On Friday 25 February 2011, the Politics Society of Sullivan Upper School proudly welcomed First Minister of Northern Ireland and leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, Mr Peter Robinson MLA. We commenced with the minutes of the last meeting of the Politics Society when another notable politician, Tom Elliott MLA, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party was the guest speaker. This was an apt beginning to Mr Robinson’s speech as he noted one of the reasons for the growth in support for the DUP was as a direct result of their policy not to go into working in government with “IRA/Sinn Fein”, unlike the UUP had. However, this was not the key turning point in Mr Robinson’s life… He recalled his younger years when he had a best friend, Harry Beggs. Harry Beggs was murdered at the onset of the Troubles (he was the 114th victim of the Troubles) by an IRA bomb at NIE Headquarters at Danesfort. Robinson vowed to become involved in politics to “ensure that democracy rather than terror would reign”. Mr Robinson spoke of the difficulty he faced sitting side-by-side with men whom he knew sanctioned the death of his school friend. He stressed the point that the only reason he joined Sinn Fein in government was on DUP terms. He continued to speak about our government and agreed with the UUP that there should be a formal opposition so that the government could have better stability. He claimed there was, however, an opposition as we speak, in the form of SDLP and UUP, both of which “act and make decisions as if they were ministers from the opposition”. This led him to express the importance of collective responsibility. He felt it would be naïve of him to not mention the “elephant in the room”, the Economy. He acknowledged cuts had to be made however he emphasised how the cuts were “too much, too fast, too soon”. He spoke on how Northern Ireland’s unemployment has now risen above the EU average and that housing, education and health will be hit hardest. He warned of many difficult years under the Comprehensive Spending Review. Furthermore, he warned that “if party politics comes into the equation, we will suffer”. After his speech, the most eagerly anticipated moment began, the infamous questioning. I Mr Robinson seized the opportunity to talk about his party’s progress in 2010. Whilst admitting he had an “extremely disappointing personal year”, he quoted figures from the Westminster elections that suggested the DUP did not do as badly as it was first perceived and listed economic, social and energy policies that have “moved Northern Ireland forward”. Perhaps the most enjoyable question came from Ms Holywood, who asked “What adjectives would you use to describe your relationship with Martin McGuiness?” to which Mr Robinson’s reply was rather humorous! While he believes they have a “stable working relationship” he “would never dream of inviting him on holiday, nor would Martin invite me fishing… nor shooting for that matter!” And those were the last words of Mr Robinson which the audience acknowledged with rapturous applause. Personally, I would like to thank all who attended and extend my gratitude to my committee members and Mr Armstrong, all of whom worked very hard to make this event a success. Tom McClelland Chairman of the Politics Society

Alex Gilmore (10C) receiving her prize as Regional Winner in the Youth Justice Agency’s Photography Competition from the Justice Minister, Mr David Ford and the actor (and former pupil), Dan Gordon, Stormont, March 2011

The Boys 1st xi team beat Wallace 1sts on Wednesday, 18 May 2011 in the Schools Cup and are through to the quarter-final.  A very convincing win. Wallace 78 for 8 Sullivan 82 for 1 Won by 9 wickets.

Congratulations to the U13 boys hockey team who defeated Campbell College 2-1 in the Bannister Bowl Final on Thursday, 12 May 2011.

Sullivan successfully participted in The Times Spelling Bee at the Waterfront Hall on Monday, 9 May 2011 and were placed 3rd in the first round. Jonathan Brattle was awarded a medal for being the ‘last man standing’. Congratulations to all pupils and loyal supporters, it was a very lively and enjoyable day.

Congratulations to Morag Stewart and Amy McIlroy. These Year 11 Home Economics pupils have recently had great success in 2 cookery competitions. On 29 March 2011 Morag came 1st in the Key Stage 4 section of the Dairy Council Young Cook of the Year. Amy travelled to Sligo on the 5 May 2011 for the final of the All Ireland Safe Food Competition. There were over 1000 entrants for this competition and Amy was delighted to be placed 1st overall, winning an Xbox and a voucher for a day at a Dublin Cookery School for herself as well as a range of appliances and vouchers for the Home Economics Department.

Congratulations to sixth-formers Adam Lyttle, Joshua McCance, Meghan Kirk, Meadhbh Keating-Fitzpatrick and Vanessa Goldstone on gaining Gold Medals in Speech and Drama Examinations run by the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts.

Sponsored reading in March 2011 raised the impressive sum of £1,576.55 which will go towards Clic Sargent Children’s Cancer Charity and Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity. Katherine McKee and Michael Good received a prize for their form class (8W) from Mr Peel.  Stephen Hodgson and Patrick Moorehad received prizes for the best individual contributions.

Well done to Charlie Roberts (8C) who won a Bronze Medal in the Under 15 Kata (Sequences) category at the Irish International Karate Open in Dublin in April 2011 Charlie also won Gold in the Kumite (Fighting) age 12 category making him the Irish Kumite Champion.

Author Alex Scarrow visited Sullivan recently for a very energetic and inter-active presentation to Years 9 and 10, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all.   Alex also accompanied a small group of Year 8 students with the librarians to the Finale of the NI Book Awards, where his book Time Riders won second place.

On the Friday 1 April 2011, a group of 22 Swedish students came to visit Sullivan Upper as part of their conflict studies field trip. All Lower 6th politics students greeted the group and began to show them around the school. After lunch we were paired off with a student and took them to go around our classes with us. For many of us, coincidentally, we had politics with Ms Morgan after lunch. This was an exciting opportunity for both the Swedish students and the politics students. The Swedes jumped at the chance to be able to learn more about the political culture of Northern Ireland and our perspective on the conflict our county had experienced. They were particularly fascinated by the amount of peace walls that were in our country, although they knew more about them than we did. It was also exciting for us to learn more about how the political process works in Sweden and their culture, which to our surprise was very socialist and liberal compared to here. They, on the other hand, were surprised that we had to wear uniforms which reminded them of Hogwarts. I feel that both groups took a lot away from this experience especially a little bit of the culture of both Northern Ireland and Sweden a like. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Mr Armstrong for the large effort put in to arranging this and hope that next year’s Lower 6th have just as exciting experience as we had! Donnchadh Greene Secretary of the Politics Society

Congratulations to Christoper Cree on finishing in 4th place at the U14 National Tennis Championships in Cork on 3 April 2011. Ulster took 1st, 2nd and 4th positions out of 16.