Jessy Clark’s mum Carlyn was warned by the PSNI this week that she and her three children would come to harm if they move into the bungalow which has been purpose-built for the nine-year-old. The family believe the threat has come from loyalist paramilitaries. The new 20-unit development opposite the Ballycraigy estate in Antrim – which is being built to accommodate Protestant and Catholic families living as neighbours – hit the headlines when Union flags were put on lampposts and the kerbstones were painted red, white, and blue.
Graffiti has also appeared on a nearby house declaring ‘local only’. Jessy, who has spina bifida, hydrocephalus, scoliosis and autism, has been waiting for years for a home where he can use his wheelchair. He currently has to be bathed in a paddling pool or carried by his 27-year-old mum into the shower because their home in the Greystone estate can’t be adapted for his needs.
The new home in Antrim was purpose-built for him. But his great grandmothers Pauline O’Loan and Margaret Hart have vowed they’ll move into Jessy’s new bungalow to face down the thugs who have threatened their family. “If it takes it we will move into the bungalow, or if the police do their jobs they will protect Carlyn in that house,” says Pauline.
“It makes me ashamed to call myself a Protestant,” says Margaret. “I’m a loyalist Protestant and I have taken Jessy to bonfires and the bands. “I’m worried and my heart is broken.
I can’t understan.
