Liam Neeson passes on congratulations to Ballymena school for moving towards integrated status

The movie star said: “I pass on my heartiest congratulations to everyone at Ballymena Nursery School.

"In particular, I want to wholeheartedly commend the parents who have bravely voted to show their support for integrated education for their children.

"I wish the entire school community the very best as they undertake the journey towards integration.”

In order to begin the process to become an Integrated nursery school, a parental ballot is held and the majority of parents must vote in favour of the change in status.

Principal of Ballymena Nursery School, Jacqueline Coulter, commented: “We are delighted with the positive result of the parental ballot.

"As a school which values and strives to be inclusive, this result reflects the desire to create an exciting, shared future together at Ballymena Nursery School.

"The entire school community, teachers and board of governors are looking forward to working closely with the Council for Integrated Education and the Integrated Education Fund (IEF) to ensure that the already inclusive ethos of Ballymena Nursery School is further strengthened, as we proceed through the process to become fully integrated.”

Tina Merron, chief executive of the Integrated Education Fund, said: “I commend the board of governors for giving their parents this opportunity. The results from other parental ballots held in recent years suggest that when parents are informed and engaged on the issue of integrated status for their child’s school, then an overwhelming majority tend to vote in favour.”