Belfast priest protests at BBC re-enactment of sectarian hatred outside Holy Cross school

The BBC was accused of risking reigniting the sectarian hatred that led to months of violence outside a Belfast school two years ago by re-enacting the episode as a televised drama.

The corporation's decision to make a drama out of the Holy Cross school dispute, which left 100 children in need of counselling, has caused alarm in Northern Ireland.

Father Aidan Troy of the Holy Cross Monastery, the priest who braved a mob of angry loyalist protesters to lead a group of children to the school gates, said there was "a very high degree of apprehension" among local people.

He said: "It is just too raw ... The suspension of the protest only came on 23 November 2001. The children at the school are the same children. The families are the same families. And the protesters are the same protesters. Lots of parents are saying this programme could cause big trouble yet."

Jane Tranter, the BBC controller of drama, defended the decision to show the film, which has been given a prime-time slot on BBC1 next Monday. She said: "There is never going to be the right time to do a film like this. If you leave it for five years the currency will have gone."

A private screening of the film, which was to be shown to families involved in the dispute, has been cancelled. The school's parent teacher association feared that showing the film to only 40 people could provoke tensions because other members of the local community had not been able to see how their neighbourhood had been portrayed.

The 90-minute drama was filmed in Liverpool last summer. The BBC said Liverpool had been chosen as the location because of concerns over the sensitivity of the issue in Northern Ireland and the possible repercussions of filming in Belfast.

Robert Cooper, head of drama for BBC Northern Ireland, said: "Summer in Belfast is a time of really heightened sensitivities. It became apparent to us that it would have been insensitive to have made this film there then."

The Holy Cross dispute began in June 2001 in the north Belfast district of Ardoyne, and led to members of the loyalist community attempting to prevent Catholic children from passing through their neighbourhood while walking toschool.

Police set up roadblocks to try to keep the peace. The Catholic children and their parents were forced to run a gauntlet of abuse every morning as they were escorted to the school gates.

Loyalists claimed they were being attacked by nationalist thugs and were being driven out of the neighbourhood.

At the height of the dispute a bomb was thrown at a line of police officers protecting the Catholic children.

The film was made in co- operation with the Irish television network RTE, which will show it on Saturday, two days before it is broadcast on the BBC.

Terry Cafolla, who wrote the drama, said the script had been put together with the help of families "from both sides" of the dispute.

The BBC team has tried to "balance" the story but has elected to portray one of the principal nationalist characters in the drama as a former member of the Provisional IRA, even though he is not based on any real-life individuals.

Mr Cooper admitted the project was "very contentious" but said he believed it would not reignite the violence.

Father Troy said the loyalist community was also opposed to the dramatisation. "It is one thing we are all united on," he said.

The film centres on the lives of two 10-year-old girls from each side of the religious divide who are also neighbours.