Trimble's meeting with school protesters ends
Loyalist protesters are inching towards ending the Holy Cross school blockade after talks with Northern Ireland First Minister David Trimble.
Representatives from the Glenbryn estate met Mr Trimble and Deputy First Minister Mark Durkan in the latest bid to end the 12-week picket of Catholic children walking to class in north Belfast.
The Protestant residents were joined at the hour-long discussion in Stormont by the Rev Norman Hamilton, who has been invited to attend many of their meetings.
Afterwards, the clergyman said: "We have moved a few more inches along the way to a resolution."
Mr Trimble and Mr Durkan called tonight's meeting as part of an information-gathering exercise aimed to helping them secure a breakthrough in the crisis.
Glenbryn residents are demanding a number of security measures, including the installation of CCTV and road calming schemes, before they will agree to lift the blockade on the Ardoyne Road. It is understood clarification on a number of key issues has yet to be provided.
When it is, representatives from the Protestant group will take the proposals to a community meeting at which a decision to end the stand-off could be taken.
The next meeting is scheduled for tomorrow night.
Mr Trimble and Mr Durkan are understood to have pledged a swift response to the Glenbryn group's concerns.
With assurances still not given, it is unclear whether Glenbryn representatives would be in a position to call a halt at tomorrow's meeting.
Whatever happens, Mr Hamilton stressed efforts should be focused on securing a permanent solution rather than a quick fix. "The most important thing is to have it resolved in such a way that it doesn't reignite," he said.
