MEXCAN
7th January 2003, 00:49
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/...rld/4884756.htm (http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/world/4884756.htm)
Posted on Mon, Jan. 06, 2003
Pipe Bomb Planted at Flashpoint N.Irish School
Reuters
BELFAST, Northern Ireland - Protestant militants said they planted a pipe bomb found attached to a gate at Northern Ireland's flashpoint Holy Cross girls' school Monday.
Police said the device was defused shortly before the children were due to arrive for the start of a new term.
Later, in a statement to the BBC in Belfast, the "Red Hand Defenders" -- a cover name used in the past by elements of the outlawed Ulster Defense Association -- said they planted the device.
Holy Cross hit the headlines in 2001 when vivid images were flashed around the world of Catholic children braving a barrage of Protestant abuse on their way to and from school.
The pictures became a potent symbol of the sectarian divisions which still scar parts of Northern Ireland.
A police spokeswoman said British Army bomb experts had "made safe what is believed to be a pipe bomb-type device."
Father Aidan Troy, chairman of governors at the school, said: "I find it hugely disappointing to have started the new term after Christmas with this. Thank God no child was hurt.
"I think this was an irresponsible action of an individual or several people," he added. "I do not believe it is the feeling of the entire community. I just hope it is not going to continue like this."
Holy Cross is a Roman Catholic school in the Ardoyne area of north Belfast and is situated within a Protestant enclave.
Simmering tensions in the area boiled over in late 2001, when police and troops were called in to escort the children to the school through jeering crowds. Protestant residents called off their protest after three months.
The dispute highlighted the economic forces behind the endless conflicts in parts of the British-ruled province, with rival communities living cheek-by-jowl in areas with high unemployment and fierce competition for jobs and housing.
Posted on Mon, Jan. 06, 2003
Pipe Bomb Planted at Flashpoint N.Irish School
Reuters
BELFAST, Northern Ireland - Protestant militants said they planted a pipe bomb found attached to a gate at Northern Ireland's flashpoint Holy Cross girls' school Monday.
Police said the device was defused shortly before the children were due to arrive for the start of a new term.
Later, in a statement to the BBC in Belfast, the "Red Hand Defenders" -- a cover name used in the past by elements of the outlawed Ulster Defense Association -- said they planted the device.
Holy Cross hit the headlines in 2001 when vivid images were flashed around the world of Catholic children braving a barrage of Protestant abuse on their way to and from school.
The pictures became a potent symbol of the sectarian divisions which still scar parts of Northern Ireland.
A police spokeswoman said British Army bomb experts had "made safe what is believed to be a pipe bomb-type device."
Father Aidan Troy, chairman of governors at the school, said: "I find it hugely disappointing to have started the new term after Christmas with this. Thank God no child was hurt.
"I think this was an irresponsible action of an individual or several people," he added. "I do not believe it is the feeling of the entire community. I just hope it is not going to continue like this."
Holy Cross is a Roman Catholic school in the Ardoyne area of north Belfast and is situated within a Protestant enclave.
Simmering tensions in the area boiled over in late 2001, when police and troops were called in to escort the children to the school through jeering crowds. Protestant residents called off their protest after three months.
The dispute highlighted the economic forces behind the endless conflicts in parts of the British-ruled province, with rival communities living cheek-by-jowl in areas with high unemployment and fierce competition for jobs and housing.