Hillary Clinton visits Derry schools to celebrate shared education success

Secretary Clinton was welcomed to St Mary's College and Limavady High School, which are located next to each other, by head boy and girl from both schools and she was given a guided tour. Mrs Clinton then unveiled two benches the pupils have dedicated to the connection between the schools and their young people before an honorary graduation ceremony to mark the contribution of principals from St Mary’s High School and Limavady High School in the development of the Shared Education model.

Mrs Clinton said: “It is such a great honor for me to be here as Chancellor of Queen’s University to commemorate and celebrate the extraordinary accomplishments that we see here today in furtherance of shared education.

“As Chancellor, as a mother and a grandmother, and as a friend of Northern Ireland, who prays for enduring peace, I could not be happier to share this historic and hopeful day with all of you.

“I was incredibly impressed by what I saw in the building for the STEM education. As I said to the students, I've been in hundreds of high schools in my own country, and I have never seen students building an airplane. I've asked to be kept informed. I know volunteers have been requested but, given what I could see as the professional commitment of these students, both young women and young men, to this enterprise, I think you'll be safe when that takes off.

“We are celebrating today a vision that really took hold more than 50 years ago. We are so pleased that the day has come when we can be demonstrating, in a very practical way, what this means to students and the community.

“The eight honorary graduates are educators who have spent their lives creating opportunities for students to learn, to expand their understanding of our world, and to engage with opposing viewpoints and values. Their efforts and the efforts of this school and the Row Valley community could not be more important or urgent.

“While we have been celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement at Queen's – and it is an enormous achievement for which the people of Northern Ireland deserve all of the credit – we know that the work for peace, prosperity, and progress that so many have committed their lives to continues. The journey is by no means finished. The work of sharing education, of expanding housing, of working to remove barriers and divisions in neighborhoods and to tackle persistent poverty and unemployment, are ones that have to be at the top of our list of priorities. No victory and no defeat is ever permanent. Every generation has to continue to do its part to both preserve and expand opportunity.

“We know at Queen's that 33 percent of school leavers in Northern Ireland leave to seek their futures elsewhere. The goal is to ensure that they can choose to remain here and follow their dreams.

"Institutions like this shared campus help build a bulwark against sectarianism and divisiveness, help to create a Northern Ireland where students, parents, members of the community come together in pursuit of common purpose.

“Queen's University's mission is transformation of knowledge and learning of individuals and societies, of leaving its mark on history and the world, and that is what today's honorary graduates have each achieved.

“They've led these schools and this community through a great transformation, one where students are working and learning side by side, playing sports, sharing ideas, building a shared community across deep divides that once seemed impossible.

“These are simple interactions really, but when considered in the context of history, the idea of young Protestants and Catholics, unionists and nationalists, republicans and loyalists, becoming one another's friends, teammates, and mentors, it's clear that these relationships themselves are transformative.

“That kind of interaction, of course, happens at Queen's. I've talked and met with students there who have told me that until they came to Queen's, they had never met someone from the other community, and now they are sharing space, sharing classrooms, sharing extracurricular activities, talking late into the night, which is part of being at university, and that is, in fact, transformative for them.

“I know how difficult it was to secure the Good Friday Agreement, how much work and sacrifice it took on all sides to bring about peace, and how much effort has continued to go in to implementing its tenets and building a new future, including a new government in Northern Ireland.

“There would not, however, be a Good Friday Agreement if there had not been teachers, principals, community leaders, citizens who did so much of the work of building and maintaining progress.

“The first time I came to Northern Ireland was in 1995. It was the first time a sitting United States president had come to this beautiful place and Bill and I were here to support the peace. A fragile ceasefire was in place.

“We chose to stay at the Europa Hotel, ‘the most bombed hotel in the world’. Half of it was boarded up, but we stayed in the unboarded one. More than 50,000 people gathered in that square with hearts full of hope, children on their shoulders, and a deep, deep conviction that something better could happen.

“I have met, here, and in many places people, especially young people, who were there that night. Bill and I read letters that we had received from school children across Northern Ireland

expressing their dreams for a peaceful future. One letter was from a 12-year-old girl named Kathy, and Kathy wrote, ‘All my life’, 12 years old, ‘all my life, I have only known guns and bombs with people fighting. Now it's different. There are no guns and bombs.

“She continued, ‘My dream for the future is that peace will be permanent, that one day Catholics and Protestants will be able to walk hand in hand and will be able to live in the same areas, and that when I have my own children, there still will be peace’.

“Twenty-five years later, Northern Ireland is that peaceful place that Kathy and thousands of other school children dreamed of. It is the place that so many of you have worked so hard to achieve.

“I thank you for showing not just Northern Ireland, but the world that this community, this community can do something that seemed impossible only a few years ago, and to work to build a more peaceful, prosperous, and stable society.”

Thomas Patson, head boy of St Mary's, Limavady said: "It’s just superb, someone like Secretary Hillary Clinton coming to Limavady and recognising the great achievements that both schools have made, which is probably due to the Good Friday Agreement. It's just amazing for someone like her to come to Limavady and it makes me feel really proud of my town.

"If every school that could do shared campus in Northern Ireland, did do it, it would be amazing for Northern Ireland. It would not only help just towns, but our politics as well, and progressing in life. It's great for Limavady, and I believe if it spreads across Northern Ireland, it'll do wonders for us.”

Jack McCorkle, Limavady High School head boy said: “At the Shared Campus, we share history together. Myself and Tom are in the same A-level and there's always room for discussion. Things like the Good Friday Agreement, issues that may not always be talked about, but should be talked about.

“We’re the generation that never really knew what happened before the Good Friday Agreement so it's important to learn about it and recognise it, but also move and look to the future.”

Madison Duff, Head Girl of Limavady High School said: “It's been a brilliant day today, I was a wee bit nervous, but seeing her come in and then shaking everyone's hands and chatting with the young people, it's nice to see. This visit is showing how far we've come since the Good Friday Agreement, 25 years ago, so it's definitely brilliant to see.

“I feel really, really proud to be attending school here. I come from Belfast and I had a bit of trouble during the GCSEs and I was going to drop out but I was given support and managed to stay on. So even standing here now, meeting Secretary Clinton, I think it's just fantastic and I'm really proud.

“I've been going to St Mary's as long as I've been going to Limavady High School, I did GCSE French here and I’m not doing A level history here.

"The shared education model is now even going down to primary school level. Drumachose PS, a mainly Protestant school and Termincanis, a mainly Catholic school were out here today and they’re practicing the same model as us, which is brilliant. Those kids are growing up appreciating each other's cultured and seeing that they're different, but they're not separate.”