Irish Republican News and Information, 10 January 2002, http://irlnet.com/rmlist/ 

VIOLENCE AGAINST CATHOLIC SCHOOL-GOERS 'WORSE THAN EVER'

The Holy Cross school remained closed indefinitely today pending a new round of emergency talks to end the conflict. Meanwhile, the Catholic Our Lady of Mercy school on the Crumlin Road is under attack again today, where loyalists smashed vehicle windscreens and doors, according to reports.

Some of the worst clashes in months took place last night in north Belfast after fighting erupted as Catholic parents walked their children home from their neighbourhood school.

The Holy Cross girls school in Ardoyne has been the focus of loyalist intimidation in north Belfast since June, when children and parents were attacked by loyalist stone throwers. The escalating scenes of violence and bigotry against school-going families have reminded many of the US civil rights campaign.

Although loyalists agreed to "suspend" their blockade of the school last month, the trouble flared up again yesterday when a Catholic mother was punched in the face by a loyalist.

The loyalists had been hanging about verbally abusing and spitting at women making their way to the school at the end of lessons.

“We were walking down the road when three men tried to push into one of the mothers who had her daughter’s hand,” she said.

“When she put her hand up to protect herself one of them punched her in the face. After that everyone just started to run. Then the loyalist siren went off and they started to come from everywhere.”

As news of the incident spread and parents made their way to the school, sirens and horns were sounded in the loyalist Glenbryn estate and a car containing some loyalists and followed by a crowd of up to 30 others drove into the school grounds, blocking the gates. The loyalists then attacked the school.

Glenbryn residents then blocked the Ardoyne Road and forced a stand off. Pupils trapped in the school and their parents were eventually brought out through an emergency exit and were bussed from the school along the Crumlin Road to the Ardoyne Shops.

Another parent, John Murphy, had been collecting his child from the school when loyalists tried to ram the school gates with a car.

“They drove right into the school grounds and tried to knock people down,” he said.

“They reversed and knocked the school principal, Mrs Tanney, off her feet.

“After that we had to take the children out of the school through the back gates.”

The bus evacuating the Holy Cross girls, some as young as four, was attacked by loyalists on Ardoyne Road, who pelted it with stones and missiles. The bus was attacked when it was forced to stop as it approached a lorry working on speed bumps on Ardoyne Road, leaving the children terrified and crying hysterically.

“I could not believe what was happening as grown men and women were throwing missiles at children as young as four, five and six years old," said one mother.

She said she believed the attack had been planned. “Where did they all come from? How did such a large group of people get to the bus so soon after it had stopped?” she asked.

“The whole thing is madness. They have terrorised these children for months and when they suspended their protest they got £18 million to help their area.

“When I went back to get to the school to get my other girl, I couldn’t even get to it because of all the trouble on the Ardoyne Road – is that what they call a suspension of the protest?”

The trouble intensified as loyalists came out onto the Upper Ardoyne Road from Hesketh and another mob came from Twaddell Avenue. It was at this point that three nationalist men were hit by gunfire, believed to bew shotgun blasts. One of the men was taken to hospital with serious head injuries.

Fr Aidan Troy, who said he was deeply shocked by the scenes, revealed that he had received a telephone call from police shortly after 2.30pm.

“It was the one phone call I was dreading. I hoped that call would never come, but it did and now things are worse than ever before,” he said.

“I went up to the school and spoke to the teachers and parents who were deeply shocked. It was very tense and there were children still in the school at the time. Luckily they were able to be brought out of the school through the back gate to safety.”

Fr Troy said the school would be closed today and he did not know when the children would be able to return to classes.

“We hoped that this was all over but now it is worse than ever,” he said.

As the situation deteriorated, loyalists and nationalists threw missiles across RUC police lines. A number of Catholic homes came under attack in the same area.

After a lull of about two hours, the nearby Mercy primary school on the Upper Crumlin Road was also attacked by loyalists and as the RUC police moved in, at least two nationalists were run over by Land Rovers. One suffered serious leg injuries. Another woman was injured in a hit and run by a car believed to be driven by loyalists.

Serious rioting then spread throughout the area and loyalists petrol bombed an unmarked armoured police car. The RUC fired a number of plastic bullets at nationalists, injuring two.

Holy Cross parents spokesman Brendan Mailey said that tensions had been high since the children’s return to school on Monday.

“There were a number of incidents on Tuesday when loyalists taunted and spat on some of the parents,” he said.

“We hoped that we could diffuse these incidents through dialogue.

“The last thing we wanted was to be back in this situation.

“It looks as if everything has been lost. Now we’re in a situation where we don’t know when or even if our children will get back to school.”

Sinn Féin MLA for North Belfast, Mr Gerry Kelly, said the attacks were clearly coordinated. "It is obvious to me by the way in which the mobs came out of Glenbryn, Twaddell Avenue and Hesketh at the sound of horns and sirens that loyalists were planning this. I blame the UDA. Their sectarian agenda is once again coming to the fore."

He urged unionist politicians to challenge those responsible for the violence and "get it under control".

Education Minister Martin McGuinness said he was deeply concerned that Holy Cross children had been caught up in more violence.

“I am profoundly disappointed at today’s developments and I would urge local political and community representatives to engage in an honest dialogue to prevent further escalation and to resolve

this situation,” he said.