Alliance condemns school pickets

Children have been escorted to school

Loyalist protests at a Catholic primary school in north Belfast have been condemned by the new leader of the cross-community Alliance Party.

David Ford hit out at the "pious waffle" that there were two sides to the ongoing dispute outside Holy Cross Girls' Primary School in Ardoyne.

The security forces have had to escort children and their parents to and from the school every day for the last seven weeks.

David Ford: Condemned protest

The school is situated in a mainly Protestant part of nationalist Ardoyne.

Protestant residents of Glenbryn say they are protesting because of alleged attacks on their community by republicans, as well as the route the children take to school.

But Mr Ford, speaking as he addressed his party's annual conference in Belfast on Saturday, said children had an "absolute right to attend school."

He said: "Four-year-old girls have a right not to be abused, harassed and frightened on a twice daily basis."

"Police officers should not have pipe bombs thrown at them while escorting pupils to school.

"There should not be anything to discuss because the school protest is immoral and should end immediately."

The Holy Cross protest has been relatively peaceful in recent weeks, but it erupted into serious violence in September.

Tensions whipped up by the dispute have spilled onto the streets of north Belfast at night in recent weeks.

Integrated

The Northern Ireland Office has been trying to broker talks between the Catholic and Protestant residents of Ardoyne. So far, one face-to-face meeting has been held this term.

Meanwhile, Mr Ford said there was a need to tackle sectarianism and racism in society, which he said, had become more overt since the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

The Alliance, he said, wanted greater support for integrated education and would enter talks with the main churches.

His comments came as the party was urged to lobby Northern Ireland's main churches for more support in achieving integrated education.

Acting president Colm Cavanagh told delegates that the current dominant systems of teaching Protestants and Catholics separately had been "profoundly hurtful" to the province.

He said: "I call on our Alliance Party, either on its own initiative, or with other political parties, to meet the churches and raise this issue.

"How do the churches intend to improve the situation?"

More integrated schools would enable the expensive segregated school system to be scrapped and provide more money for teaching and resources, he said.

During his speech, Mr Cavanagh said it was vital to separate religion from politics.