As full transparency must always surround nominations to key public posts, there are legitimate questions about the circumstances in which the DUP politician Mervyn Storey was named last week as the new chair of the Education Authority (EA) board.
Mr Storey, a former DUP minister who lost his seat at the last Assembly election, was confirmed in the role by his party colleague, Paul Givan, who is in charge of the Department of Education.
The EA is a significant body, which, as its website sets out, is responsible for ensuring that efficient and effective primary and secondary education services are available to meet the needs of children and young people, and its chair draws an annual salary in the £50,000/£60,000 range, as well as travel and subsidence allowances, for working a minimum of three days per week.
Mr Storey is a senior DUP figure who was a North Antrim MLA for nearly 20 years, holding ministerial portfolios in both finance and social development, as well as serving two terms as chair of the Stormont education committee.
He was co-opted by the DUP to a seat on Causeway Coast and Glens Council after failing to secure re-election to the Assembly in 2022, and his nomination means that the most senior roles in both the EA and the education department belong to members of that party.
Mr Storey, a Free Presbyterian, has been open about his association with the creationist wing of the DUP, which insists that the world is less than 6,000 years old, a belief that he previously said should be taught in schools and included in an Ulster Museum exhibition on the origins of the universe.
He told The Irish Times in 2008 that only teaching evolution in schools is “an insidious indoctrination occurring in our education system”, a position which the Northern Ireland Humanists group has said raises serious concerns about his involvement at the top of the EA.
The Northern Ireland Teachers' Council, which represents the main teaching unions, has also expressed its unease, saying it was vital to demonstrate that all appointments in the field were fair and equitable.
While the education department said that Mr Storey, who has yet to respond to queries from this newspaper, was selected following a process in accordance with the code of practice issued by the commissioner for public appointments for Northern Ireland, it will be noted that the latter role has been vacant for the last three years.
This is an entirely unacceptable delay, meaning that hundreds of posts, including that of Mr Storey, have been filled without the scrutiny of an independent watchdog, and it is essential that a new commissioner should be found as soon as possible.
