Republican News · Thursday 11 October 2001

Hope for Holy Cross?

Belated as it is, the meeting on Tuesday night between loyalist representatives from the Glenbryn estate and the Right to Education Group from Ardoyne is to be welcomed as a long awaited sign that there may yet be light at the end of the Holy Cross tunnel.

However, the taunting of Fr Aidan Troy, who has distinguished himself in his resolve throughout six weeks of continued loyalist protests, marked yet another low this week.

The priest, chairperson of the school's board of management, had quite rightly branded the six-week protest an 'abuse of children'. He was speaking following the school board's decision to seek legal advice as to how it could pursue the issue through the courts. Of course, face-to-face talks with Glenbryn residents were preferred, but not forthcoming.

On Tuesday morning, leading the children to school, Fr Troy was confronted with personally insulting banners: 'Join The Priesthood - Earn Your Right To Abuse Children', was one, 'Fr Troy - what would you know about child abuse?' was another. It marked a new low on the part of loyalist protestors.

Eleven girls have left Holy Cross School so far due to the trauma of having balloons filled with urine, blast bombs, and verbal abuse directed at them on their way to school. The world has looked on with shock, but despite political pressure for the protests to stop, loyalists, with strong support from the UDA, have carried on regardless.

While a resolution is hopefully now possible, the point is that this should never have been allowed happen. David Trimble, the British government and others have supported this sectarian campaign by ignoring the children's plight. For the past six weeks, decommissioning, decommissioning, and decommissioning has dominated the newspaper headlines.

While the British government is allowing the political institutions to fall around our ears, apparently because of silent guns, the abuse of children has been treated as a civil right, an impression reinforced for parents on Wednesday by the refusal of Human Rights Commissioner Bryce Dickson to walk the road with them.

Holy Cross parents, to their credit, have refused to be treated as second-class citizens. If only John Reid et al shared their determination.