Caitríona Ruane (born 1962) is a

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur G ...

politician who served as the Principal Deputy Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly from 2016 to 2017, and was a

Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs; ga, Comhaltaí den Tionól Reachtach; sco-ulster, Laa-Makkan Forgaitherars) are representatives elected by the voters to the Northern Ireland Assembly. About The Northern Ireland Assembly has 90 ...

(MLA) for South Down from 2003 to 2017. In the first

Northern Ireland Executive The Northern Ireland Executive is the devolved government of Northern Ireland, an administrative branch of the legislature – the Northern Ireland Assembly. It is answerable to the assembly and was initially established according to the ...

under First Minister Ian Paisley and deputy First Minister

Martin McGuinness James Martin Pacelli McGuinness ( ga, Séamus Máirtín Pacelli Mag Aonghusa; 23 May 1950 – 21 March 2017) was an Irish republican politician and statesman from Sinn Féin and a leader within the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) during ...

she was appointed Minister of Education. She faced opposition over the scrapping of the Transfer Examination (

11-plus The eleven-plus (11+) is a standardized examination administered to some students in England and Northern Ireland in their last year of primary education, which governs admission to grammar schools and other secondary schools which use academi ...

) and her subsequent plans for a replacement. She was replaced by

John O'Dowd John Fitzgerald O'Dowd (born 10 May 1967) is an Irish Sinn Féin politician. He was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Upper Bann since 2003. He was previously the Minister for Infrastructure from May to October 2022 and the Mi ...

after the 2011 election.

Background

Ruane is a former professional

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player who represented Ireland in the

Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was chan ...

. She now lives in

Carlingford, County Louth Carlingford (; ga, Cairlinn) is a coastal town and civil parish in northern County Louth, Ireland. For the purposes of local government, the town is part of the Dundalk Municipal District. It is situated on the southern shore of Carlingford ...

and is married with two children. In the past Ruane has acted as director of the

Féile an Phobail Féile an Phobail (''The Community's Festival''), also known as the West Belfast Festival is a community arts organisation known for its ''August Féile'' (Festival). The organisation is prominent for its promotion of Irish and international cul ...

and chairperson of the St Patrick's Carnival Committee in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

"Bring Them Home" campaign

Ruane was a prominent member of the ''Bring Them Home'' campaign for the

Colombia Three The Colombia Three are three individuals – Niall Connolly, James Monaghan and Martin McCauley – who are currently living in the Republic of Ireland, having fled from Colombia, where they had been sentenced to prison terms of seventeen years ...

, which sought the safe return of three Irishmen later convicted in their absence in Colombia of training

FARC The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army ( es, link=no, Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de ColombiaEjército del Pueblo, FARC–EP or FARC) is a Marxist–Leninist guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian confl ...

insurgents.

Abolition of the 11-plus

Ruane has faced opposition for her support for abolition of the

examination, originally planned by her predecessor

. She has faced opposition from the Democratic Unionist Party and

Social Democratic and Labour Party The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) ( ga, Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre) is a social-democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland ...

as well as from 30 grammar schools in Northern Ireland, causing them to form the AQE (Association for Quality Education), which offered a replacement for the transfer examination. She was alleged to have delayed the publication of a report which showed that public opinion favoured academic selection. In March 2011, Ruane caused controversy by claiming that all pupils should be given the opportunity to study the

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

, that

education in Northern Ireland Education in Northern Ireland differs from education systems elsewhere in the United Kingdom (although it is relatively similar to Wales), but is similar to the Republic of Ireland in sharing in the development of the ''national school'' syste ...

should be made more similar to that in the Republic of Ireland, and that "the debate on academic selection is now over". Director of the Governing Bodies Association, which represents Northern Irish grammar schools, John Hart, said, "I think the minister is fooling only herself in trying to convince us that the debate surrounding academic selection is over. Some 26,000 parents last year did not think it was over. As we have said in the past, the minister washed her hands of responsibility for academic selection, so she would be better letting those with a more responsible approach get on with it, instead of petty badgering."

References

External links

Profile on Sinn Féin website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruane, Caitriona 1962 births Living people Irish female tennis players Irish socialists Ministers of the Northern Ireland Executive (since 1999) Sinn Féin MLAs Northern Ireland MLAs 2003–2007 Northern Ireland MLAs 2007–2011 Northern Ireland MLAs 2011–2016 Female members of the Northern Ireland Assembly Politicians from County Louth Sportspeople from County Louth Politicians from County Mayo Sportspeople from County Mayo Northern Ireland MLAs 2016–2017 Women ministers of the Northern Ireland Executive People from Swinford, County Mayo Irish sportsperson-politicians Sinn Féin parliamentary candidates

Background

"Bring Them Home" campaign

Abolition of the 11-plus

See also

References

External links