A Belfast priest who faced down a Loyalist blockade stopping Catholic children from getting to school has now revealed how police pleaded with him to escape across the border, fearing that he was about to be killed.

In 2001 Father Aidan Troy was thrust into the world media spotlight during the Loyalist blockade of Holy Cross Girls' Primary School in Ardoyne in north Belfast.

On three occasions he was warned by police that he was under a Loyalist death threat and in May 2004 was placed on an international "people at risk" register.

Speaking ahead of leaving the parish later this month, Father Troy recalled the night when police officers informed him he was about to be killed by Loyalists.

"I'll never forget the police coming to the monastery this Friday night just before midnight and telling me to pack a bag," he said.

"I tried to laugh it off at first but the detective was very serious and told me they had definite information that I was going to be shot within 48 hours.

"There were four Land Rovers waiting outside the monastery and they said they'd escort me to Newry and asked if I could get someone to pick me up at the border.

"I told them if I ran away across the border I might as well leave a note on the monastery gates telling the bully boys they'd won, because Holy Cross Girls' would never open again.

"I remember the inspector telling me the Loyalists knew my car registration and the times I visited the sick in the Mater Hospital.

"He kept telling me I was going to be killed but I told him if that was what was meant to happen, then so be it. It was better me being killed than one of the parents or the children."

Admitting that he might have been naive to ignore the death threat, Father Troy said, "I remember the reality hitting me the next morning and, like a typical coward, going over to Clonard Monastery to make my last confession just in case I was shot.

"I can laugh at it now but those were the days we were living in and there were other people far worse off than me."