We look at the stories that were making the headlines this week in 1984
Reports coming in of Gerry Adams being shot
AS we go to press West Belfast MP Gerry Adams is recovering in hospital after being shot three times as he was being driven through the centre of Belfast.
It may not be unrelated that the shooting happened following an article in the latest edition of the UDA publication ‘Ulster’ which commented on Adams’ fear of assassination and ended with the ominous quotation: “Ask not for whom the bells tolls – it tolls for thee.”
Park Centre on Belfast Celtic site
DETAILS of the huge shopping development being built on the old Celtic Park site have been revealed to the Andersonstown News by the developers Brookemount Properties.
Dunnes Stores have already been allocated a 'major clothing store’ and a 'super foodstore' within the complex, which is to be known as Park Centre. However, 25 other shopping units are planned and are now being advertised for sale or to let.
A spokesperson for the letting agents Milhench Crothers said Park Centre would cater for the huge market in West and South Belfast and greatly improve the shopping environment in Belfast.
“The development consists of a single storey enclosed centre and incorporates two pedestrian entrances leading directly into shopping malls. The malls in turn lead to the centre’s two major units – Food and Clothing – both of which will be operated by Dunnes Stores,” he said.
Park Centre will also include a Restaurant Square comprising of small units each catering for different types of food.
The estimated primary catchment population for the centre is 100,000 persons.
Editorial: Funding for Bunscoil?
THE British minister in charge of education here Nicholas Scott hinted strongly on television last week that the Irish school on Shaws Road would be grant-aided from public funds in the near future.
This is only as it should be, and if it does happen it will help to put an end to a grave injustice perpetrated on the children and parents involved in this brave experiment. For 13 long years the parents have had to shoulder a huge financial burden which involved collecting something in the region of £1/4 million to keep the school going, without one penny of assistance from the Ministry of Education. That they succeeded in doing this, reflects on the integrity and dedication of those involved and at the same time shows up the hypocrisy and narrow mindedness of the executives in the Department of Education.
In any other civilised country, people who were fulfilling an educational need that could not be met by the State system, would have been given every assistance to continue their work. But instead, the Department put every obstacle it could devise in the path of the school, in the hope, we suspect, that the parents would become disheartened and give up. But instead of giving up, they re-doubled their efforts and the school continued to grow at an amazing rate. So much so in fact, that it will soon be as big as many English primary schools in the Belfast area.
Some people think that the granting of aid to the Irish school was a quid pro quo for grant aiding Lagan College after only three short years in existence, and this may well be the case. So before we start singing the phrases of the Ministry of Education, let's not forget what could have been achieved by this dedicated group in the field of bilingual education if the money had been forthcoming about ten years earlier.
The ministry has a lot of ground to make up, so let's hope that it embraces this new concept in education with the enthusiasm that it deserves and who knows, but maybe, the educationalists themselves may learn a thing or two.
