Mr Peter Osborne and Reverend Brian Kennaway The Parades Commission The Sullivan Upper Politics Society, during its opening meeting on the afternoon of Friday the 8 November 2013, was pleased to welcome Mr Peter Osborne and Rev Brian Kennaway. Over 20 students from Years 13 and 14, with the majority being AS and A-level politics students, attended this high-profile, extremely topical discussion. Callum Jones chaired the meeting, eloquently introducing the speakers for a short presentation, before inviting Mr Osborne and Rev Kennaway to give us their opinions on the issues associated with parading in Northern Ireland. Mr Osborne in his initial speech emphasised the low-impact approach of the Parades Commission, with very few restrictions being placed on any parades.  Rev Kennaway followed, giving his view on the purpose of the Commission – to allow the parading organisations to achieve their aims without disrupting others. Following this, both Mr Osborne and Rev Kennaway stressed the importance of communication and good intra-community relations for success; withMr Osborne going on to say that many communities now want change. When asked about the possibility of the Commission being amalgamated with the PSNI, Mr Osborne replied by saying he didn’t believe this would happen. The police don’t wish to be both the policy makers and the enforcers of such regulations in order to give them a level of impartiality. Rev Kennaway agreed, describing such a situation as “far too toxic”. In response to a question on the Parades Commission’s role in preventing riots the pair made it clear that they could only regulate parades submitted for approval prior to the event, highlighting the illegality of such activities. The meeting ended at around 4:20 pm. On behalf of all those present I would like to thank Mr Osborne and Rev Kennaway for their time and wish them all the best in their future endeavors. The Politics Society hopes to meet again on Friday the 15 November 2013 when Ross Brown, the Green Party candidate, will share his unique stance on current affairs. Nick Hodgson Politics Society

At the recent Irish Multi-Event Athletic championships, Jonathan Hill, Year 14, was successful in becoming the Senior Irish Champion following in the footsteps of his brother, Adam, who was last year’s Champion.Congratulations to Jonathan.

Congratulations to Charlie on this achievement.

He did it! Congratulations to Stephen Chisholm who was revealed as the WINNER of the Great Irish Bake Off! His signature bake was a gingerbread Duncluce Castle. Stephen left Sullivan in June 2010 and is currently studying Business and Economics at Newcastle University.

Vitoria and Rachel will represent Northern Ireland in early November in the Senior 5 Nations tournament to be held at the University of Edinburgh. Victoria has also been selected to represent Ireland in the Junior (U21) World Cup series in mid-November in Bratislava, Croati

Sullivan Medallion XV vs Grosvenor Medallion On 19 October 2013 the Sullivan Upper Medallion rugby team played Grosvenor Medallion rugby team at Grosvenor’s pitches. The match started off at a fast pace by both sides. It was fairly even with defence being the main aspect of the game. Grosvenor were applying the majority of the early pressure but we were putting in brilliant tackles and it was becoming a very physical encounter. However we were now the ones applying more of the pressure and managed to get into their 22. We couldn’t capitalise though and Grosvenor got the pressure off themselves and cleared their lines. Then they started applying heavy pressure. Grosvenor kept coming at us but our defence was outstanding and our forwards were fantastic in the rucks and line-outs. When we turned it over and cleared, their backs came at us but again our defence stood firm. However it wasn’t long before it cracked. On the five-metre line, the Grosvenor flanker powered over. The conversion was missed so the score was 5-0. From the kick off we were right back in their faces and were determined to score before half time. We achieved this when we worked our way into their 22 and good, quick ball from the forwards resulting in Steven Brush going over under the post after the ball had been fed out by the half-backs. Rory Jemphrey got the conversion and this made the score 7-5 at half time. The second half started with us in the ascendancy and we were soon further ahead when Stephen Brush again crossed over from short range under the posts. Rory Jemphrey got the conversion and the score was now 14-5. Quickly after the kick off, Grosvenor came back at us but the game was becoming quite even. However Grosvenor managed to kick the ball into our corner and the bouncing ball allowed their winger to just about, squeeze in a try right at the touch line. The conversion was missed so the score was now 14-10. The game was becoming very tight and you felt the next score would be vital. And it was. We had the ball on the half way line and good, quick ball from the forwards again allowed the backs to pass the ball out to Connor Scollan on the left wing, and he ran in brilliantly from the half way line to touch down in the corner. Rory Jemphrey scored a great conversion and it was now 21-10. There was about 15 minutes left and Grosvenor were having the majority of the possession. Our defence was being severely tested but it was solid and the tackles we were putting in were brilliant. Grsvenor got into our 22 and were now applying huge pressure but our tackling was winning us the game, especially that’s of our forwards. We then managed to regain possession and clear out of our 22 so the pressure was relieved. To Grosvenor’s credit they kept plucking away but never really looked like breaking down our strong defence. We nearly scored at the end when Connor Scollan ran basically all of the pitch but was tackled just short. It didn’t matter though as we had done enough to come away victorious after a very tough and physical game.

