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Christmas cheer, loyalist style: sticks and stones

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

The first, and most serious, incident came when a class of school children, on a field trip to the village of Bushmills in north Co. Antrim, were terrorized by a loyalist mob.
Bushmills, where Irish whiskey is manufactured in what’s claimed is the world’s oldest distillery, has recently attracted hostile comment because of loyalist graffiti and slogans.
The predominantly loyalist village is on the main north Antrim coastal tourist route near the Giant’s Causeway, but visitors often remark on the “chill factor” they feel in the area.
In this latest incident, 30 children from St. Aloysius School in the village of Cushendall, aged between 14 and 15, were making a weeklong field trip as part of an exam course.
Local loyalists lay siege to the outward-bound hostel at 2 o’clock in morning before pelting it with bricks, stones and bottles. Local members of the UDA are being held to blame.
None of the children was injured but Sinn Fein says that, had it not been for the swift action of teachers and hostel staff who escorted them from the center, things might have been much worse.
The school party left Bushmills and returned to Cushendall early. “This was a despicable and cowardly attack on innocent children. This was a sectarian incident and one orchestrated by the UDA,” said the party’s Oliver McMullan.
“Until such time as it can be guaranteed that there will not be a repeat of these grotesque events, it is not very likely that the parents of children attending Catholic schools will want their children anywhere near Bushmills,” he said.
School principal, James McAuley said the attack “is to be deplored. Both staff and pupils have been left traumatized by the incident and assistance at school level will be offered to all those involved.”
In a second incident, loyalists cut down a Christmas tree in the Co. Derry village of Burnfoot in protest at a Sinn Fein mayor being invited to turn on its Christmas lights.
It came after the Sinn Fein mayor of Limavady, Anne Brolly, had been invited as part of her mayoral duties to turn on the lights. She had been warned by a unionist councilor that there might be a protest, but decided not to be intimidated.
“I heard the rumors about a loyalist protest but decided that I could not let them put me off performing all my mayoral duties” said Brolly. “When I arrived, there was a small group of loyalists shouting and waving flags.”
“I pointed out that they were spoiling the evening for the children of the village who had gathered to watch the lights switched on. They quietened down after that and I sang carols as traditional,” she said.
Anne Brolly and her husband, Francie (the newly-elected Sinn Fein assembly man for East Derry) are a well-known Irish music performing duo. She installed a piano in her mayoral parlor in Limavady on assuming office to try and bring people together through music.
After the Burnfoot ceremony, however, the Christmas tree was cut down overnight and its lights smashed. Brolly said those responsible were pathetic and had completely lost the Christmas spirit.
The SDLP joined in the accusations of those responsible. Councilor Dessie Lowry said they were vandals. “It seems that some people would rather cancel Christmas than see a democratically elected mayor carry out her responsibilities”,
“The tree has been destroyed, the lights have been broken and the Christmas spirit has been dampened. Like Ebenezer Scrooge himself, these wreckers are doing their best to ruin Christmas for everyone.”
The tree was replaced, however, and has – so far – been left in peace.
The third incident concerns the mayor of Banbridge, south Down, who sent out official Christmas cards wishing people well in both English and Irish. All cards sent to unionist councilors were returned in protest.

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