Pupils ‘devastated’ as McAleese cancels Shankill visit

PUPILS at a Belfast primary school were “devastated” that President Mary McAleese cancelled a planned visit to the Shankill Road area, its principal said yesterday.

Betty Orr, principal of Edenbrooke Primary School, in the Shankill area of west Belfast, said pupils and staff had organised an event to celebrate “bridge-building and the recognition of differences” for the day.

“The children have done a lot of work in preparation,” she said.

“The President was to have lunch here and attend a concert in her honour.”

President McAleese cancelled her visit to the area in the wake of controversial comments she made last month comparing Nazi hatred of Jews to the way children in the North were taught to hate Catholics.

Edenbrooke pupils were to be joined by the choir of nearby Mercy Primary, Mrs McAleese’s former school, to perform with a group of African drummers.

Mrs Orr, who has been the principal at the school for 12 years, said that she had been in regular contact with Mrs McAleese’s office in recent days and that a mutual decision had been reached to cancel the visit.

The school has previously hosted visits by ministers from both the British and Irish governments, as well as Cherie Blair, the wife of the British Prime Minister.

“We heard rumours that a protest would be staged and we didn’t want the children to be witness to anything like that,” she said.

Mrs Orr said she felt the President’s comments had been “blown out of proportion” but added that she felt that it would be possible for Mrs McAleese to return to the school, and the Shankill area, at a later date.

Both the Democratic Unionist and Ulster Unionist parties have welcomed the cancellation of the visit.

UUP Assembly member Fred Cobain said the decision was “sensible.”