Primary School Provision in Ballymena South (3 Nov 2009)

Mervyn Storey: I thought that she had mixed up her script, that is all.

Northern Ireland Assembly: Adjournment: Primary School Provision in Ballymena South (3 Nov 2009)

Mervyn Storey: The Member mentioned the progress of the integrated sector. I worked with the newbuild for Braidside Integrated Primary School. There were alternatives to the amalgamation or, as Mr O’Loan put it, the closure of those schools in the maintained sector. Those schools were offered alternatives, but the only option for Ballee Primary School is closure and picking up the pieces. The problem...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Adjournment: Primary School Provision in Ballymena South (3 Nov 2009)

Mervyn Storey: Will the Minister give way?

Northern Ireland Assembly: Adjournment: Primary School Provision in Ballymena South (3 Nov 2009)

Mervyn Storey: I wait to hear what the Minister has to say, and I hope that it is not the usual rhetoric that we normally get.

Northern Ireland Assembly: Adjournment: Primary School Provision in Ballymena South (3 Nov 2009)

Mervyn Storey: I welcome the opportunity to speak on this topic. On such occasions, Members make speeches that are so moving that they end up clearing the Chamber. Members from North Antrim are present, along with a few from other constituencies. We welcome all who have an interest in this issue, because education impinges on all constituencies. I welcome the Minister’s presence. I wish to draw to her...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Persecution of Christians in Orissa State (2 Nov 2009)

Mervyn Storey: That is a civil and religious liberty. Mr O’Dowd needs an education. The Reformation brought people the right to make those choices. Before the Reformation, we lived in the Dark Ages, when people were made to go to a certain place of worship and were not allowed to read the word of God. I am quite happy to meet the Member at any time and give him a history lesson about the benefits of...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Persecution of Christians in Orissa State (2 Nov 2009)

Mervyn Storey: At the outset, I thank all Members who have taken part in the debate today. It has been a useful debate, and I will come to individual contributions in a moment. On several occasions, the Assembly has held important debates on the principles of civil and religious liberty and the freedom not only to hold individual religious views but to be able to freely and openly express such views....

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Persecution of Christians in Orissa State (2 Nov 2009)

Mervyn Storey: I thank the Member for giving way. I will return to his comments when I conclude the debate, but where does civil and religious liberty come into Sinn Féin’s thinking when it comes to explaining the activities that go on in places such as Orissa, rather than sitting down and talking to its enemies? Where is the right to worship God, according to the dictate of one’s...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Child Abuse: Ryan Report (2 Nov 2009)

Mervyn Storey: We have lost focus on some elements of today’s debate. Those who were responsible must be held to account. I am worried that yet another report will lead to a huge diversion from that responsibility. This point may highlight the matter for the Member: we must remember that the Roman Catholic Church is organised on an all-Ireland basis. It recognises no ecclesiastical border, and some of...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Child Abuse: Ryan Report (2 Nov 2009)

Mervyn Storey: The Member mentions the issue of people reporting to the police. I welcome the fact that the Catholic authorities have, to some degree, made records available. However, there has been a perception that the Catholic authorities have been reluctant to be wholehearted, open, honest and transparent in bringing those matters to the police. Therefore, in order to make that happen, it is important...