Ardoyne residents accused of reneging on school pledge

Protestant residents have been accused of reneging on an agreement to call off their protest at a Catholic primary school in …

Protestant residents have been accused of reneging on an agreement to call off their protest at a Catholic primary school in north Belfast.

A group representing the parents of children attending Holy Cross primary school said it had been led to believe the loyalist Concerned Residents of Upper Ardoyne (CRUA) would suspend their six-week picket following a meeting of both sides on Wednesday evening.

The protests continued on Thursday and yesterday.

The Right to Education Committee yesterday produced a document, which it said the CRUA and parents had signed up to.

READ MORE

However, a spokesman for the CRUA, Mr Stuart McCartney, said the document, jointly drawn up by Sinn FΘin MLA Mr Gerry Kelly and PUP MLA Mr Billy Hutchinson, had been rejected three weeks ago because no mechanism had been agreed to implement its proposals .

He said the CRUA was being asked to suspend its protests without any reciprocation being shown to Protestant residents.

The document acknowledged that grievances existed on both sides of the community and that "schools, doctors, shops and all other public facilities should be safely accessed by all residents no matter what their beliefs or the location of the public facilities".

Meanwhile, a suggestion by the CRUA to resolve the dispute was rejected by parents yesterday.

Mr McCartney had called on the Belfast Education and Library Board to provide buses to take children along the Ardoyne Road to Holy Cross school.

The chairman of the board of governors, Father Aidan Troy, said he did not believe the plan was acceptable.

The Chief Commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission has said it is unacceptable for any child to be intimidated on the way to or from school, and that such action breached international human rights standards.

Prof Brice Dickson said he recognised the right of people to protest, but protests "should always be peaceful and non-threatening". He called on all parties respect one another's human rights.