Molly White 8S will represent Northern Ireland  in the junior section of Poetry Aolud at the regional competition on Friday 25 October 2013. The semi- final takes place in Dublin in November where she will compete with students from all over Ireland.

Sullivan Upper – Army Cadet Force (ACF) Nine pupils attended summer camp in Otterburn.  Two alumni (Anna and David Matthews ) attended Bisley and represented the cadets in shooting at various levels. At camp, a team of six pupils won the 2nd Northern Ireland Battalion ACF drill competition for Sullivan detachment.  They were ranked 1st out of the 36 detachments that compose our Battalion, a fantastic achievement for a comparatively junior team.  Those involved were Jack Milligan, James Butt, David Cooley, Daniel Braniff, Joanna Baker and Tom Parsons. The 2012/13 training year has been very successful for Sullivan thanks to a great group of pupils and a great team of instructors supporting them.   Hopefully, this academic year will be one of our best! We are keen to invite new members of the student body to join us and it is the ideal time of the year to do so.  All Sullivan pupils aged 12 and above are welcome to join.  ACF meet every Wednesday during term time from 7.30 pm to 10.00 pm. For any additional information please feel free to check out the ACF website (https://armycadets.com/become-a-cadet/).

Achievements in Small Bore Rifle Shooting Rory Hamilton (Year 14) recently won the Junior Long Range competition and was awarded the Clyde Shield and the Woodside Cup for winning Section ‘B’. Rory represented Ulster Counties for the fourth year running at the Junior International Small Bore competition at Bisley, England in August 2013.

he Sullivan Singers have successfully reached the Northern Ireland Regional final of the All Ireland Choir competition. This takes place on Monday 21 October in the Braid Theatre, Ballymena where they compete against four other school choirs. The televised final will be shown on RTE on Sunday 27 October 2013 at 17:05.

