Caitríona Ruane
| Caitríona Ruane | |
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Ruane in 2014
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| Principal Deputy Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly | |
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Assumed office 12 May 2016 |
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| Preceded by | Robin Newton |
| Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for South Down |
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In office 26 November 2003 – 26 January 2017 |
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| Preceded by | Mick Murphy |
| Succeeded by | Election in progress |
| Minister of Education | |
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In office 8 May 2007 – 5 May 2011 |
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| Preceded by | Martin McGuinness |
| Succeeded by | John O'Dowd |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
19 July 1962 Swinford, Republic of Ireland |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Political party | Sinn Féin |
| Website | SF election page |
Caitríona Ruane (born 1962) is a Sinn Féin politician, the Principal Deputy Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly and a former member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for South Down.
In the first Northern Ireland Executive under First Minister Ian Paisley and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness she was appointed Minister of Education. She faced opposition over the scrapping of the Transfer Examination (11-plus) and her subsequent plans for a replacement. She was replaced by John O'Dowd after the 2011 election.
Ruane is a former professional tennis player who represented Ireland in the Fed Cup. She now lives in Carlingford, County Louth and is married with two children. In the past Ruane has acted as director of the Féile an Phobail and chairperson of the St Patrick's Carnival Committee in Belfast.
Ruane was a prominent member of the Bring Them Home campaign for the Colombia Three, which sought the safe return of three Irishmen later convicted in their absence in Colombia of training FARC insurgents.
Ruane has faced opposition for her support for abolition of the 11-plus examination, originally planned by her predecessor Martin McGuinness. She has faced opposition from the Democratic Unionist Party and Social Democratic and Labour Party as well as from 30 grammar schools in Northern Ireland, causing them to form the AQE (Association for Quality Education), which offered a replacement for the transfer examination. She was alleged to have delayed the publication of a report which showed that public opinion favoured academic selection.
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