The gates at Mercy College in North Belfast
A TWEET: This is a copy of a tweet sent on September 8th showing parents concern about the abusive behaviour towards the girls from groups of loyalists trying to intimate them on their way to school.
HOLY CROSS: The daily school run became 'running the gauntlet' every day a traumatic experience for the children. PHOTOGRAPH: PACEMAKER
7th September, 2022.
Parents have voiced concerns over the safety of their children in getting to Mercy College in North Belfast after free transport options were cancelled.
The post-primary had previously received funding from a charity but that funding has dried up.
It means pupils either need to walk to and from school, get private transport or get lifts with their parents.
The college in Ballysillan is mostly attended by Catholic children, with the school catering for around 800 pupils.
One parent, whose son attends the school, told Belfast Live said some parents and children had been verbally abused when dropping off and collecting their children at the school.
"We have contacted a lot of MLAs and local community people to try and get this sorted but nothing has been done about it yet," they said.
"There's parents being abused outside the school for parking their cars to pick up their children, being told our kids can't walk the roads.
"I went to Holy Cross when it was bad and parents don't want their kids to be going through something like that again.
The Mercy College uniform
"If nothing is done about it, something is going to happen - people need to remember this is teenagers and if anything is said to them, they've brains and mouths of their own.
"They could say something back and then things get 10 times worse."
Leanne Mailey has a child who attends the school and she said it was a stressful and frightening time for parents.
"When you're sending your kids to school, you're thinking it's a safe place, but now we're all sitting in limbo wondering what's going to happen," she said.
"It's not safe, it's not fair and it's really scary now."
Leanne said that private transport isn't an option for most families and even for those who can afford it, it's hard to come by.
Part of the route to school for Leanne's child which most of the time is mainly plastered with loyalist paramilitary flags
"I'm only after getting a letter through the door yesterday about my gas going up by more than 50%, we're all heading into a really, really hard winter here," she added.
"Even if you could afford to pay for the private transfers either, even when you do ring up a taxi, you can't get one as they're all booked up anyway."
Leanne's child faces a 45-minute walk to get to school, crossing several busy main roads.
"It was lashing this morning there and the kids are drenched by the time they get there, sitting through classes soaked through to their skin, it's not healthy," she said.
"The main point of the free transport was because of the location of the school and keeping the kids safe, especially with what happened with Holy Cross.
"I have friends from both sides of the community, I couldn't care less about religion or anything like that, but no one wants to go back to those days.
"But what are we going to do, wait until a child is seriously hurt or killed before we do anything?"
Elaine Burns
Elaine Burns is a community development worker who knows a lot of the parents from the Ardoyne and Holy Cross Parish.
She has lobbied for and still believes the school should have been built on a vacant site on the Crumlin Road.
"The school is built and based in a predominantly PUL [Protestant, Unionist, Loyalist] community, the school's over 50 years old," she told Belfast Live.
"There's always been a tenderness around the locality, knowing that you've got some neighbours who don't necessarily like you or want you there.
"You always kept quiet, went on and got your education and then got your bus home.
"People do have a right to education, they should be able to walk to school, but we deal with the reality of life.
"The reality of life in North Belfast is that it is a patchwork quilt of hatred at times, even if the good relations work that goes on is amazing."
With many thanks to: Belfast Live and Damien Edgar for the original story.
Follow these links to find out more on this story: Parents and pupils remain in the dark over transport options to Catholic girls school based in a loyalist area
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