Sullivan U13s vs Dalriada On Saturday 12 October 2013 Sullivan played against Dalriada Grammar School making this their seventh game of the season.  Sullivan beat the visitors 27-0, despite not playing up to their usual standards. Dalriada kicked the match off and for the first ten minutes or so both teams were very quiet and there was not a lot of action. Occasionally, Sullivan made some good breaks and at points were looking good. The Dalriada defence were on top form during the first half and were able to keep Sullivan from scoring early on in the game. Throughout the entire first half, Sullivan were pressing to score the first try of the game. They were very close at some points to scoring but once they had completed the hard part of the plays, they unfortunately were unable to finish the move up by scoring the try.  Sullivan were committing too many careless mistakes that led to them not scoring. There wasn’t going to be to long left of the first half and Sullivan were desperate to score a try. Thankfully they did and Sol Harper was the first name on the score sheet. Sullivan had a scrum just outside Dalriada’s five-metre line. Sullivan won the scrum and Sol got the ball at the back of the it and with his incredible speed ran around three defenders while also handing each of them off. He stormed through and over the try line to grab the first points of the game. William Hamilton unfortunately missed the kick from a very tough position. Five minutes later the first half ended and Sullivan narrowly led 5-0. With a convincing half time talk from their coach at the back of their heads, Sullivan kicked the second half off. Immediately Sullivan were playing better than they were in the first half. There were in Dalriada’s half and were pushing to score their second try of the game. Dalriada were giving it all they had to stop Sullivan from getting a second try. After about ten minutes through the second half, Sullivan got their second try of the game through Ben Holley. The ruck was formed just inside the five-metre line and Conor McKee gave the ball to Ben Holley who narrowly got through the defence to score. Conor McKee added the extra points with a good kick and Sullivan had increased their lead to 12-0.  Dalriada restarted the game quickly and the kick fell to William Hamilton who made an incredible run dodging and stepping past the Dalriada defence. He made about thirty metres of ground for Sullivan and he got passed at least six defenders. Unfortunately he was unable to make the whole way to the try line but that didn’t matter because Sullivan got their third try through this play. William Hamilton was tackled and Conor McKee passed the ball out towards the backs. The backs gave the ball out to one another and the space in the defence opened up for Jack McFerran who scored easily. This try was unconverted but Sullivan now led 17-0. During the second half, Sullivan made sure that Dalriada wouldn’t score against them and they were able to do a good job of that. Sullivan were on the attack and had been for quite a while. The forwards were charging through the defence and slowly Sullivan were making ground. Eventually after a lot of ground making, Henry Redpath-Woolley  scored Sullivan’s fourth try after he picked the ball from the back of the ruck from close range and rammed through the defenders. This conversion was also missed but it wasn’t an easy kick. Sullivan came close to scoring again not long after that when Finlay Greer was through  to score but unfortunately knocked the ball on just over the try line. There was only about five minutes left and Sullivan had done well to keep Dalriada from scoring at all during the match.  There was to be one more try before the end of the match and this was to be Sullivan’s fifth try. This try came through Oliver Faith. Sullivan had the ball on roughly the half way line and Rory Houston (who had been playing very well for Sullivan for the whole match) received the ball and made a good run up inside the Dalriada 22 metre line. The Sullivan forwards were picking and driving the ball and they had made it to the five-metre line. Oliver Faith picked the ball from the back of the ruck and ran through the Dalriada defence. This try was very similar to some of the previous tries for Sullivan. The conversion was missed and the final whistle blew, leaving the final score at 27-0. It wasn’t as good a performance as some in recent weeks, but Sullivan were nonetheless relieved to have recorded their fifth victory in a row. By Peter Casement

Sullivan U13s Vs BRA On the 5 October 2013, Sullivan U13’s played their second home game of the season against Belfast Royal Academy. It was a great day for the under 13’s as they convincingly beat them 57-0. It took Sullivan quite a bit longer to score in the second half and BRA was still hanging on, hoping that they might be able to grab at least one try in this second half. Sullivan denied those hopes by scoring their sixth try of the game this time through Ben Holley. After a few rucks and a bit of running Ben Holley got the ball no more than five metres out and stormed through and over the try line. Conor McKee added the extras from close range and Sullivan now led 38-0. The seventh try didn’t come long after that when Ben Holley’s second row partner Oliver Faith scored. Similarly to Ben’s try, he received the ball from close range and ran right through the defence. Sullivan was playing a blinder at this point and they had the momentum to score a few more tries before the game was over. Conor McKee made his fourth conversion of the day and they were now winning 45-0. BRA were desperate now to score against Sullivan but Sullivan would do all they could to keep them from scoring. After some brilliant on the line defence from Sullivan, Sullivan was able to attack against the opposition after winning the ball in a ruck. They scored their eighth try of the game when the Sullivan backs ran at great pace then giving the ball out to Conor McKee who ran from the half By Peter Casement