DOWNING Street dismissed renewed speculation yesterday that Redcar MP and Cabinet Minister Mo Mowlam is to quit the Government after the next election.

Dr Mowlam was quoted in a newspaper interview as saying she planned to help schoolchildren in Northern Ireland by working with projects promoting integrated education in the province.

The vast majority of schools in the province are still segregated to cater for bitterly-divided Catholic and Protestant communities.

There has been persistent speculation at Westminster that Tony Blair wants to remove Dr Mowlam from the Cabinet.

It is known that she was unhappy at losing her job as Northern Ireland Secretary and has talked in the past about writing a book when she leaves office.

Dr Mowlam was quoted as saying: "I have not done much recently, but when I have time later, when I am no longer part of it (the Government), I would like very much to work on integrated education. I cannot do much at the moment because that would be unfair to Peter Mandelson.

"But if I go across to Northern Ireland on other business I would like to meet the integrated education people.

"You have to deal with some of the underlying attitudes and prejudice and one of the ways of doing that is through integrated education. It will take generations to achieve, but it is a very important aspect of building a lasting peace in Northern Ireland and something I believe in passionately."

A spokesman for the Cabinet Office said: "Dr Mowlam has made no secret of her strong support for integrated education in Northern Ireland. However, it would be wrong to confuse this with any intention of leaving the Cabinet. What happens beyond the election is pure speculation."