Latest news with #Ballynahinch
BBC News
30-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Financial issues at school are 'concerning', according to EA
The use of school credit cards at a County Down grammar school has been branded "concerning" in a report by the Education Authority (EA).The EA carried out an investigation into a range of financial and governance issues at Assumption Grammar School in Ballynahinch, including what it described as spending in bars and school has been critical of the EA's findings, which formed part of an interim report seen by BBC News school's board of governors said the interim report contained "inaccuracies" and "invalidated documentation". The investigation by the EA was prompted by an internal audit of the school for 2023-24, which identified a number of issues, including a "lack of authorisation for purchases using school credit cards" and "risk of financial errors and financial loss".The internal audit found, for example, that "in a sample of 34 tested credit card transactions, supporting invoices/receipts were not available for nine transactions".The EA subsequently launched an investigation which led to the interim report in January interim report stated that there had been "extensive use of these credit cards without robust scrutiny or limitation".The EA report gave a number of examples of transactions using school credit cards including spending on "well-known high-quality NI restaurants with the bill for two such occasions in excess of £1000 each". BBC News NI put a series of detailed questions about the findings of the EA interim report to Assumption response, the school's governors said the EA report "was drafted at a point in time and without the benefit of additional information that subsequently became available to the Education Authority"."This new information exposed inaccuracies in the interim report, arising from knowledge gaps and a lack of adequate supporting documentation," it added."As a result, the interim report was progressed to take account of the inaccuracies identified which were corrected in the final report." What did the EA interim report find? The EA investigation examined expenditure on the school credit cards from 2017 to said that "over £4,000 has been spent on wine in the period reviewed".A named staff member was also said by the EA interim report to have spent £10,030.64 on restaurants and bars and £2,708.24 on wine on a school credit card over the same its interim report the EA considered "the spending to be outside the range of the normal parameters of what is purchased in other schools."The EA interim report also said that £13,855 in grants had been received by the school from 2022 to 2024 for two Ukrainian students, but the governors could not provide evidence that the money had been spent on those EA report also stated that credit card spend on Amazon items by the school from September 2021 to September 2023 was £21,000. What have school leaders said? The school subsequently wrote to parents and staff in June 2025 to say that the EA had produced a final report which had identified where "internal oversight and governance could be strengthened".They said they had put in place actions on the use of school credit cards, financial reporting, and procurement processes to "improve transparency and ensure consistent application of financial procedures".When asked by BBC News NI about transactions using school credit cards referenced in the interim report, the board of governors said that they were unable to respond to what they called "invalidated documentation.""However, by way of assurance, the use of school credit cards is formally approved by the Board of Governors.""All expenditure made using the school's credit cards has been formally approved by the Board of Governors," they also said."This spending has been reviewed and confirmed that all payments for supplies and services were properly accounted for and supported by either invoices or receipts - though not always both."These administrative shortcomings have since been addressed."When asked about the money for the Ukrainian pupils, the school said that "this matter has been clarified in the final report, with funds used exclusively for their intended purpose and there has been full utilisation.""Following a review of new information received after the interim report, the Education Authority confirmed that the Board of Governors had, in fact, been fully informed of all school expenditure and that a formal process for reporting and approval was in place throughout". What's been the Education Authority's response? BBC News NI also put a series of detailed questions to the EA regarding the findings of the interim investigation report and the school's response.A spokesperson said the EA, as the funding authority, had concluded "a thorough investigation" after a concern was raised about financial management at the school."The investigation examined a range of financial information and considered responses provided by the school," the EA statement read."There was no evidence of any fraudulent activity, however, the report made a number of recommendations where improvements to financial governance could be made, including the use of credit cards, financial reporting processes, procurement practices, and the disposal of school assets."The EA said it welcomed the school's "commitment to implementing all recommended actions in full to strengthen their financial oversight and procedures and address issues raised".BBC News NI also asked the EA, in view of the school's criticisms, if it stood by the work carried out on the interim response, the EA replied: "Throughout the process, the EA has carried out a thorough investigation and stands by this.""A draft interim report was written at a point in time based on information from the school," they continued."As part of the investigation process, the school was provided with the opportunity to provide their response and clarification on the draft interim report.""This provided EA with additional information that was then reflected in the final report issued to the Board of Governors (BoG).""The final report includes a number of recommendations, as well as the BoG's response and explanation of issues raised." What has been the reaction from some staff at Assumption Grammar? BBC News NI has seen a letter to the school's governors signed by 59 members of staff in which they call for "transparency" and claim that morale in the school is "at an all-time low.""The lack of transparency and responsibility at governance level is causing real distress and disillusionment among dedicated professionals who care deeply about their students, their work and this school," the letter continued.
