A heavy security presence is evident in north Belfast again tonight. Clashes broke out between rival Nationalist and Loyalist youths in the Duncairn Gardens area.
Stones bricks and bottles were thrown by both sides during the disturbances while Nationalist residents claimed a blast bomb was thrown while the RUC say that they believe the device may have been a firework.
Earlier, the North's security minister Jane Kennedy announced that a so-called peaceline is to be constructed between Glenbryn Park and Alliance Avenue in Ardoyne. Ms Kennedy has instructed her officials to take immediate steps to initiate the construction process.
Talks to try and resolve the six-week protest at a Catholic girls' primary school in north Belfast broke up without agreement last night. It is expected further discussions will take place.
It was the first time this term that the Loyalist Concerned Residents of Upper Ardoyne met the Right to Education group. The negotiations followed calls from Loyalists for immediate face-to-face discussions.
Both sides declined to comment as they left Parliament Buildings, but according to one source, the Loyalist protest at Holy Cross girls' primary school was expected to continue this morning. Loyalist residents have been protesting the students' use of part of the Ardoyne Road as a route to the Holy Cross school.
In a separate development, the Taoiseach has said that the Unionist threat to withdraw from the power-sharing government in the North represented a most serious threat to the institutions there. Answering Dáil questions Mr Ahern encouraged all sides to show maximum flexibility.
He said that putting arms beyond use represented an indispensable part of the Good Friday Agreement, and confirmed that he had raised government concern over the arrests in Columbia with Sinn Féin.
Mr Ahern condemned what he called the "vicious and cold blooded" murder of journalist Martin O'Hagan, as well as the violence in north Belfast and the ongoing school protests in Ardoyne.
