The future of the Holy Cross girls primary school in north Belfast is now in doubt because of a large drop in pupils enrolling at the school, the chairman of the board of governors, Father Aidan Troy, has admitted.
Father Troy warned that the escalating sectarian violence in north, south, and east Belfast and the increasing number of attacks on schools threatened a wider crisis in education. After another period of sporadic violence in and outside Belfast, he confirmed only 19 children had applied for first-year primary class at the school, almost 50 per cent down on the figure enrolling last year.
Father Troy told The Irish Times the three-month loyalist protest at the school last year was a significant factor in the drop in numbers. He said the school could continue at the current enrolment but if the trend continued it could be forced to close.
"The decrease that we are experiencing is worrying but it is not sufficient in itself to cause us to question the viability of the school. But should you have a few years of that, the writing definitely would be on the wall."
Father Troy said there would be a determined attempt to reverse the trend, if that were possible. He warned also that other recent attacks on schools could undermine education structures around Belfast and elsewhere.
He made his comments about education generally after recent attacks on three schools and a third-level college. The Holy Rosary school at Sunnyside Crescent in south Belfast was petrol-bombed early yesterday.
Early on Saturday morning, there was an arson attack on Our Lady and St Patrick's school at Gilnahirk in east Belfast, while on Friday, loyalists attempted to single out and threaten Catholic students attending the Tower Street campus of the Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education in east Belfast.
The Sinn Féin education minister, Mr Martin McGuinness, condemning these incidents, said, "The primary responsibility to help prevent further attacks lies with political and community leaders. I call on every one in a position of responsibility in our society to make it clear that these attacks are totally unacceptable."
