{"podcast":{"title":"Stormont Sources","slug":"stormont-sources-7219509","podcast_index_feed_id":7219509,"rss_url":"https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/67a0e00da78c5e076777bb77","website_url":"https://stormontsources.com","image_url":"https://assets.pippa.io/shows/67a0e00da78c5e076777bb77/1770832650513-b2585af7-4b85-4d15-929d-fd3d5f5db9f2.jpeg","author":"Shortbread Media","episode_count":83,"summary":"Welcome inside politics in Northern Ireland. Listen to the podcast which brings you analysis, insight and experience from Stormont. Join journalist, David McCann, plus Tim Cairns, a former Special Advisor to Peter Robinson and Head of Policy for the DUP and Micheal McKernan, a former Special Advisor in the SDLP worked in the Executive from 2007-2016. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-24T04:21:38.973444+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/stormont-sources-7219509"},"episode":{"title":"EXCLUSIVE: Education Minister Paul Givan: \"The Critics are Wrong\"","slug":"exclusive-education-minister-paul-givan-the-critics-are-wrong","published_at":"2026-03-25T20:52:42+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/stormont-sources-7219509/exclusive-education-minister-paul-givan-the-critics-are-wrong","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/stormont-sources-7219509","url":"https://stormontsources.com/","audio_url":"https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/67a0e00da78c5e076777bb77/e/69c44b0e176efa5257ade90f/media.mp3","summary":"Minister of Education Paul Givan joins Stormont Sources to issue a direct rebuttal to critiques of his landmark 'TransformEd' policy. Two weeks ago, we heard from Sinn Féin and Alliance members of the Education Committee. Today, the Minister himself responds to what he calls \"misrepresentations\" of his reforms. From the abolition of AS-Levels to the \"test factory\" culture in NI schools, we go into the weeds of the most significant education shake-up in a generation. In this episode, we discuss: The Rebuttal: Why Paul Givan issued a Ministerial Statement specifically about this podcast. TransformEd Explained: Addressing the 10 \"myths\" of the new curriculum. Exam Overhaul: The move away from modular GCSEs and the future of A-Levels. The Academic Selection \"Elephant\": Why the Minister isn't touching the transfer test. Stormont Culture: Is the atmosphere between parties becoming \"toxic\"? The DUP & Minimum Unit Pricing: Why the party is blocking Mike Nesbitt's health policy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","meta_description":"Minister of Education Paul Givan joins Stormont Sources to issue a direct rebuttal to critiques of his landmark 'TransformEd' policy. Two weeks ago, we he…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":4360,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/stormont-sources-7219509/episodes/exclusive-education-minister-paul-givan-the-critics-are-wrong/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/stormont-sources-7219509/exclusive-education-minister-paul-givan-the-critics-are-wrong.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}