Father Aidan Troy last night (Tuesday) said he hoped an attempted loyalist pipe bombing near the north Belfast home of a Holy Cross parent was an "isolated incident".
Mother-of-three Tina Gallagher became the latest target of those bent on violence less than 24 hours after the screening of the controversial Holy Cross BBC drama about the loyalist protest at the girls primary school in 2001.
The pipe-bomb device was found by police near Ms Gallagher's home at the junction of the Crumlin Road and Kerrera Street at around 9.40am yesterday.
It is not known how long the pipe bomb had been lying on the road but it was thought some unsuspecting motorists may have driven over the potentially lethal device before it was discovered and made safe.
A caller to a Belfast newsroom claiming to represent the supposedly defunct Red Hand Defenders – a cover name used in the past by the UDA and LVF – admitted responsibility.
It was also claimed that Ms Gallagher had been targeted because she was a spokesperson for the Holy Cross parents – a position which the mother last night said she had never held.
The bomb incident came less than 24 hours after the broadcast of a controversial drama depicting the loyalist protest, which received a mixed reaction from both communities caught up in the dispute.
Last night Fr Troy, chairman of the school's board of governors, said the children and parents of Holy Cross have "suffered enough".
The attempted attack, he said, was "the exact opposite to what we wanted to happen in the community".
"It is an awful feeling, that a few words would spark something like that. It is very, very sad," he said.
"It's the exact opposite to what I had hoped for. It is why I had not spoken about it, I deliberately took myself out of all of it.
"I think the children and parents have suffered enough and the school has been in the spotlight too much for any positive outcome."
Fr Troy called on both communities to unite in a show of solidarity against the bombers.
"We owe it to the children not to be the cause of suffering," he said.
"I hope this is an isolated incident and that the community can rally together and say we have no time for this type of activity."
SDLP North Belfast councillor Alban Maginness branded the incident "senseless".
"It only served to attempt to intimidate and cause fear," he said. "It only serves to heighten tensions which benefits no one."
Sinn Féin representative Kathy Stanton said: "The RHD, who have claimed the attack, is simply a cover name for the UDA. What we see here is a continuation of the loyalist campaign against nationalists in north Belfast."
