The North’s education minister Caitriona Ruane has hit out at a newspaper for reporting that she took her child out of school during term time.
The Sinn Féin minister confirmed the report that she took her 12-year-old daughter, who goes to school in the Republic, on a three-day trip to Cyprus.
Ms Ruane said this morning that it was “very unfair for any newspaper to bring my daughter into the limelight like that”.
"She's 12 years of age. She came with me for three days to Cyprus. I'm a mother and I'm a minister," she told RTÉ's Morning Irelandwhen asked about the Irish News report.
Asked if parents should be allowed to take their children out of school she added: ““Obviously it is better that children are in school every single day. And that’s my position but I also have to take into account if I’m away for a few days what does that mean, my child being left at home.”