SCHOOLS TARGETED FOR ATTACK

A fire which has devastated an Irish language pre-school in
Belfast is the latest in an escalating series of sectarian
attacks on schools across the North of Ireland.

Loyalist arsonists set fire to Naiscoil Thaoilinn in Poleglass
in the early hours of last night in the second such attack
this month.

One temporary classroom was destroyed while another was badly
damaged. The previous attack caused damage worth more than
#5,000.

Fire officer Gabriel Ferguson said today that the building
"was practically destroyed even before the Fire Brigade got
there".

Sinn Fein Councillor Michael Ferguson condemned the attack as
the act of "people with no values".

"Those who feel nothing about burning a childrens school to
the ground are those who have nothing and we have to ask why
this is the case," he said.

"It is crucial that we once again rally around the school and
support the teachers and children."

Meanwhile, a school in Larne was shut down today as a result
of a hoax bomb attack.

The caretaker at Larne High school found the device as he went
to open up at around seven o'clock this morning. Students were
told to stay at home as the device was investigated. A group
called the "Catholic Reaction Force" claimedd responsibility
for the hoax.

The hoax attack on the Protestant school followed a state of
similar attacks on Catholic schools last week including the
local school in Larne. A hoax device was planted at St
Comgall's High School in the town and at Dominican College in
North Belfast.

Simultaneous bomb threats disrupted lessons at four other
Catholic schools around Belfast.