Catholic schoolgirls and their parents at the Holy Cross school, which stands in a Protestant enclave of the Catholic Ardoyne, have suffered violent verbal abuse from Protestants as they try to walk to school. A Passionist priest who has walked with them tells his story.

All pupils going back to school after the summer holidays have a lot to contend with on their first day back. Those as young as four years of age going to Holy Cross Girls? School in Belfast on 3 September faced the prospect of doing so in the midst of serious violence and huge media attention.

When trying to establish the origins of the awful scenes that were beamed around the world last week, a lot depends on who you speak with. Loyalists putting up flags for the marching season claim to have been set upon by some parents waiting to meet their children. Others say that this is not so. Therein lies an element of this dispute. Rumour, gossip, suspicion run rife. In the real situation of North Belfast and particularly Ardoyne it is not possible very often to agree on what causes events. It is a bit like asking a number of witnesses to an accident what happened. Everyone saw the accident, but the accounts are so different.

As far as I am concerned, when someone has an issue about something, I will listen. There must be a mutual acceptance of issues, even if people believe that what the other is saying is not true. Otherwise the catcalling will go on. I appreciated a statement this week from Dr David Stevens, the general secretary of the Irish Council of Churches. He explained the situation by saying: Protestants in Glenbryn feel under siege and feel intimidated when they go to the shops and post office. The wider picture is of a growing sense of alienation in the working-class Protestant community in Northern Ireland and in North Belfast in particular. It feels that it is losing and the other community is gaining.

The origin of this present dispute goes back to the end of last term in June. Sincere and strenuous efforts to resolve the dispute failed over the summer months. I arrived on the scene on 5 August as chairman of the board of governors and parish priest. I could see at once that there was the potential for serious disorder and possible violence to the children. Nothing could have prepared me for the traumatic week that was to materialise as term began.

The week before Holy Cross Girls? School reopened, I spoke with the teachers. I encouraged them to be confident, hopeful and serene. I prayed with the people of Holy Cross parish at each Sunday Mass for the peaceful return to school of pupils. On Monday, 3 September, the parents assembled at the end of Ardoyne Road to walk to school with their children, some of them going to school for the first time. The security arrangements had been made known to me by police and army. All was in place and with some foreboding we set off up the Ardoyne Road. To our horror and terror we were greeted by a vicious and most terrifying reaction from the Loyalist residents. We were spat upon, cursed, jeered, mocked and ridiculed. Special and particular venom was directed at the mothers. The priests, Fr Gray Donegan and myself, were also singled out for serious verbal abuse.

Arriving at the school gates in a state of shock, we thought we had arrived at the safe haven of the school. But we were then subjected to glass bottles raining down upon us. A woman standing beside me fell to the ground with her head opened by a bottle that struck her. Children at this stage were in total and absolute panic. They saw that their parents, their priests and even hardened media people were lost. No longer did any of us know what to do and all we could do was dash for the safety of the school building. Grown men with terror on their faces and tears in their eyes picked up their daughters and ran for the school building. But more was to come. As we ran to the building a loud explosion was heard. We all thought that a bomb had been thrown. It was, however, only a squib that had landed in the forecourt of the school. That was the first day at school for the 230 pupils of Holy Cross Girls? School in Belfast. That is the only issue that concerned the parents or me. Why did it happen?

It is not possible to explain the raw sectarianism that was manifested on 3 September. But it was there and it was almost possible to touch the hatred. This is the awful legacy of history in Ireland and in particular in North Belfast. It does not help to apportion blame. This is not a theoretical issue for these parents and children. This is about going to school and exercising the parental right to choose the school in which that education shall take place. People from all over the world have asked me how a parent could expose their little girl to such animosity and sheer terror. It is a good question. The parents are loving, responsible and caring people. They would die for their children. But, they will not accept a future for their children which will deny them the most basic right to be educated, to be treated with dignity and respect and to be treated equally in society. Parents do not theorise in the way I may as a priest. They remind me that this is not an abstract question for them but an attempt to live out a dignified and worthwhile life.

On one day a pipe bomb was thrown during the children?s walk to school. Panic and fright gripped even the toughest of people. My memories of those moments following the bomb are a blur. I saw days later on television an image of myself trying to push parents and children in the direction of the school. In the confusion of the moment some had run back the way they had come. It was my fear that another bomb might explode. Some hours later I went into shock.

The day of the bomb was a defining moment. It seemed to shock the protesters themselves. The following days saw new tactics with whistles being blown and horns being sounded. Mercifully these harsh sounds are now reserved solely for the adults as we walk back from the school in the morning or on our way to the school in the afternoon.

Where do we go from here? I believe that we are entering a new and difficult stage. This is the stage of negotiation and compromise. There are some issues that cannot be negotiated while the children are still being prevented from going to school in safety and freedom. It is not normal to have the whole of the road leading to the school lined with armoured cars. It can never be forgotten that these are very young girls going to school for their education. Their capacity to settle into schoolwork is something that never ceases to amaze me as I visit the classes. I hope and pray there will not be long-term effects in the years ahead. It will take great patience, a lot of wisdom and a supreme effort of reconciliation to see the two communities return to what is taken for granted in other places.

There are issues to be addressed. It is good to know that the Government and the Northern Ireland Assembly are actively creating structures to help both communities address together educational, social and economic needs. One wonderful moment for me was when I was able as chairman of the school governors to meet a delegation of the Loyalists. There is a long way to go before this dispute will be resolved. But, the first handshake between Loyalists and a Catholic priest is a first step.

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