Holy Cross dispute
Encyclopedia
The Holy Cross dispute occurred in 2001 and 2002 in the Ardoyne
area of Belfast
, Northern Ireland
, and involved an escalating dispute between on the one hand the pupils and parents of Holy Cross R.C.
Primary School and on the other the residents of a loyalist
area that lay on the route to the front entrance of the school. A loyalist picket arose following accusations that nationalists
had used the school route as a cover to cause damage and/or harassment in their community. In particular there was a dispute over the origins of a fight involving on one side two men putting up Loyalist flags and on the other the occupants of a car driving through the area. Allegations that the car drove at the ladder and knocked the two men off are disputed by a woman living in the loyalist area - she says that the car drove by and the men putting up flags threw the ladder at the car, starting a fight. Others alleged that the Provisional Irish Republican Army
used the journey to school to gather intelligence.
On the other side, the parents claimed that the picket was an infringement of the rights of parents and their children to walk to school on their chosen route. Some parents compared those protesting to American white supremacists in the 1950s.
The area has peace lines
because of sectarian tensions.
primary school in what had been a mixed area until the beginning of The Troubles
. The Ardoyne area is segregated with loyalists
to the north and nationalists
to the south of the wall backing Alliance Avenue, and over time a permanent wall was built immediately to the north of Alliance Avenue. Holy Cross was on the opposite side of the peace line from its catchment, although only about 200m from it, and remained relatively undisturbed but for minor incidents of vandalism for three decades.
The origins of the dispute are contested. In December 2000, Protestant taxi driver Trevor Kell was shot dead in Ardoyne. The Provisional Irish Republican Army
(IRA) were suspected of involvement as forensic evidence linked the bullet with an IRA shooting in 1997. Later, the IRA was blamed for the "punishment shooting" of two men, one of whom is believed to have been questioned over Kell's death. Tension built after the murder that led in the days before the protests to youths from both communities raising more and more flags along Ardoyne Road.
Holy Cross students began complaining to parents of threatening verbal abuse when passing the Protestant area.
Loyalists began to blockade the nearby Holy Cross Primary School on 19 June 2001, when children left for the day accompanied by their parents.
(RUC) advised parents not to attempt to enter the school. The stand-off continued until the end of school term on 29 June, with loyalists blockading the Ardoyne Road, and the RUC refusing to force children through.
Talks between residents from the two parts of Ardoyne took place over the summer, but no agreement was reached.
(over the summer the RUC had undergone a name change), supported by the British Army
were by then better prepared and managed to force a path through the protesters. On 4 September the protest escalated when a PSNI officer sustained a foot injury from a blast bomb
, with more blast bombs being thrown at police on 5 September.
The world media had descended on Ardoyne from the start of September until the attacks on the World Trade Center
in New York on 11 September caused attention to be drawn to New York
and then Afghanistan
.
On Thursday 6 September, the loyalist picket remained peaceful but noisy with picketers banging bin lids, whistling and sounding klaxons when the children passed. On Friday 7 September the protest was silent in a tribute to Thomas McDonald, a 16 year-old Protestant boy killed in a hit-and-run incident after he had attacked a car with bricks and stones in a different part of north Belfast, 7 km away, on Tuesday. Parents also held a minute's silence for the boy before departing from school.
From Monday 10 September, the picketers adopted new tactics: remaining silent when the children were walking to school, but making noise and making sectarian comments when their parents returned. This pattern continued until 14 September, when protesters called off their protest for a day in memory for the victims of the September 11 attacks.
Throughout this period, there was widespread civil disturbance in Ardoyne and other parts of north Belfast outside school times.
Later in September the protest began to escalate again. Picketers began to make noise during the children's walk to school once more from Thursday 20 September, with fireworks being thrown at parents on Wednesday 26 September. Violence escalated across the north of the city during this period, with loyalist protests on the nearby Crumlin Road turning violent throughout the week commencing 24 September and rioting on the interfaces between the New Lodge
, Newington and Tiger's Bay areas about 3 km away. On Friday 28 September, seven children were injured in a loyalist part of the Skegoneill area, 3 km away from Ardoyne, when a concrete block was thrown at the school bus taking them to Hazelwood Integrated College. Hazelwood is a mixed school, attended by both Protestant and Catholic children.
Cups of cold tea and water were thrown at parents on Monday 1 October, and a blast bomb was left close to the route to school on Wednesday 17 October.
Attacks on children of both Protestant and Catholic parents travelling to school through areas of north Belfast increased rapidly. On 12 November, 400 police officers were involved in escorting the children and their parents to and from the school. On 20 November, the Belfast Education and Library Board provided free buses to children attending Holy Cross.
On Thursday 22 November, First Minister David Trimble
and Deputy First Minister Mark Durkan
met residents of Upper Ardoyne, and the following evening, Friday 23 November, they agreed to call off their protest after 14 weeks. The situation remained peaceful from then until term ended for Christmas.