Irish Times
25-06-2025
- General
- Irish Times
Paul Clements: ‘I am often asked how long it takes to write a book. Now I can say with accuracy: 33 years'
Thirty-three years in the life of a forest is nothing. Yet in the decades since I lived in the Montalto estate, near Ballynahinch, Co Down (1992-1993), there have been spectacular changes as well as devastating storms that wreaked havoc in the grounds. During 12 months in Lakeside Cottage with my wife, I kept a large red journal with notes on shifts in the weather, changing seasons, the forest flora, wildlife and epiphanies of nature . Made up of brief entries, a mix of bricolage and trivialities known to writers as 'nibble' notes, my journal was interspersed with the squiggles of Teeline shorthand. But after leaving Montalto, it languished in a drawer. As the years slipped by, occasionally I glanced through the notes, wondering if I should do something with them, or if anyone would be interested. There was insufficient material, I reckoned, to stretch to a book. However, I was busy as a full-time journalist, later writing books and working for guidebooks to Ireland; I felt that if I approached a publisher, I would have been unable to free up the time required to work on a manuscript. But still I kept reflecting on the Montalto months, which developed into an itch and led to considerable 'thinking' time. I was aware that a few of my favourite outdoor books – both travel and nature – benefited from a lengthy marination. Nan Shepherd's The Living Mountain about the Cairngorms in the Scottish Highlands, was written in 1945. However, because of a shortage of paper in the postwar years, publishers were risk-averse, so the book was not released until 1977 – some 32 years later – by which time she was 84. READ MORE After its publication her reputation grew exponentially, her book became hugely successful and has been championed by writers and academics as a masterpiece of landscape literature. It went on to sell more than 200,000 copies, was translated into at least 16 languages, and the author even features on the current Scottish five-pound note. The Living Mountain by Nan Shepherd (1977) Shepherd (1893-1982) published three novels between 1928 and 1933, as well as an anthology of poems, but it is for The Living Mountain that she is best known. Her slim book is less than 100 pages long, yet critics have noted that each time they read it, they find something different. Shepherd's landscape itself is constantly renewed, something that is echoed in the book: 'However often I walk on them, these hills hold astonishment for me. There is no getting accustomed to them.' Several years ago, the Australian writer Merryn Glover, who now lives in Scotland, explored the same landscape and themes in Shepherd's seminal work, following in her footsteps and contours in the mountains. In 2023 her remarkable book, The Hidden Fires: A Cairngorms Journey with Nan Shepherd, brought the writer of The Living Mountain to a fresh audience. Glover's book affirms what she refers to as 'the enduring validity' of Shepherd's original account. Another celebrated book, Patrick Leigh Fermor's A Time of Gifts (the title is taken from a Louis MacNeice poem, Twelfth Night) was based on his 18-month teenage walk across Europe in the 1930s, but not published until 1977. The delay was caused by the fact that one notebook was stolen from a youth hostel in Munich, while others he had lost were returned to him after the war. All of this meant that 44 years separated the experience of the journey from writing the book as he did not start work on the first volume until he was in his sixties. Cover of Patrick Leigh Fermor's A Time of Gifts, published in 1977 Leigh Fermor, who was of English and Irish descent, set off on his trans-European odyssey in December 1933, which eventually produced a trilogy of books. He walked an average of 12 miles per day, taking him from the Hook of Holland following the courses of the Rhine and the Danube, with innumerable detours and side excursions before reaching Constantinople (Istanbul). Along the way, the young writer met farmers, woodsmen and innkeepers, as well as counts and aristocrats whose private libraries he visited. He slept in cowsheds, barges, lofts, monasteries and castles: 'There is much to recommend,' he wrote, 'moving straight from straw to a four-poster and then back again.' The second volume, Between the Woods and the Water, was published in 1986 when he was 71 – by then it was 53 years since setting out on his journey. He ended this book with three words in capital letters to keep readers in suspense: 'TO BE CONCLUDED.' The trilogy was concluded, but not by him since writer's block had set in and it remained unfinished at the time of his death in 2011. The third and final volume, The Broken Road, came out posthumously in 2013, with light edits by Colin Thubron and Artemis Cooper. Patrick Leigh Fermor in Ithaca, 1946 Leigh Fermor had an insatiable curiosity and his books are disquisitions on numerous subjects. They represent vivid recollections of his journey, and are important historical documents of a Europe that no longer exists. But they are also a mix of the artistry of the author in later years and the boyish enthusiasm of the teenager setting out in the 1930s. The books have become known under the term 'intergenerational collaboration', ie the older man teleporting himself back to the carefree innocence of his youth. Books such as these, where a lengthy timespan is involved in their journey to publication, festered in my mind. Early in 2024 the commissioning editor of Merrion Press, Síne Quinn, asked me if I would give some thought to writing up my notes from Montalto. She suggested weaving in the history of the storied estate, which was at the centre of the United Irishmen's 1798 Down rebellion in Ballynahinch. The social and cultural aspects included the dynasties who lived there from 1641 up to the present. This was the catalyst required to jump-start the writing. I went through my journal, turning notes into prose and bringing the story up to date through the work of the Wilson family who bought the demesne in 1994, spending 12 years restoring the house to its original