A PARENT of two boys at Mercy College in North Belfast says it is only "a matter of time" before a child is seriously injured or worse whilst walking to school through a notorious sectarian interface.
The father, whose children attend the Catholic Maintained School, last spoke to us in February after pupils were intimidated as they walked to and from school.
Pupils who live in Ardoyne have to walk up Ardoyne Road and on to the predominantly loyalist Ballysillan Road where Mercy College is located.
Since then, he says there has been four more incidents of intimidation and abuse.
In the latest incident, last Wednesday morning, a video circulating on social media showed pupils subject to sectarian abuse by a group of men in the Ballysillian area.
Speaking to the North Belfast News about the latest incident, the father of the two children, who did not wish to be named, said he is fearful for his two sons' safety walking to school in the morning and afternoon.
"There have been four major incidents since the start of this year," he explained. "Two groups of men in cars got out and started chasing pupils down the road. Thankfully, my sons were on the other side of the road well away from it.
"They were shouting stuff like ‘you shouldn’t be walking through our area’. I have had to keep my sons off school. This was never an issue in previous years because there were buses on to take the kids to school.
"It makes me feel absolutely sick. I have a daughter who is supposed to be going to Mercy College. I don’t think that can happen either. The boys might have to be moved too. Mercy College is such a great school but it is just not safe for them to walk there from Ardoyne.
"I start work at 6am and can’t take time off to bring the kids to school and collect them again. Somebody is going to get hurt or even murdered, which is tough to say. Without a doubt, someone bad is going to happen."
A PSNI spokesperson said: "Police received a report on Wednesday 20th November of threats being made to a number of young people in the Ballysillan Road area of North Belfast. It was reported that a number of men shouted sectarian abuse at the young people.
"Enquiries are ongoing, and anyone with any information which might assist is asked to contact police on 101, quoting reference number 1174 of 20/11/24."
