Sinn Fein education spokesperson John O’Dowd takes to the floor in Stormont’s Great Hall to explain why his party stayed away from last week’s all-party talks on the future of the 11-plus, calling them a “publicity stunt”.

The talks follow an Assembly vote that found narrowly in favour of introducing an interim test based on numeracy and literacy for next year’s P7 (last year of primary) pupils.

But almost all of Northern Ireland’s grammar schools are already defying Government guidelines, introduced by Sinn Fein, by setting their own entrance exams, and more than 13,000 pupils will be taking the tests in November. mr.