A senior Presbyterian clergyman has criticised the recent school walk-outs in protest at the appointment of Mr Martin McGuinness as Minister of Education, saying there was "no justification whatsoever for the manipulation of school pupils and using them for political purposes".
The secretary of the Presbyterian Church's board of education, the Rev Derek Poots, said they were "making the job of headmasters and teachers impossible". The Alliance Party's spokeswoman on education, Ms Naomi Long, said many of the protests were being orchestrated by adults who "should know better", and she found it "incredible that DUP elected representatives are irresponsible enough to encourage young people to disrupt their schools".
The DUP yesterday denied any involvement but "we support those who have expressed their genuine revulsion at this most tangible result of the sell-out by the Ulster Unionist Party," DUP MLA Mr Sammy Wilson said. Mr Wilson, a former teacher, and his party colleague, the Minister of Social Development, Mr Nigel Dodds, however, agreed to speak to pupils in some of the affected schools to explain how they could "constructively voice their opposition" without disrupting lessons. The anti-agreement Northern Ireland Unionist Party yesterday launched a public campaign to remove Mr McGuinness and Ms Bairbre de Brun, the Minister of Health, from their positions.
The campaign includes a petition and a letter for parents to send to their children's school principals asking to be informed of any visits to the school by the Minister of Education, so children could be withdrawn from school for the visit.
The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland also expressed its "revulsion and total opposition" to Mr McGuinness's appointment and said it could not "countenance any contact" with him.
Sinn Fein has blamed another two walk-outs at Castle High School and Boys Model Secondary School in north Belfast yesterday on a "DUP-orchestrated campaign".
The director of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Bureau, Mr Vincent McKenna, yesterday claimed he had been contacted by eight families from north Belfast whose children were allegedly threatened by the UDA should they stage any further protests against Mr McGuinness.