Holy Cross: School dispute was ‘hatred at its worst’ says Priest

The priest who helped shield schoolgirls during the 2001 Holy Cross dispute has said the “hurt” of that ordeal could happen again.

Speaking on the 25th anniversary of Holy Cross, Fr Aidan Troy said that possibility is what keeps him “devoted to dialogue, to conversation, to searching for justice and to caring about people”.

Fr Aidan said the sectarian dispute was “hatred at its worst”.

It happened in north Belfast when loyalist protesters tried to block the route taken by Holy Cross school pupils and their parents, who were from a Catholic background, on their walk to class.

Following the initial violence, the police and Army put up crash barriers to keep a corridor route open for the Holy Cross pupils.

The images of terrified schoolgirls having to run the gauntlet between lines of armoured police officers in order to get to their primary school were beamed around the world.

Protestants claimed that Catholics were attacking their homes and said the school protest was their way of highlighting their concerns.

Stones, bottles, fireworks and even a blast bomb were thrown during weeks of unrest.

Fr Aidan, who was parish priest in Ardoyne at the time, told BBC News NI that “none of us want to see hatred”.