Braniel Primary: 'Rumours and poison' spread about Irish language school

Irish language campaigner Linda Ervine has said untrue rumours spread by a "small number of people" led to the decision not to open an Irish language pre-school at Braniel Primary School.

On Wednesday it was announced Naíscoil na Seolta would be relocated elsewhere in east Belfast.

Mrs Ervine said it was "hard to fight against lies and being misrepresented".

She added she would keep a good relationship with the school and would continue to teach Irish classes there.

"We are still welcome at Braniel and we are very grateful for the support from teachers, parents and governors," she told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme.

"We were worried by not the reality of what was happening but the lies and rumours," she said.

The school would have been a separate school from Braniel, but was to be housed in a classroom on the site of the 400-pupil primary.

Mrs Ervine said one of the untrue rumours was that "bus loads" of people from all over Northern Ireland would be brought to the school.

"This was a small number of people, who for their own reasons, resent the fact that we were opening a naíscoil in Braniel," she said.

She said those individuals had spread "nonsense, lies, rumour and poison - feeding people things that aren't true".

"Another venue came up and we felt that, in the interest of community relations, we could take the other venue," she said.

"It's been a set back but we are still opening in another part of east Belfast in September."

Naíscoil na Seolta will be the first Irish language pre-school in east Belfast.

Mrs Ervine said 14 of the 16 places have been filled.

She added that the site at Braniel had always been intended to be temporary.

"We aren't just Irish medium. We are integrated Irish - supported by NICE and Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta (CnaG)," she added.

"It's the first time they have worked together on a successful project so it is ground-breaking not just within Northern Ireland but within the whole island of Ireland."

In a letter to parents on Wednesday, Braniel's principal, staff and governors said the school was proud to be "a shared space for all".

"Due to an ongoing social media hate campaign against some individuals and the integrated Naíscoil na Seolta, it is with great sadness that it is choosing to relocate to an alternative location," they said.

"A social media campaign was started and fuelled by those who are not connected to the school, nor are parents of our school and who are clearly were not interested in facts and truth."

The letter said comments had been posted on social media "that were littered with unfounded erroneous allegations about certain individuals and the naíscoil".

It continued: "Braniel Nursery and Primary School is not and should never be thought of as a contested space.

"We are proud to be a shared space for all."