Catholic parent takes legal action against Britain

One of the Catholic parents involved in the 11-week-old dispute outside Holy Cross school in north Belfast has taken High Court proceedings against the British Government and the Northern police force.

The unidentified woman, whose daughter attends the school, said the police and the British Government have failed to take action against the loyalist protestors who have thrown stones, bottles, fireworks, boiling water and a blast bomb at Catholic schoolchildren.

She said the protestors should have been arrested for breaking the law but the lack of police action has allowed the violence to continue.

The Protestant residents of the Glenbryn estate, which borders the predominantly Catholic Ardoyne, have been attempting to block Catholic children and their parents from walking to school through the Protestant area.

The protest began last June and has been allowed to continue ever since, even though the protestors have clearly broken the law. The children and parents have been the victims of numerous serious criminal offences, including death threats, assault, intimidation and abuse.