INTEGRATED education advocates have welcomed an unexpected boost from Hollywood star Jamie Dornan at the gala premiere of his new film.
The Co Down-born father-of-three was applauded by the audience and his fellow actors and director Sir Kenneth Branagh when he spoke out during a question and answer session following the screening of Belfast at the Waterfront Hall on Thursday.
The film is set in the city in 1969, with Dornan playing a father who is wrestling with the decision to remain as the Troubles begins to tear the community apart - or leave for a new life in England.
Sir Kenneth based the script on his own family's departure from Tiger's Bay in north Belfast when he was a child.
Dornan said he was "lucky enough to go to an integrated school, that was the benefit of being middle-class" and said he has "never known sectarianism and I'm so glad that I haven't".
He said `at the very least' all primary schools should be integrated as soon as possible, saying "only something like five per cent of schools in Northern Ireland are integrated and that should be so much higher because it has to start with our young people".
The Co Down actor said he had benefited greatly from attending what he described as a `50/50' school in Methodist College Belfast.
Out of 1,136 schools in Northern Ireland there are only 72 formally integrated schools and colleges and despite the growing support for integrated education there has been no new post primary school opened in almost 20 years.
Frances Lowry, co-chair of the Mid Down Integrated College Steering Group said they are "delighted" the actor "is an advocate of integrated education" and "used such a high profile platform" to raise awareness.
She said integrated education "gives children of all backgrounds the opportunity to learn side by side and, by promoting mutual respect and understanding, breaks down barriers and fosters cross-community relations".
"While a recent survey has shown that support for integrated education is growing, with 71 per cent believing it should be the `main model' for Northern Ireland's education system, only seven per cent of children here attend integrated schools.
".... We have recently submitted a proposal to the Education Authority to establish a new Integrated Post Primary School in the Mid Down area that would accommodate 600 pupils and include a sixth form."
Their proposal has already won support from former boxer Carl Frampton, who also hails from Tiger's Bay.
He is an ambassador for the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education.
