PRESIDENT BUSH and First Lady Laura Bush visited an integrated primary school outside Belfast to show support for schools which educate Protestant and Catholic children together.
The US has long backed the integrated sector in Northern Ireland education and the visiting party was keen to signal support for it in the immediate aftermath of the political talks at Stormont.
Having finished their engagements at Stormont, Mr and Mrs Bush were driven to Lough View school, in Castlereagh, where they chatted easily with teaching staff and inspected the children’s project work before joining them for some basketball practice.
However despite Mr Bush’s best efforts at “shooting some hoops” the president managed no baskets from two attempts.
“It sure looks like a great school,” the president told the children.
“It’s sure fun being here.”
Mr Bush also chatted to basketball coaches from Peaceplayers International an organisation established in 2002.
It encourages cross-community contact through sport, especially for children from divided communities with little contact with those from other traditions.
So far some 17,000 have been to basketball coaching sessions across Northern Ireland.
The Castlereagh school has been educating pupils in an inclusive environment since it was formed out of a parents’ campaign group 15 years ago.
One man appeared near the school with a Palestinian flag to protest at US foreign policy in the Middle East.
However he was moved on by the PSNI to an area outside the security zone around the school because the protest had not been officially notified.
The school visit was the last official engagement of the presidential couple before leaving Belfast for Aldergrove where they boarded Air Force 1 for the journey home to Washington.