McGuinness told Trimble and Mallon mission of new Executive must be ‘real and durable peace’
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The former Sinn Féin chief negotiator who was appointed Education Minister in 1999 wrote to the First Minister and Deputy First Minister in September 2000 outlining his views on the new Executive’s mission.
"We now have opportunity to make a significant and lasting difference for a community emerging from a long period of conflict and l think it is essential that we do seek to build a new society.
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Hide Ad"We cannot ignore recent history, and we must recognise a community which is divided by economics, belief, status and political allegiance. I think it is imperative therefore that a key priority, if not the key priority, in our Programme for Government should be the securing of a real and durable peace,” a memorandum dated September 6, 2000 states.


The file is among a series of public records dating from 2000 and 2001 that have been newly added to the CAIN (Conflict Archive on the Internet) website.
Mr. McGuinness continued: “We are a society coming out of conflict but we must establish ourselves as a modem, vibrant and skilled region with much to offer, particularly in an international context.
"I am convinced that education must be at the heart of the new administration’s thinking and that our policies and our allocations must reflect those priorities.”
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Hide AdThe then Education Minister highlighted the impact of deprivation on educational attainment.
"There are also clearly established links between poor educational performance and severe socioeconomic disadvantage, particularly the more marginalised young people, who feel rejected by the formal education and live in areas which have experienced severe conflict.
“There is also a high correlation between poor educational performance, deprivation and poor educational facilities with a result that an unacceptably high number of children have had a poor learning experience in poor buildings and resulting in poor performance.
"I am convinced that we must address the linkage between marginalisation, deprivation and poor education performance if we are to help build a new society,” he wrote.
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