McAleese jeered at school
More photos:Wednesday June 11 2008
President Mary McAleese ran the gauntlet of a crowd of loyalists shouting sectarian abuse yesterday as she visited a primary school in the North.
Protesters swore and jeered at the President and her husband Dr Martin McAleese as they arrived at Millburn Primary in Coleraine.
Carrying placards and waving Union flags, some of the 50 strong group of demonstrators yelled "No surrender", "F*** off home republican scum", and "We don't want you here" as the presidential convoy drove through the gates.
The protesters said Mrs McAleese was not welcome because of controversial comments she made three years ago when she compared Protestant attitudes to Catholics during the Troubles as akin to the situation in Nazi Germany before the Second World War. The President subsequently apologised for any offence caused by her remarks.
They also claimed the school did not properly consult with the local community about her visit. Mrs McAleese was invited to the school, which sits in the heart of a broadly unionist estate, to see first-hand innovative early years teaching techniques imported from Finland.
John Moffat, a protester and member of the local residents' association, said the community was showing its distaste at the president's presence.
"This is not only a protest about the president's visit, but also at the way the school has handled things. There were the Nazi comments, and it has also been claimed that the Queen wouldn't be able to visit the Irish Republic until policing and justice were devolved, yet she can come up here without any pre-conditions."
Millburn Primary School accommodates 420 pupils. A Union flag flies in the grounds and Northern Ireland flags adorn lampposts all around it.
Headmaster John Platt said the protesters represented a very small minority and claimed the vast majority in the area supported the president's visit.
"There are probably about 40 or 50 people out there today and I was told there would be thousands," he said. "There are around 75,000 people in the wider area around the school -- if I have 74,950 people on our side then that will do for me."
Mr Platt said some people had contacted him claiming loyalist paramilitary elements were involved in the opposition. However, he said he had since been assured by the organisations that they were not involved.
"It has obviously been a worrying time," he said. "I haven't had much sleep over the last fortnight, but I am sure the vast majority of people support us."
Building
Mr Platt also rejected claims he or anyone else in the school had called protesters bigots.
"I can be absolutely clear the word bigot was not used by me or anyone else at the school."
Some of the protesters had held up banners suggesting that the Irish Government was poised to fund a new school building at Millburn. But Mr Platt said this was not the case as all funding for the school came from the Northern Ireland Department of Education.
After her visit, at her next engagement at a nearby nursing home, Mrs McAleese refused to comment when asked directly for her reaction to the protest at Millburn.
- David Young
