Holy Cross: Clerics Fr Troy and Rev Hamilton on the protest and resolving it

Holy Cross: Clerics Fr Troy and Rev Hamilton on the protest and resolving it

From The BelTel by Belfast Telegraph

September 6, 2026 · 43 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the infamous Holy Cross protest involving a Catholic school in a loyalist area, featuring insights from two clerics who played key roles in the events.

When many people hear the words ‘Holy Cross’ - short for Holy Cross Girls Primary School – the words take them back to a dark time.   Holy Cross is a Catholic School in a loyalist area, Upper Ardoyne or Glenbryn.  In 2001, community tensions boiled over and led to loyalist residents protesting nationalist parents from Ardoyne taking their kids to schools through their part of the area.  That protest became notorious for its viciousness.    Two clerics, one Catholic, one Protestant became synonymous with the events of Holy Cross and attempts to resolve them.     They were Fr Aidan Troy and the Rev Norman Hamilton.    Fr Troy joined Ciarán Dunbar in the BelTel studio with the Rev Hamilton down the line.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Host: Ciarán Dunbar

Guests: Fr Aidan Troy, Rev Norman Hamilton

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Holy Cross Girls Primary School

Places: Upper Ardoyne, Glenbryn

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