Sinn Féin MLA John O’Dowd has confirmed that the party’s MLAs will support a motion to recall the Assembly to address the difficulties around exam grading.

The former education minister and party chief whip said:

“Sinn Féin had hoped to see significant movement from the Education Minister over the weekend to address the exam grading crisis.  

“In the absence of any necessary action by the Minister, Sinn Féin will support the recall of the Assembly to discuss an agreed motion based on the position adopted by the Education Committee on Friday.

“This is a sensible and responsible approach to finding a solution to the current difficulties.

“I am pleased that the SDLP has now withdrawn their earlier motion which had failed to attract sufficient support from other MLAs and was a transparent attempt to score political points rather than resolve the issue.

“I am confident that the new agreed motion will attract the necessary support to ensure the Assembly is recalled and will properly focus on the need for urgent action from the Education Minister to sort out this crisis.”