Arson attack at school ‘was sectarian’
AN arson attack on a school in Belfast has been branded “sectarian” by local politicians.
DUP MLA Nigel Dodds said: “I condemn without reservation the arson attack at Star of the Sea Primary School in my constituency in the early hours of Wednesday morning. This was a despicable and apparently sectarian attack which will be rejected by all right-thinking people.”
SDLP councillor Pat Convery said while the attack on St. Mary’s Star of the Sea primary school on the Shore Road had not been officially classified as sectarian by police, “people will draw their own conclusions from the graffiti the arsonists left behind”.
The latest in a series of attacks on the school was reported shortly after 2.00am yesterday.
A plastic sign and a number of rubbish bins were set alight, causing extensive damage to a boiler house. An attempt was also made to set fire to the roof of the school, and sectarian graffiti scrawled across the building.
Branding the incident “despicable”, Cllr Convery said the area “can’t take any more of this tit-for-tat arson”.
Principal Kieran McGarry said St Mary’s was a welcoming school that enjoyed good relations with its neighbours. He told the BBC he was saddened by the attack.
“Our policy within school is to teach the children to show respect and tolerance to all people.”
