evidence: Another legacy is the way devolved administrations are funded. Originally Northern Ireland was to be self-sufficient but this soon proved to be impractical. [...] There were new education acts for England and Scotland at this time, but Prof Walker says the Northern Ireland act was "geared towards particular Northern Ireland conditions" taking into account the role of grammar schools and the Catholic sector. [...] "The unionist government deserves credit for that because they had to face down opposition from within their own party who disliked the aspect of the act which increased funding for the Catholic schools.