Caitríona Ruane (born 1962) is a Sinn Féin politician who served as the Principal Deputy Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly from 2016 to 2017, and was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for South Down from 2003 to 2017.

[2] In the past Ruane has acted as director of the Féile an Phobail and chairperson of the St Patrick's Carnival Committee in Belfast.

[4] Ruane has faced opposition for her support for abolition of the 11-plus examination, originally planned by her predecessor Martin McGuinness.

[5] She has faced opposition from the Democratic Unionist Party[6] and Social Democratic and Labour Party[7] as well as from 30 grammar schools in Northern Ireland, causing them to form the AQE[8] (Association for Quality Education), which offered a replacement for the transfer examination.

[11] Director of the Governing Bodies Association, which represents Northern Irish grammar schools, John Hart, said, "I think the minister is fooling only herself in trying to convince us that the debate surrounding academic selection is over.