Staff and children must be able to attend school without fear – Nicholson

STAFF and children must be able to attend school without fear – local Ulster Unionist representative Sam Nicholson has said.

Mr Nicholson, Chairman of the Newry and Armagh Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Association, said, “Those behind the recent bomb threats to schools across Northern Ireland are cowards and an absolute disgrace.

“Deliberately targeting children and staff to spread fear is beneath contempt, and these actions have rightly been condemned across the board.

“While it is reassuring that the PSNI has assessed these threats as a hoax, that does not excuse the immense distress and disruption inflicted on our communities. The anxiety caused to pupils, parents, and school staff is entirely real.

“Instead of supporting worried parents and responding to threats, teachers and principals should have been doing what they do best: educating our children. These hoaxes disrupt learning and force families into stressful, last-minute changes to childcare and work, creating a damaging knock-on effect for local employers.

“It is vital that the police conduct a swift, thorough investigation. Those who deliberately inflict fear on families must be identified and face the full weight of the law.

“I want to extend my sincere thanks to the principals, teachers, school staff, and police officers who managed this crisis so professionally and kept everyone safe.

“Moving forward, while we hope this is an isolated incident, the Education Authority clearly has lessons to learn. They must improve their response times to principals and establish a robust, standardised policy to ensure clearer guidance if such an event ever happens again.”