Hate message sprayed on Catholic school wall
POLICE are investigating a hate crime after vandals spray painted a sectarian message on the wall of one of the city’s top Catholic schools.
The vandalised wall at St Aloysius’ College in Garnethill was sprayed with the anti-Irish message, “The famine is over, it’s time to go home.”
Officers were called to the College in Hill Street at around 9pm on Sunday to investigate . Workers at the school cleaned up the graffiti yesterday morning.
A police spokesman said: “We received a report of vandalism outside the school on Hill Street.
“The incident is being treated as a hate crime and enquiries are ongoing.”
A spokeswoman for St Aloysius’ College added: “Graffiti was discovered on the Dalhousie Street side of the main building on the morning of Monday.
“The matter was reported to police and inquiries are ongoing
“The graffiti has now been removed.”
St Aloysius’ College states on its official website that it is Scotland’s only Jesuit private school.
The website also states that the school embraces a brand of Catholic education for boys and girls aged three to 18.
Fees at the school can range between £2,000 and almost £11,000 per year.
Many Irish Catholic immigrants came to Glasgow during the “great famine” between 1845 and 1852 to avoid mass starvation and disease.
Moves are being made to remember their plight, with Glasgow City Council planning a memorial for the victims of the Irish famine.
The memorial will commemorate the 100,000 who fled to the city to escape starvation in Ireland as well as those who escaped the famine in the Highlands.
The planned memorial is also underpinned by Glasgow’s role as a destination for those seeking sanctuary from more recent events.