East Belfast: Headteacher angry at school closure after GAA pitch alert

The principal of a primary school that was forced to shut due to a security alert has said he is shocked and angered by the disruption to education.

Lough View Integrated Primary School and Nursery closed on Tuesday as police carried out searches at the nearby Henry Jones playing fields.

The East Belfast Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) is among the clubs which use the sports facilities.

Road closures were put in place but have now ended.

"We're now having to explain to our children that some people, because they don't agree with a particular sport being played across the road from our school, that they can't exercise their right to come to school today," said Lough View's principal Sean Spillane.

The headteacher told the BBC's Nolan Show that the alert had disrupted his pupils' education and stopped people in the area from going to work.

"I'm so shocked today that we've had to take this action, but more than anything it's just disappointment, it's just disillusionment and anger as well."

The alert began on Monday evening and police and Army technical officers attended the scene on Church Road, Castlereagh on the outskirts of east Belfast.

On Tuesday afternoon, police said the road closures had been lifted, but the playing fields remain closed and the alert is continuing.

In a statement, East Belfast GAA said that local sports clubs had worked hard to revive pitches at the site and it is "saddened at those who threaten to disrupt the peace and cause alarm".

"This is especially disappointing following the positive news that some of the underutilised space at Henry Jones will be reallocated to facilitate a GAA pitch," the statement added.

It will be the first council-run GAA pitch in east Belfast "and is long overdue", the club added.

East Belfast MP Gavin Robinson criticised those behind the alert on Twitter.

"Sport cancelled. Community disrupted. School closed. For what? Catch a grip," the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MP tweeted.

Alliance Party leader and East Belfast assembly member Naomi Long said that the situation was "utterly unacceptable".

Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie said: "This is wrong and must be condemned utterly."

The SDLP's Séamas de Faoite described the alert as an "utter disgrace".

"East Belfast GAA are doing fantastic work locally, introducing GAA to a new audience and getting more people involved in sport," he said.

"The small-minded views of those who continue to oppose progress and diversity in their area will never overshadow the immense success enjoyed by East Belfast GAA since their formation."

Football coach Tim Wareing was at Henry Jones Park on Monday evening, taking a one-on-one football session with an 11-year-old boy when the incident happened.

At about 19:00 BST he said a council worker came over and told him there was a security alert and he would have to clear up and leave the scene as soon as the PSNI arrived.

"It was quite shocking - it's 2023 - you would think we would have moved on from this - our own club is very inclusive and we have stayed away from aligning ourselves with an area in Northern Ireland to bring the two communities together," he said.

"Hearing that news is quite shocking when you've got a young child there - it makes it even worse as you're trying to keep them calm and wondering what on earth is going on.

"It's a disgrace. It is so backward and very disappointing. I was livid driving away from the facility that this young boy's training session was cut short at because of a security risk."

East Belfast GAC started in May 2020 and was the first GAA club in the east of the city in almost 50 years.

A security alert was sparked at the same playing fields in 2020.