Police came under further attacks from stone-throwing youths in north Belfast last night, though the RUC described the area as relatively calm.
Overnight, rival crowds, several hundred strong took to the streets in what security chiefs feared heralded a repeat of the previous night's violence.
Police issued a warning to motorists to keep away from the Crumlin and Ardoyne Roads and made one arrest after investigating reports of houses being stoned at the back of Mountainview Road in the Ardoyne area.
It was confirmed yesterday that an extra 1,600 soldiers are being sent to Northern Ireland though a British army spokeswoman said they were due to arrive for next month's marching season.
A police spokesman said there was no serious damage and apart from some sporadic stoning, the area has been relatively calm. Meanwhile, police uncovered a quantity of ammunition and bomb-making equipment after the search of a derelict house in south Belfast.
Army bomb experts are examining the material which was found after police responded to reports of suspicious activity in Pandora Street in the loyalist Donegall Road area.
Military chiefs confirmed moves to send in troop reinforcements as RUC Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan warned of attempts to murder his officers trying to quell sectarian violence in north Belfast and the troubled Ardoyne area enjoyed a relatively quiet night.
Some troops have already arrived and the rest are due next week.
The north Belfast violence which has left 60 police officers injured has dramatically heightened tensions, but the major fear is trouble at Drumcree and the threat of it spreading across Northern Ireland.
They are also worried it could escalate to dangerous new levels in Belfast where Sir Ronnie yesterday accused rioters of attempting to murder his officers keeping rival Protestant and Catholic factions apart in the Ardoyne district.
Some of the trouble, he claimed, was being orchestrated by loyalist paramilitaries. Gunmen on both sides of the bitter conflict have opened fire and police have also been attacked with petrol and acid bombs in some of the worst violence in Northern Ireland this year.
A police spokesman revealed that a loyalist gunmen had emerged from a crowd and fired around six shots into the air in the Hopewell Crescent area of the lower Shankill, a stronghold of the Ulster Defence Association.
An attempt was made last night to broker a deal to end the sectarian violence plaguing north Belfast.
A loyalist group calling itself the Concerned Residents of Upper Ardoyne issued a set of proposals to nationalists aimed at bringing the bitter dispute to an end.
A public meeting unanimously backed an end to the street protests that have led to Protestant families leaving their homes and Catholic children being prevented from going to the Holy Cross Primary School through the loyalist Glenbryn area.
In a statement, the group called on Catholic parents to agree to continue to use the longer Crumlin Road entrance to and from Holy Cross school for the remaining five days of the term.
It also urged public statements from both communities calling for an immediate end to all protests and the setting up of a community forum to reaching a resolution before the start of the new school year. This forum would include agreed representatives of both communities and would have no input from politicians in the area.
PA