Public meeting called to address ‘deplorable state’ of Markethill High School

A public meeting is to be held in Markethill next month to address the “deplorable state” of the Markethill High School building.

The purpose of the event, which will be held on Monday September 16, under the auspices of Markethill District Loyal Orange Lodge No. 10, is to hear the thoughts of the local community.

The school, which was built in 1959 for 200 pupils, currently has over 500 pupils and has suffered from years of underfunding.

In the intervening years since its opening, mobile classrooms have been erected to accommodate the growing number of pupils attending the school.

However, questions have been raised to why the school has not seen any significant capital investment to help it cope with the demand.

In a statement released by the Markethill District Orange Lodge this week, a spokesperson said: “The vast deficiency in facilities has existed for decades. In September 2024 we are entering a phase where a third generation of Markethill children will have their secondary education delivered in prefabricated huts.”

The statement continued: “The Markethill community, all of the Markethill community, are tired of empty gestures and promises from our political leaders. We have been in a continual cycle of raising the plight of our children and the school, lip-service given from political leaders and representatives, and then nothing. Nothing.

“We are aware resources are finite. We have been told that many, many times. Resources have always been and always are finite. Yet over the past two decades they have been found when the will was there to find them. They are still being found.

“There is a general feeling on the ground, a consensus, an ‘atmosphere’, that is different than ever before. The Markethill community has had its children left behind because it has listened to politicians when asked, waited when asked, and perhaps to our greatest detriment, believed what we were told.

“There is a new unanimity that words are no longer acceptable. Politely waiting cap in hand is no longer an option.”

The District added that they are only acting as facilitators of the meeting, and that all the community are asked to attend to make their voices heard.

More details of the event, including the venue, are to be announced in the coming weeks.

A number of politicians have been invited to participate in the meeting, including councillors; Paul Berry, Gareth Wilson, Gordon Kennedy and Keith Ratcliffe, alongside Paul Givan, Education Minister and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, who is a past-pupil of the school.