On Friday 11 January, north Belfast was quiet, but the Red Hand Defenders
, a loyalist splinter group, issued a death threat to teachers and other staff working in Catholic schools in north Belfast. Police increased security and the threat was never acted upon.
In 2002 James Adair, brother of Johnny Adair
, was jailed for six months for riotous behaviour and given a concurrent sentence of four months for obstructing police.
Since then, Holy Cross has remained quiet.
In 2003 a BBC
televised drama called Holy Cross was made about the dispute, though it was filmed in Liverpool
. Fr. Aidan Troy, head of the board of governors of the school, expressed concern that the drama could reignite the problem.
Ardoyne
Ardoyne is an Irish nationalist, working class and mainly Catholic district in north Belfast, Northern Ireland. It gained notoriety due to the large number of incidents during "The Troubles". It is home to approximately 20,000 inhabitants...
area of Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, and involved an escalating dispute between on the one hand the pupils and parents of Holy Cross R.C.
Catholic school
Catholic schools are maintained parochial schools or education ministries of the Catholic Church. the Church operates the world's largest non-governmental school system...
Primary School and on the other the residents of a loyalist
Ulster loyalism
Ulster loyalism is an ideology that is opposed to a united Ireland. It can mean either support for upholding Northern Ireland's status as a constituent part of the United Kingdom , support for Northern Ireland independence, or support for loyalist paramilitaries...
area that lay on the route to the front entrance of the school. A loyalist picket arose following accusations that nationalists
Irish nationalism
Irish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...
had used the school route as a cover to cause damage and/or harassment in their community. In particular there was a dispute over the origins of a fight involving on one side two men putting up Loyalist flags and on the other the occupants of a car driving through the area. Allegations that the car drove at the ladder and knocked the two men off are disputed by a woman living in the loyalist area - she says that the car drove by and the men putting up flags threw the ladder at the car, starting a fight. Others alleged that the Provisional Irish Republican Army
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
used the journey to school to gather intelligence.
On the other side, the parents claimed that the picket was an infringement of the rights of parents and their children to walk to school on their chosen route. Some parents compared those protesting to American white supremacists in the 1950s.
The area has peace lines
Peace lines
The peace lines or peace walls are a series of separation barriers in Northern Ireland that separate Catholic and Protestant neighbourhoods. They have been built at urban interface areas in Belfast, Derry, Portadown and elsewhere...
because of sectarian tensions.
Beginnings
Holy Cross is an all-girl CatholicCatholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
primary school in what had been a mixed area until the beginning of The Troubles
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
. The Ardoyne area is segregated with loyalists
Ulster loyalism
Ulster loyalism is an ideology that is opposed to a united Ireland. It can mean either support for upholding Northern Ireland's status as a constituent part of the United Kingdom , support for Northern Ireland independence, or support for loyalist paramilitaries...
to the north and nationalists
Irish nationalism
Irish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...
to the south of the wall backing Alliance Avenue, and over time a permanent wall was built immediately to the north of Alliance Avenue. Holy Cross was on the opposite side of the peace line from its catchment, although only about 200m from it, and remained relatively undisturbed but for minor incidents of vandalism for three decades.
The origins of the dispute are contested. In December 2000, Protestant taxi driver Trevor Kell was shot dead in Ardoyne. The Provisional Irish Republican Army
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
(IRA) were suspected of involvement as forensic evidence linked the bullet with an IRA shooting in 1997. Later, the IRA was blamed for the "punishment shooting" of two men, one of whom is believed to have been questioned over Kell's death. Tension built after the murder that led in the days before the protests to youths from both communities raising more and more flags along Ardoyne Road.
Holy Cross students began complaining to parents of threatening verbal abuse when passing the Protestant area.
Loyalists began to blockade the nearby Holy Cross Primary School on 19 June 2001, when children left for the day accompanied by their parents.
Summer 2001
The Loyalists continued the picket on Monday 18 June. By Tuesday 19 June, riot police were deployed to escort children through the picket line. On Wednesday 20 June the loyalist protesters blocked the front gates of the school and forced it to close, while officers of the Royal Ulster ConstabularyRoyal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary was the name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2000. Following the awarding of the George Cross in 2000, it was subsequently known as the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC. It was founded on 1 June 1922 out of the Royal Irish Constabulary...
(RUC) advised parents not to attempt to enter the school. The stand-off continued until the end of school term on 29 June, with loyalists blockading the Ardoyne Road, and the RUC refusing to force children through.
Talks between residents from the two parts of Ardoyne took place over the summer, but no agreement was reached.
Autumn 2001
The protest resumed on Monday 3 September, the first day of the Autumn school term. The Police Service of Northern IrelandPolice Service of Northern Ireland
The Police Service of Northern Ireland is the police force that serves Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary which, in turn, was the successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary in Northern Ireland....
