Larne FC's Kenny Bruce and fashion designer Geraldine Connon give their views on Larne High School integration proposals

The school will be running a formal ballot on the plans in May, with a series of parental information sessions planned at the end of April.

In a statement on social media, the Sallagh Park school wrote: “We believe that integration provides a greater say for parents in school life as we develop a school community to reflect the local community, strengthen respect and understanding of all beliefs and backgrounds and continue to improve achievement to prepare young people for life together after school.”

The first parent information sessions on the integration ballot will take place at the school on Tuesday, April 30, with the session to be replicated online to allow all parents the chance to hear more about the proposals.

A number of well-known local faces have recorded their own messages of support over the plans, from local fashion designer Geraldine Connon to Larne FC’s Kenny Bruce.

Geraldine said: “The world is changing fast. We must make every effort to educate our children, widen their outlook, and prepare them for positive social interaction.

“School time, alongside studies is the perfect environment to enable barriers that hinder self expression and narrow social interaction to be broken down, especially in formative teenage years.

"The opportunities that integrated education brings are immeasurable to our youth and I believe the very essence of it will offer and cultivate tolerance and respect amongst students as they start to face the challenges of fast-approaching adulthood. I myself come from an integrated education background; I didn’t suffer from it, I didn’t lose myself, and it has certainly helped me in my career.”

Kenny Bruce said both he, and Larne FC were ‘fully supportive’ of the school’s desire to become integrated. “We have seen over the seven years that I’ve been back involved in Larne FC a seismic change in how people interact with each other across the Larne community,” he added.

"We’ve seen already with the Corran integrated school how popular that has become with families right across our community. We believe as a football club, and I personally believe that integrated school education will be a significant step forward again in making sure that our community be more successful in the future.”