Representation
‘Learning from Each Other’ – since 1994
Founding an integrated school is a political act, and one of the key dimensions of integration is politics. Shimna was founded at a time of political extremes with the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement still an apparently impossible dream.
The Agreement was built on ‘constructive ambiguity’ and meant that, just as in an integrated school, all of us in Northern/North of Ireland agreed to work together along with all our disagreements. Integrated education is sometimes wrongly accused of encouraging porridge thinking, and asking people to give up or compromise their politics. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Integration asks all of us to own our politics and share our views with each other.
The Student Council is a formal part of the structure of a Grant Maintained Integrated School. Our Student Council was active from the start, and notable campaigns included: introducing the hoodie to our uniform; fundraising for outdoor furniture; joining with the Parent Council to provide bus shelters; introducing recycling bins throughout the school; providing water fountains; bringing back chicken burgers and Appletizer to the canteen; organising Shimna’s Got Talent…. The Student Council’s finest hour was when they were presented with the Speaker’s Award in Westminster for their outstanding contribution to the running of our school.
From early days, our students were involved with NICCY, the Northern Ireland Commission for Children and Young People. We welcomed visits and updates and opportunities for students to take part in surveys and give their input to decision making on matters important to young people. Natasha Manganaro joined the NICCY Youth Panel, playing an active role in consultations with the NI Assembly. She took part in radio discussions and led assemblies to update students on NICCY’s current campaigns.
The UK Youth Parliament offered further opportunities for political involvement. Ryan Cairns was our first student elected to UKYP to represent South Down. He, and his election agent Stephe Polland, led a pro-active campaign across the whole school, and Shimna was presented with a Silver Democracy Award as well as Ryan being elected. Our second South Down representative was Lauren Sloan. She had been active in the Student Council and the GSA and relished the broader platform to air her views and share those of others. Natasha Managaro then built upon her NICCY experience and was elected to UKYP for the Strangford constituency.
Politics was always among our most popular A levels, led by Paddy McClean.
We lived through particularly interesting times in local politics and took every opportunity to get out and meet our representatives. Many of the provisions of the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement mirrored the structures and policies of Integrated education and our students were always keen to meet politicians they agree with and those they didn’t.
One lucky generation of politics students got to be in the audience when the Obamas, Barak and Michelle, came to visit.
Some political careers to follow:
Ryan Cairns was the life and soul of the Student Council in his day, graduated to the UKYP, broke his heart over NI21, headed to Leeds University for a degree in Politics and Parliamentary Studies, including a year interning in Westminster, joined the Liberal Democrats, and went to work for them. After five years, he was promoted to Digital Senior Manager. His work was highly visible in the wonderful graphics which helped the Lib Dems restore their fortunes in the 2024 elections.
Natasha Manganaro served on NICCY and with UKYP at school, and was particularly active in the Make Your Mark campaign, encouraging other students to register to vote. Her work was shortlisted by Fighting Words. She headed to Bath University to study creative writing which is the channel for her continuing activism. As she left Shimna, the local press interviewed Natasha to find out how she had continued as an activist during COVID.
Chris Ogle is another activist who has used his digital skills to carve out a career in politics. He is Digital and Press Communications Manager with the Alliance Party and has stood for election in South Belfast. He was joined on the campaign trail by former Shimna classmate, Liam McVea on a visit back from the US.
Ben McConnell spoke from the stage on important issues while at school, and now pounds the streets campaigning for the SDLP in South Down.
Out on the trail, he encounters Caroline Finn campaigning across the same territory for Sinn Féin.
Ben Anderson and Cian McGrory featured together in a film made by Patrick Kielty, who was astounded to find that a staunch unionist and a staunch nationalist were learning together in Paddy’s A level politics class and transcending their very real differences.
DUP supporter and OrangemanJames Maxwell was particularly thrilled when then First Minister Arlene Foster visited Shimna when we were established as a PASCH Schule.
Supportive Shimna parents have included Willie Clarke of Sinn Féin and Harold McKee of the Official Unionists.
Conor McKay, after graduating with his degree and Masters from Queen’s represents Botanic as Belfast City Councillor for Sinn Féin.
Bronagh Magee, as well as her work as lecturer in sustainable business at Ulster University, is an Alliance councillor for Castlereagh South.
Patrick Brown graduated from Paddy’s politics class to Sheffield University to study politics, and before he graduated from there, he had already been elected as councillor to the Rowallane district of South Down to represent the Alliance Party. He went on to be elected as MLA for South Down, inspiring local support which brought the constituency award to his local party branch. Patrick took a break from local politics to campaign for Hillary Clinton in Florida, bringing back lots of good learning about running a campaign.
After ten years of local representation, and a PhD in Universal Basic Income in societies emerging from conflict, he took up a post as Executive Director of Equal Right, an organisation campaigning internationally for economic justice.
Patrick continued to support Shimna during his studies, involving Pat Lenny’s business studies classes in a project with a Ugandan Women’s Collective, providing fairly traded items for sale at the Shimna Christmas Fair. As an elected representative, he organised hustings at Shimna involving almost all our local parties.
