EDUCATION chiefs have lost a battle to keep information about a key schools project in Fermanagh hidden from public view.
As part of the Fresh Start Agreement between political parties in the Northern Ireland in 2015, it was agreed funding would be provided for a number of Shared Education Campuses.
One of these was to be in Brookeborough to provide shared facilities for St Mary’s Primary School and Brookeborough Primary School.
The campus was hailed as a huge boost for the village which would develop even stronger links between the neighbouring schools.
However, ten years on and the Brookeborough campus has still not been built.
In February 2024, it was announced the Fresh Start funding for the project was being withdrawn and the plans for the local campus were instead being carried on through the Major Infrastructure Fund managed by the Education Authority (EA), the lead education body in the North.
Last April, a Freedom of Information (FoI) request was made to the EA, asking for ‘all correspondence and work done’ in relation to the Brookeborough Shared Campus in 2023.
However, the EA refused to provide the information.
As a result, Cllr Shemaus Greene, who had requested the information, lodged a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which looks into issues around FoI requests.
After looking into the case, the ICO has ruled against the EA and said the requested information about the Brookeborough schools project must be released.
Concern has been expressed by the ICO around the arguments put forward by the EA’s chief executive, Richard Pengelly, as to why the information around the Brookeborough project should be kept out of the public view.
In his submissions to the ICO, Mr Pengelly, who is married to the Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, said EA officials may be “less likely to record appropriate information if it is likely to be disclosed in the future.”
This argument drew a strong response from Joanna Marshall, ICO Group Manager, who looked into the Brookeborough campus FoI request.
“Arguments that disclosure will lead to public authorities keeping less detailed records of future discussions will carry little if any weight,” she stated in her ruling.
“Furthermore, a public authority is expected to keep adequate records for its own purpose, and to conform to the section 46 Code of Practice on the management of records.
“The idea that officials would deliberately avoid accurately recording information for fear of disclosure under FOIA is an argument of concern to the Commissioner.”
The idea for the shared education project in Brookeborough was first put forward in 2014 following a meeting in the village.
The two local primary schools already had a good working relationship and the shared campus was put forward as an excellent way to further improve those links.
A survey carried out by the schools along with the Fermanagh Trust found that 93 percent of the local community were in support of the proposal.
The campus plan included a new building built on a neutral site accommodating both schools, as well as the cross-community playgroup, and outdoor sport and play facilities.
The project was to be funded as part of the Fresh Start Agreement which was agreed between Sinn Fein and the DUP in November 2015.
Just a few months later, representatives from the two Brookeborough schools were invited to Stormont to discuss the shared campus, which was to the first of its kind in Fermanagh.
Speaking at the time, the then principal of Brookeborough Primary School, Hazel Gardiner, highlighted the importance of the project for the village.
“Over many years both schools have reached out the hand of friendship, working together in the interests of our pupils and the broader community,” she said.
“In more recent years thanks to the Fermanagh Trust we have been able to partake in a wider range of activities, developing even closer bonds and today we stand on the threshold of a Shared Campus for our children and the community.”
Nine years on, however, the shared Brookeborough campus still looks a long way off.
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