Stormont school portraits taking social media by storm
- Published
It started with a tweet.
When Education Minister Peter Weir visited a County Londonderry primary school on Thursday, the main item on the agenda was a bid for funding to improve the school grounds.
St Brigid's in Mayogall is "in dire need of investment", according to principal Mary O'Kane, and so, in an effort to impress the minister ahead of his arrival, primary seven pupils set about painting a series of portraits of ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive, which were proudly displayed in the school hallway.
Whether or not their endeavours secured the school's future funding remains to be seen, but the eye-catching display, later posted by Mr Weir on social media, provoked great debate amongst Stormont politicians on Friday morning.
"Suffice to say some of us come out better than others," he tweeted, with a smiling emoji.
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Justice Minister Naomi Long was among the first to respond, saying: "I need my eyebrows done."
Health Minister Robin Swann replied: "Fantastic display and it looks as if I'm one of my all time heroes, with a beard!"
The hero? Mr Benn, an icon of 1970s children's TV.
Stormont's school portraits
Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill gave a special shout out to the "budding artist" who painted her portrait.
"It's fantastic to see the children taking an interest in politics, and I can't wait to meet you all very soon."
Communities Minister Carál Ní Chuilín was the most controversial of interpretations as many saw a resemblance to former Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
She took the comparison on the chin, replying: "Hate the thought of looking like Thatcher but absolutely love these paintings and the creativity of the kids. Well done."
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Principal Mary O'Kane said she was delighted the pictures had brought "a bit of colour to an otherwise grey morning", on which further Covid restrictions were introduced across Northern Ireland.
"It's very obvious who some of them are, for example, Naomi long, but some of us here in the school thought Peter Weir looked more like the GAA pundit Joe Brolly.
"It's a bit of fun and all I can say is that there was definitely no offence intended to anyone in the executive and we're glad they all seem to have taken it in good spirit," she said.
Spot the difference: Education Minister Peter Weir (left), his portrait and GAA pundit Joe Brolly
Mrs O'Kane said the attention has "raised the children's spirits after such a difficult year".
"There've been lots of worries and fears being expressed by the children this week - is Christmas going to be okay? Are we going to get our presents? Are we going to see our grandparents? So this has boosted morale for the whole school on what would otherwise have been a fairly bleak morning."
She also confirmed that Sinn Féin's Sean McPeake had not been elevated to ministerial status, but was included in the poster because he is a local councillor and is on the school's board of governors.
An invite to Stormont
"He has always really encouraged the inclusion of politics in the school curriculum as he believes it will make the children politically astute as adults, so we thought he deserved a place on the poster."
Mr McPeake welcomed the apparent promotion with a tweet that read simply: "Brilliant Lavey kids!"
The portraits have won the class a tour of Stormont when it reopens.
In his invitation, Finance Minister Conor Murphy thanked the students for "brightening my day" with a depiction which drew comparison to former US president Bill Clinton.
He added: "I am particularly grateful as the painting of me is a serious improvement on the real thing."
And although the paint has barely dried on the first installation, a second was being curated on Friday morning with a different theme - BBC presenters.
"They heard it suggested on Good Morning Ulster and that was all the incentive they needed, so they're working away in there and Mr Stephen Nolan is already underway. And I have to say that the one everybody wanted to paint was the very handsome Barra Best - they were fighting over him."
The results? Judging by the efforts seen by BBC News NI late on Friday, the school's budding Van Goghs have once again brushed up a storm. Judge for yourself below.
Portraits of BBC presenters, clockwise from top left: Donna Traynor; Cecilia Daly; Angie Phillips; Chris Buckler; Mark Carruthers; Stephen Nolan