PETER HAIN, SECRETARY OF STATE VISITS THE ABBEY - 14th November 2006
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Peter Hain, Secretary of State took a break from his hectic schedule to visit the Abbey Christian Brothers’ Grammar School, Newry. He was welcomed to the school by Mr. Dermot McGovern, Headmaster, Dr. John McCavitt, Senior teacher and Head of Politics and pupil Sean Darling, Chairman of the Abbey Students Association when he arrived.
The busy Minister then met the members of the school’s Senior Management Team. Topics discussed were; the plans for the new school that have recently gone to tender, the academic success recently at Key Stage 3, GCSE and A-level, the commitment of the school to broaden the school’s curriculum to include vocational qualifications, the extra-curricular success in a wide range of areas including sport where the school’s senior gaelic footballers won Ulster’s MacRory Cup and then the All-Ireland Hogan Cup for the first time in April. Also commended was the work in Music and Drama where the whole Abbey community was still on a high after a magnificent ‘West Side Story’ production last month.
Next on the agenda for the Secretary of State was a question and answer session with senior politics students from both the Abbey Grammar and Newry High School. The pupils from the two school’s made sure that the questions were as difficult as possible. However Mr. Hain dealt with these with ease, showing why he is one of the Prime Minister’s key personnel in the British Cabinet. Questions included aspects of the Northern Ireland peace process and his ambitions to become Deputy Prime Minister.
The visit finished with Mr. Dermot McGovern thanking the Secretary of State for visiting the Abbey Christian Brothers’ Grammar School and wished him well in the future, including a hope that the Northern Ireland Assembly would soon be up and running as quickly as possible. The Headmaster presented the distinguished guest with a plaque to commemorate his visit.
