Confidential school records found on roadside in Armagh

An investigation is underway after education authority records on pupils and parents dating back to 1969 were found at the side of a road in south Armagh.

They include comments about dirty children wearing threadbare clothing and derogatory descriptions of parents.

It has been confirmed that the discovery was made in Camlough on Friday.

It is believed the documents may have fallen from a trailer on the way to the dump.

The files prepared by the education welfare service include details of doctors' examinations, data on admissions to a psychiatric institution, prosecutions for non-attendance at school, a description of self-harm by a pupil and in one instance an alleged attempted abduction of a pupil.

The material was being held by the North's Southern Education Board years after it should have been destroyed.