A banner erected in east Belfast calling for a proposed Irish language primary school to “relocate” is being treated as a “sectarian hate incident,” the police have said.
On Thursday the banner appeared outside the site earmarked for of Scoil na Seolta (‘School of the Sails’) which is set to open on Montgomery Road later this year.
Belfast City Council gave planning permission for the proposed temporary nursery and primary school and soft play area in June.
Images of the banner circulated on social media on Thursday morning but it was subsequently removed.
The banner read: “Relocate Irish school to where it is needed. Relocate Irish school to where it is wanted.”
A spokesperson for the PSNI has said that enquiries into the banner are currently ongoing and that it is being treated as a “sectarian hate incident”.
“Police received a report that a banner had been erected in the Montgomery Road area of East Belfast on Thursday, 31st October,” said the PSNI spokesperson.
“The banner had been removed prior to police attendance. The matter is being treated as a sectarian hate incident, and enquiries into the circumstances are ongoing.”
The banner has since been taken down
SDLP councillor Séamas de Faoite condemned the incident saying that it was about “sectarianism and hate”.
“The continued harassment of Scoil na Seolta and those behind the project is absolutely disgraceful,” he said.
“Let’s call this out for what it is – a group of small minded people, who are in no way representative of the wider community, trying to stop young children from attending school. This is not about community concerns, it’s about bitter sectarianism and hatred.
“The Irish language is growing in popularity right across the North, with more and more Irish language classes starting up and Irish language schools being established.
“The language belongs to all of us and that it has been embraced by people from different backgrounds is something to be celebrated.
“I have reported this incident to police as hate crime and I believe they need to send a clear and unmistakeable message to the people behind this campaign.”
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Alliance representatives also spoke out branding the move not representative of the people of east Belfast.
Party leader Naomi Long said: “The level of interest in the pre-school Naíscoil na Seolta is evidence that it is wanted and welcome and no one has the right to demand they move.
“It’s hard to imagine how fragile an adult’s sense of identity must be if it is threatened by bilingual toddlers playing in a sand tray or learning to count to ten.”
Councillor Michael Long added: “Those behind this are not representative of people in east Belfast, who will rightly find it repulsive and I’d utterly condemn those who put it up.
“Alliance representatives have been in contact with the PSNI and have urged anyone with any information to contact them too. Children have a right to go to school without fear or intimidation.”
News Catch Up – Thursday 31 October
In a post on social media loyalist activist Moore Holmes said: “This site has always been the most bizarre and inappropriate location for an Irish Language School.
“If the local demographic and the political sensitivities around Gaelic language wasn’t enough to sway you, then the mishandling of community engagement, the commercial and industrial nature of the site alongside the disingenuous misrepresentation of community attitudes before Belfast City Council would be enough to do it. Relocate.”
The school is backed by Irish language campaigner Linda Ervine and will be the first Irish language school in east Belfast.
Scoil na Seolta previously said they received over a 100 letters from parents expressing interest in sending their child to the school, which received permission to set up in the Montgomery Road area.
The Loyalist Communities Council (LCC) recently used a meeting with Education Minister Paul Givan to raise concerns about a the proposed school in east Belfast and urged Mr Givan to stop the development.
The meeting between the LCC and Mr Givan caused controversy and was widely criticised.
Loyalists call on DUP education minister to block integrated Irish school in east Belfast
