Duchess's school visit to go ahead

The Duchess of Abercorn, whose planned trip to a Catholic primary school in Co Tyrone was cancelled last month because of fears…

The Duchess of Abercorn, whose planned trip to a Catholic primary school in Co Tyrone was cancelled last month because of fears of an anti-royalty picket, will today make her visit to the Pomeroy school.

The rescheduled visit follows the recent intervention of the Sinn Fein Minister of Education, Mr Martin McGuinness.

The duchess was to visit St Mary's primary school to tell pupils about the Pushkin Prize, a literary award scheme for children throughout Ireland which she promotes.

Her trip was cancelled at the last minute after a local Sinn Fein councillor, Mr Finbar Conway, issued a statement saying he had been contacted by concerned parents who objected to "British royalty" visiting their children's school.

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The duchess, a great-great-granddaughter of the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, has been promoting the scheme for almost 13 years in schools in Ireland, North and South.

She said last night she was "delighted that the visit is back on track". The duchess said she had been speaking to Mr McGuinness's department. "The Minister for Education has been talking to people and he has arranged for it all to go ahead," she said.

The duchess said she was very happy to get the chance to speak to the children. "I'll spend an hour speaking with the children about Pushkin and getting them to tell me their stories. I'm really looking forward to going there and seeing the children."