ST. NINNIDH’S Primary School in Derrylin has received £1.2 million from the latest distribution of capital funding for the development of schools in Northern Ireland.

The Education Minister, Martin McGuinness, announced another massive investment package last week to address the huge backlog of work required on school buildings, and St. Ninnidh’s was successful in its application for funding to establish a new school site catering for up to 145 pupils.

School Principal, Gavin O’Reilly, said everyone at the school was “delighted” with the “well-deserved” funding, which will help replace the current, substandard accommodation.

Brian McManus, Chairman of the school’s Board of Governors, said: “We’re walking on air. This should go a long way to sorting out the problems. The existing accommodation is just not up to scratch.”

But leading Unionists in Fermanagh have expressed their anger at what they perceive as an unfair bias against schools catering for predominantly Protestant children, and one has even gone as far as suggesting that the Minister should resign.

“For the third year in a row the Education Minister has blatantly disregarded the Protestant community in the allocation of capital spending money on a sectarian basis,” claimed Maurice Morrow, DUP MLA for Fermanagh/South Tyrone.