Pressure on Catholic school over PSNI and Navy at careers event

A number of parents are reported to have contacted St Malachy’s grammar school to voice their objections.

In recent weeks, republicans in Newry published statements saying they had sought a meeting with the principal of St Joseph’s Boys’ high school in response to a presentation given to pupils by neighbourhood police officers.

On that occasion, the Saoradh grouping said police “gunmen” had breached the “neutral learning environment”.

There was also a complaint from a former republican prisoner when his daughters, who attend Mercy College in Belfast, encountered an Army information stall when attending a careers event in the Boys’ Model secondary school last month.

Past St Malachy’s pupil and high-profile republican Dee Fennell “fully supports” those objecting to the recruitment stalls at the school, the Belfast Telegraph reported.

The News Letter contacted St Malachy’s for comment but has not yet received a response.