North Ireland’s First Minister Mr David Trimble and his deputy, Mr Mark Durkan, tonight condemned the violence in north Belfast and called for restraint and common sense from all sides.
"We condemn without reservation the disturbances yesterday and the disgraceful attacks on property at Mercy School today," they said in a joint statement.
They added that dialogue was the only way of resolving the differences and said they had asked their officials to arrange an urgent meeting between community activists on the ground and the Assembly members for the area to facilitate cross community dialogue.
"We stand ready to support and resource mediation if that is the will of the parties," they added.
They stressed implementation of the package of measures agreed last month to, at that stage, resolve the inter-community strife was under way and was what the Protestant residents of Glenbryn and the Holy Cross school had identified as necessary and wanted addressed.
The North Belfast Community Action Project, set up to oversee progress in rebuilding community life, recommended independent mediation to get dialogue going.
The NBCAP said tonight the events of the past two days were "deeply distressing" and were evidence of "the fragile and dangerous situation" in north Belfast.
They said during talks earlier this week they had been encouraged by the desire of people on both sides for continued constructive discussions.
PA