07/11/2008

St Colm's Device Declared Further Hoax

Yet another security alert - which closed St Colm's High School in the Twinbrook estate on the outskirts of west Belfast this morning - has now been declared a hoax.

Police who cordoned off Summerhill Drive, Summerhill Mews and Thornleigh Crescent while they investigated reports of a suspicious object later declared that it had been another hoax.

The area has been the scene of several other such alerts in recent weeks.

Commenting, Sinn Féin MLA for West Belfast Jennifer McCann said the local community has "lost patience over the bomb hoaxes", noting this was the eighth bomb scare inside three weeks.

Speaking today Ms McCann said: "Those responsible are causing a great deal of disruption to the local community and to the school and its pupils. Next week sees 4th year St Colm's students sitting their first GCSE modules and any further disruption cannot be allowed to occur.

"I am making a direct appeal to those behind the leaving of these devices to stop with your sick pranks and let the Summerhill community and St Colm's get on with their lives. Everybody in the community is angry and has lost patience," she said.

School Principal, Imelda Jordan, said she is "disappointed that pupils have been disadvantaged by those who care little or nothing for them".

(BMcC)

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