Schools in Lurgan and Holywood closed by bomb alerts

Church Road in Holywood has been closed due to an alert

Schools in counties Armagh and Down have been closed due to bomb alerts.

Ceara Special School and Carrick Primary School in Lurgan have been closed following the discovery of a suspicious object.

A number of homes have also been evacuated, as has Lurgan Hospital. Sloan Street is closed at the junction with Sloan Avenue.

Holywood Nursery School in County Down is also closed after a suspect object was found in a hedge on Church Road.

Both objects are being examined by Army bomb disposal experts.

The principal of the special needs school in Lurgan, Dr Peter Cunningham, said the disruption had been "immense".

"We were able to prevent the children coming to school because we have a texting service, so we were able to do that very quickly when the PSNI told us to close the school," he said.

"But by that time our children had their uniforms on waiting in their houses all over the Lurgan, Craigavon and Portadown area.

"Our children just don't understand - when they get their uniforms on, it's time to go to school.

"When the bus doesn't come our children, especially those who work under a very strict routine become very anxious, so we have lots of anxious children and equally anxious families."

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-24577597]

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