What should be the single most disturbing aspect of the letter sent to the Stormont education minister Paul Givan last week by a group of mothers expressing fears about the safety of Muslim pupils was that it came as absolutely no surprise.
Racist extremists have launched a range of recent attacks which could have killed innocent men and women across Belfast and beyond, so there is every possibility that they would be prepared to target children as well.
The 400 women who wrote to Mr Givan as the new term got under way were completely justified in voicing their concerns as much of the violence has taken place in the vicinity of both primary and secondary schools.
In a poignant BBC interview last week, one mother said that her youngest child, rather than looking forward with excitement to her first day in the classroom, was worried about the risks she might face.
The woman, who was among those who signed the letter to the minister said that, after she offered reassurance, her daughter replied: “You know what the first thing I will do when I get to school is to hug my friends.”
It was the type of conversation that no P1 pupil should ever have to have with her parents, but it demonstrated the direction in which an irrational hatred of outsiders can take us.
Mr Givan responded by saying that his department and the Education Authority were carrying out risk assessments on a number of schools and he also provided the chilling but necessary message that guidance would be offered on managing emergency incidents.
It was an entirely reasonable reply from the DUP minister, who also said he was ready to meet with the Muslim mothers, and it must be hoped that its implications will be fully studied by all his party colleagues.
Some DUP figures have spoken out firmly about the growing campaign of racist intimidation, but others have only made equivocal statements while a number have so far said nothing of note.
Regular suggestions that trouble has broken out in certain areas because residents somehow feel disenfranchised and marginalised hardly reflect well on the wider performance of the DUP.
Most of the upheaval has been concentrated in the parliamentary constituencies of North, South and East Belfast, which as well as sitting MLAs have either had DUP MPs in the recent past or are presently represented by that party at Westminster.
Some DUP figures have spoken out firmly about the growing campaign of racist intimidation, but others have only made equivocal statements while a number have so far said nothing of note
It is not only unionists who have made embarrassing interventions over the last month with perhaps the most toe-curling moment coming when a small group of vocal anti-migrant protestors from the Coolock district of north Dublin joined a demonstration in central Belfast.
When the southern visitors were then encouraged to lead a shameful and unauthorised march including loyalist elements towards a mosque in the south of the city, they promptly took a wrong turning and had to hastily retreat when they were confronted by angry nationalists on the lower Ormeau Road.
It was an episode which among many others demonstrated vividly the consequences of false reports circulating online, whether in Coolock or anywhere else, and it is long beyond the time when the hugely profitable social media companies need to be held accountable for their actions.
All responsible politicians have a duty to point out that immigration is a natural part of modern society, and that our health service in particular would collapse without the vital contribution of those who have moved here from other countries.
Logic dictates that hospital staff members will often wish to live close to their places of work, but the idea that the overall ethnic balance of the north is changing dramatically does not stand up to any serious scrutiny, as the most recent available statistics, from the 2021 census, indicate that only six per cent of the population, an amazingly low level, were born outside the UK and Ireland.
Our latest movement of people figures are also telling, with 5,000 arriving from the rest of the world but 2,700 departing for other parts of the UK, meaning a net annual migration total in 2022 of just 2,300 in a region of almost two million, and it should be abundantly clear that rumours about a massive influx of newcomers being given favoured access to jobs, housing and public services do not have a factual basis.
While there are many genuine social and economic issues which urgently need to be addressed in all parts of the north, none of them will be resolved by throwing bricks through the windows of terrified Muslim families.
