Official rap for ex-MLA Brown

Official rap for ex-MLA Brown

10 July 2024

FORMER Alliance Assembly member Patrick Brown has been found to have breached Stormont's code of conduct in his actions towards a Newcastle school.

A report by the Standards and Privileges Committee has found his conduct in relation to Shimna Integrated College brought the Assembly into disrepute.

Mr Brown quit his South Down seat in April before he was due to appear in front of the committee.

At the time he said he was resigning for “personal reasons” and that the investigation "had no bearing" on his reasons for resigning.

A complaint had been made to the Assembly’s Standards Commissioner, Melissa McCullough, by the principal of Newcastle’s Shimna Integrated College and the chair of the school’s board of governors.

Her report was then forwarded to the Standards and Privileges Committee, which is made up of a number of MLAs.

The committee upheld four of the eight allegations against Mr Brown, who had complained to the school about governance issues and his unsuccessful application to become a governor.

The committee report stated that Mr Brown was found to have breached the MLA code of conduct “when he conflated his own personal interest with the public interest and failed to address the conflict of interest in favour of the latter”.

He was also found to have breached the code by not disclosing his relationship with a current Shimna College governor.

The report said Mr Brown was responsible for failing to disclose that he knew the governor and that his relationship with her “included sharing information relating to his own DE [Department of Education] governor application”.

The commissioner stated in the report: “It is my view that Dr Brown did not disclose the fact that he was sharing information with and receiving information from because he knew it was inappropriate.”

Mr Brown was also found to have breached Assembly rules by using his MLA letterhead in complaint correspondence “to improperly confer an advantage for himself”.

The committee also agreed that Mr Brown had brought the Assembly into disrepute by failing to observe principles of "selflessness and objectivity".

Committee chair, Sinn Fein’s Carál Ní Chuilín, said the committee would have recommended an “appropriate sanction” to the Assembly if Mr Brown had remained an MLA.

Shimna college principal Steve Pagan said he and the board of governors welcomed the committee’s findings.

He continued: “I would like to thank Dr Melissa McCullough, the Commissioner for Standards at the Northern Ireland Assembly, for her scrupulous guidance throughout this process and the committee for its comprehensive investigation. Their reports underline the importance and value of the Nolan Principles in public life.

“I would like pay tribute to the board of governors at Shimna for its commitment and fortitude during this difficult period.

“No less than any other school, we are sustained by the selfless dedication of our governors, most of whom are current parents or staff, who give up their time freely to serve the college.

“The priority of the principal and board remains the education and welfare of our students. We will continue to work with parents, carers and our wider community to ensure that, as an integrated college, we continue to provide an excellent, inclusive education for our young people.”

Mr Pagan added: “We look forward to moving on from this affair and focusing exclusively on the business of running and governing the college.”

In a statement posted on Facebook, Mr Brown said: “Everything I did in relation to this case was done in the interests of representing dozens of constituents who brought a wide variety of serious concerns about the school to me over a two-year period. 

“The only wrongdoing I accept is that I got too involved in a case in an effort to save a much-loved local school from itself.

“If I am guilty for going above and beyond what an MLA was 'meant to do' then so be it.

“I believe that all along this complaint was a vexatious attempt by the school's current leadership to expose those who brought concerns to me.”

A group calling itself the Shimna College Support Group has said it supports Mr Brown.

Meanwhile, Strangford MLA Michelle McIlveen is one five DUP MLAs who have been found to have breached Stormont’s ministerial code of conduct for boycotting the North South Ministerial Council in protest at the Irish Sea border.