WE look back at the stories that were making the headlines this week in the Andersonstown News in 1982
Funeral of Father Denvir, St Agnes' parish priest, with Canons Dallat and Walsh and local scouts and cubs walking alongside the funeral cortege
Concern over West Belfast school closures
AS the numbers attending West Belfast secondary schools seems set for another drop this September, there is speculation that redundancies and the closure of one school may be imminent.
It appears that all secondary schools in the Falls/Andersonstown area with the exception of La Salle are suffering from a significant fall in numbers. This combined with government cut-backs, meaning less money is available, has led to a situation where teachers and ancillary staff are being asked to accept early retirement or work less hours.
It is known that in one Glen Road Secondary School plans are afoot to close down the Library while in other schools technicians may have to be laid off during the next year.
Due to a high concentration of secondary schools in the Whiterock, Turf Lodge, Beechmount area it is felt that one school may close permanently. One teacher in a Turf Lodge school was advised by colleagues to get a job elsewhere if at all possible.
However, if any school is to close, St Peter’s in the Whiterock seems the most likely. After the recent incident when vandals broke into the school a member of the ancillary staff was informed that if break-ins continue the school would close down.
One teacher who spoke to this paper said that it was “general knowledge among teachers that rolls are falling and that there will be redundancies in the near future.”
Trophies galore at Smithwick's Interpool competition at the Peter Pan Social Club
No tune out of Mickey Marley
MICKEY Marley, whose much-loved hobby horses have been charming children from all over Belfast for many years now, has fallen victim to heartless thieves.
On returning home one evening last week. Mickey found that, for the eighth time in recent years, his house had been broken into. This time the burglers had stolen Mickey’s cassette player and over 100 tapes of Irish tunes which were played as children rode the hobby horses.
Retail value of the articles is well above £200, but to Mickey they were worth much more. For without his collection of tapes, Mickey has had to abandon his street show. And, more seriously, the theft has left Mickey depressed and demoralised. Mickey is appealing to anyone who has any information about his stolen property to ensure it is returned to his home at 232 Grosvenor Road.
Timothy Wilson, Francis McKenna, Alan Cunningham, Thomasina Campbell and Patricia McIlhone at the Andersonstown Leisure Centre Summer Scheme
Editorial: Not turning the other cheek
THERE was a time when the Rev Ian Paisley or any of his fellow religious fanatics could have paraded through Downpatrick town centre in typical coat-trailing fashion without as much as a whimper from the Catholic town folk.
The Catholics, even as a majority, had been brought up to turn the other cheek and regard such experiences as the work of misguided individuals who knew no better and who were best treated with the contempt they deserve. The Rev Dr Joseph Maguire, Parish Priest of Downpatrick, articulated this particularly slavish attitude of mind, not unknown to other garrison towns such as Downpatrick. In his sermons on Sunday he asked his parishioners to ignore the Paisley parade in the name of good community relations. He asked them to stay away from the parade and have no confrontation.
Good community relations to Dr Maguire and his colleagues means accepting all the taunts, jibes and insults from a bunch of religious crack-pots, guarded and protected by the full force of the state, if this is the price to be paid for good community relations then it is as well some of Dr Maguire’s parishioners thought that the price was too high and opted for peaceful confrontation instead.
Fascism and religious fanaticism that is exemplified by the Ian Paisley and his cohorts are not defeated by being ignored and left to roam the highways and byways of the countryside insulting and brow-beating sane people. They can only be defeated by confrontation at every opportunity and by highlighting their dangerous philosophy of complete disregard for other people and their point of view. We have stated often in the past and don’t mind stating again that Paisleyism as a creed is dangerous and threatening and has to be confronted at all times.
Some members of the community relations brigade in Downpatrick were somewhat taken aback that the RUC should have been so partisan in their treatment of the confrontation and have made statements to that affect. We are sure that these statements brought a wry smile to the lips of the many Belfast ghetto dwellers now living in Downpatrick who have had years of experience of “RUC non-partisan treatment”.
Brooke Resident's Association members including Julie Molloy, Anne Marie McFall, John McFall, Charlie Smith, Marie O'Loan, Steven Rogan, Anne O'Neill and Briege Gault
