29/01/2002

Holy Cross children invited to County Galway for a holiday

Children from the Holy Cross Primary School, located in a community flashpoint in north Belfast, are set to pay a visit to the west of Ireland courtesy of a Connemara hotelier.

The offer made by hotelier Basil Keogh, who owns Peacocks Hotels in Connemara, County Galway said he wanted to show the girls the better side of human nature.

Around 75 girls who spent weeks running the gauntlet of protestors demonstrating against the route they took to Holy Cross, will begin their visit to the hotel in the west of Ireland starting on February 10.

Father Aidan Troy, chairman of the Holy Cross's Board of Governors, said the invitation was warmly welcomed and he hoped would give the children a much needed boost.

Fr Troy said: "A lot of the children have seen things and had experiences that many of us would never want to face in our lives, especially not as children."

(AMcE)

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