Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I am aware that the suggestion has received a cold reception from people in the nationalist community. It has not been accepted by the SDLP or Sinn Féin, where such people tend to lodge their votes. This proposal should be considered on an all-island basis. Some of us fought viciously against the provisions of the Equal Status Act and the Employment Equality Act that facilitate appalling discrimination against teachers and other workers in the name of religion. It is appalling to think in a democracy there is a suggestion that if children from different religious backgrounds are educated together, they will taint each other in some way, undermine each other's religious beliefs or upset the choices made in the parental home. We need to debate this across the whole island. We should consider what kind of society we are trying to achieve in this democracy. If we want people in the North and South to share, live and work together, but we will not allow them to be educated together, what are we trying to do? We need to examine clearly the appalling mismatch that exists in that regard. I do not mean to reject the concept of parental choice of religion. The point I am making is that various parental choices can be respected and accommodated in schools where children from different religious backgrounds are being taught under the same roof. It has been done before in our history and it can be done again. My comments should not be interpreted as anti-religious, but as an expression of my desire to bring people from different backgrounds together. Not only should we support the point made by Peter Robinson, but we should consider taking it on board down here.