(over the summer the RUC had undergone a name change), supported by the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
were by then better prepared and managed to force a path through the protesters. On 4 September the protest escalated when a PSNI officer sustained a foot injury from a blast bomb
Improvised explosive device
An improvised explosive device , also known as a roadside bomb, is a homemade bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action...
, with more blast bombs being thrown at police on 5 September.
The world media had descended on Ardoyne from the start of September until the attacks on the World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
in New York on 11 September caused attention to be drawn to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and then Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
.
On Thursday 6 September, the loyalist picket remained peaceful but noisy with picketers banging bin lids, whistling and sounding klaxons when the children passed. On Friday 7 September the protest was silent in a tribute to Thomas McDonald, a 16 year-old Protestant boy killed in a hit-and-run incident after he had attacked a car with bricks and stones in a different part of north Belfast, 7 km away, on Tuesday. Parents also held a minute's silence for the boy before departing from school.
From Monday 10 September, the picketers adopted new tactics: remaining silent when the children were walking to school, but making noise and making sectarian comments when their parents returned. This pattern continued until 14 September, when protesters called off their protest for a day in memory for the victims of the September 11 attacks.
Throughout this period, there was widespread civil disturbance in Ardoyne and other parts of north Belfast outside school times.
Later in September the protest began to escalate again. Picketers began to make noise during the children's walk to school once more from Thursday 20 September, with fireworks being thrown at parents on Wednesday 26 September. Violence escalated across the north of the city during this period, with loyalist protests on the nearby Crumlin Road turning violent throughout the week commencing 24 September and rioting on the interfaces between the New Lodge
New Lodge, Belfast
The New Lodge is an urban, working-class Catholic community in Belfast, Northern Ireland, immediately to the north of city centre. The landscape is dominated by several large tower blocks. The area has a number of murals, mostly sited along the New Lodge Road...
, Newington and Tiger's Bay areas about 3 km away. On Friday 28 September, seven children were injured in a loyalist part of the Skegoneill area, 3 km away from Ardoyne, when a concrete block was thrown at the school bus taking them to Hazelwood Integrated College. Hazelwood is a mixed school, attended by both Protestant and Catholic children.
Cups of cold tea and water were thrown at parents on Monday 1 October, and a blast bomb was left close to the route to school on Wednesday 17 October.
Attacks on children of both Protestant and Catholic parents travelling to school through areas of north Belfast increased rapidly. On 12 November, 400 police officers were involved in escorting the children and their parents to and from the school. On 20 November, the Belfast Education and Library Board provided free buses to children attending Holy Cross.
On Thursday 22 November, First Minister David Trimble
David Trimble
William David Trimble, Baron Trimble, PC , is a politician from Northern Ireland. He served as Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party , was the first First Minister of Northern Ireland , and was a Member of the British Parliament . He is currently a life peer for the Conservative Party...
and Deputy First Minister Mark Durkan
Mark Durkan
Mark Durkan is an Irish nationalist politician in Northern Ireland who was leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party from 2001 to 2010.-Early life:...
met residents of Upper Ardoyne, and the following evening, Friday 23 November, they agreed to call off their protest after 14 weeks. The situation remained peaceful from then until term ended for Christmas.
2002
On 9 January 2002, there were confrontations outside Holy Cross Primary School during the afternoon school run, which turned into widespread sectarian rioting, and this spread across north Belfast during the evening and continued on 10 January, on which day the school was closed.On Friday 11 January, north Belfast was quiet, but the Red Hand Defenders
Red Hand Defenders
The Red Hand Defenders is a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in 1998 by loyalists who opposed the Belfast Agreement and the loyalist ceasefires. Its members were drawn mostly from the Ulster Defence Association and Loyalist Volunteer Force...
, a loyalist splinter group, issued a death threat to teachers and other staff working in Catholic schools in north Belfast. Police increased security and the threat was never acted upon.
In 2002 James Adair, brother of Johnny Adair
Johnny Adair
Jonathan Adair, better known as Johnny "Mad Dog" Adair is the former leader of the "C Company", 2nd Battalion Shankill Road, West Belfast Brigade of the "Ulster Freedom Fighters" . This was a cover name used by the Ulster Defence Association , an Ulster loyalist paramilitary organisation...
, was jailed for six months for riotous behaviour and given a concurrent sentence of four months for obstructing police.
2003
In 2003 Loyalists placed a pipe bomb at the entrance of the school, it was defused and there were no injuries.Since then, Holy Cross has remained quiet.
In 2003 a BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
televised drama called Holy Cross was made about the dispute, though it was filmed in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
. Fr. Aidan Troy, head of the board of governors of the school, expressed concern that the drama could reignite the problem.
External links
- BBC Q & A on the Holy Cross dispute
- – CAIN Chronicle of the Conflict for 2001
- – Guardian map of the disputed route