condition. In the grounds more than 30,000 trees were planted with fresh flowering shrubs and bulbs, while new gardens were created and a lost garden was uncovered. As well as visiting Montalto with a photographer, I recorded interviews with foresters and gardeners working there, spoke to historians and delved into archives and libraries. I then concentrated on writing an account of our time there, weaving in the estate history and its resurgence. The fact that Montalto opened to the public in 2018 meant that I was able to revisit woodlands where I had spent considerable time in the early 1990s. I also discovered that our tranquil cottage had been turned into an office and toilet block. Frequently, I am asked at talks how long it takes to write a book. Now I can say with accuracy: 33 years. There is, of course, no definitive answer to that question since it depends on the type of book and scale of research. In my case this involved transcribing interviews, reading around the subject, as well as writing, rewriting, fact-checking and revising the manuscript. Then there is also the work involved in compiling the index, glossary and bibliography, writing captions for photographs, and seeking copyright clearance to use quotations. The world has changed dramatically in the intervening three decades and so too has the English language. Those early years of the 1990s were pre-internet, smartphone and email. New words have been introduced while old words have different meanings. Twitter was the sound of birds making high-pitched, chirping sounds; a snowflake was just that, clouds were in the sky, tick-tock was the noise of our cottage clock, while AI is no longer just farm-speak for Artificial Insemination in animals. In the spring of 2025 A Year in the Woods, fusing history, nature and memoir, was published. The book is about change in one place over the centuries. But it also looks at how living there sparked an interest in birdlife leading to an ornithological epiphany. Thirty-three years have elapsed since we lived cheek-to-beak with woodland birds such as treecreepers, goldfinches and long-tailed tits. The book reflects our life then during the four seasons we spent there, so the writing – or thinking about it – has had plenty of time to crystallise. Paul Clements's A Year in the Woods: Montalto through the Seasons is published by Merrion Press
Irish Times
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
A Year in the Woods; An Irishman in Northern Mesopotamia; and The Papers of Maurice FitzGerald
A Year in the Woods: Montalto through the Seasons by Paul Clements (Merrion Press,) The year 1992, the last days of summer, and Paul Clements and his wife move into a rented cottage in the woods of the Montalto estate, near Ballynahinch in Co Down. The move is intended to be temporary, but a year later they are still there: laying down memories of quiet rural living, absorbing the lessons of place, and observing the natural world into which they are now folded, and with which they come to feel a profound connection. This bewitching book – finely produced by Merrion Press – is the result of this unexpectedly lengthy sojourn: Clements is deeply sensitive to the effects of the changing seasons, and aware of the other creatures who share this space – and he renders his experiences in stirring and beautiful prose. – Neil Hegarty An Irishman in Northern Mesopotamia by Nicholas Mackey (Unicorn, £25) Northern Mesopotamia stands between the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers in what is now southeast Türkiye – the Turkish government changed the country's spelling to Türkiye in 2021. The author's journey through a distinctive part of west Asia embraces many aspects of history with an exploration of ancient wonders in 'the cradle of civilisation'. His book also reflects cultural life, the food, and colourful descriptions of local bazaars. As a young boy growing up in Ireland, Mackey read about the region, which lit a fire within him, leaving a deep impression. This forms part of a wider story, recalling a tour of the region based on his journal. The writings of explorers Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta, as well as the historian Herodotus, are all invoked. – Paul Clements READ MORE The Papers of Maurice FitzGerald, 18th Knight of Kerry by Adrian FitzGerald (Kingdom Books, 2 vols, €50) This collection of the papers of Maurice FitzGerald, 18th Knight of Kerry, has been prepared by his descendant Adrian FitzGerald, and is published in a boxed set of two volumes. Maurice FitzGerald (1774–1845) represented Kerry constituencies in the Irish House of Commons before the Act of Union of 1800 and afterwards in Westminster. He supported the union, but on the understanding that it would be accompanied by measures of Catholic relief. When such measures were not immediately introduced, he became disillusioned and increasingly absented himself from parliament. Catholic Emancipation was not granted until 1829. FitzGerald later opposed O'Connell's movement for repeal of the union. – Felix M Larkin
BBC News
19-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
McGreevy scoops hat-trick at Bishopscourt meeting
Korie McGreevy clinched a hat-trick of race wins at the Easter Enkalon Trophy meeting at Bishopscourt on Ballynahinch rider took victory in the second feature race of the day and also secured a comprehensive double in the Supersport finished second behind Carl Phillips in the opening feature race, a mere 0.1 seconds the winning margin, with Daniel Matheson McAdoo Kawasaki rider edged out Phillips by just 0.17 seconds on a damp but drying track at the county Down circuit in race two, Matheson again completing the podium left McGreevy and Phillips tied on points after the two races but the former was awarded the Enkalon Trophy with the second race determining the retains his lead at the top of the Ulster Superbike championship going into the third round of the series at Kirkistown on Easter took the chequered flag from Christian Elkin in both Supersport outings to collect the David Wood Trophy for the third Irwin was a double Supertwins victor, coming home ahead of former British 125cc champion Elkin on both occasions.
