Protestants besiege Belfast school

BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- Riot police have clashed with a crowd of Protestant activists blocking the entrance to a Catholic junior school.

Furious protesters hurled bricks, bottles and fireworks at the police, venting their anger at alleged attacks on the Protestant community in the predominantly Catholic district of Ardoyne in northern Belfast.

Police used clubs and shields to force a clear pathway for parents to escort their children, some as young as four, through the front entrance of the Holy Cross Girls Primary school.

"All we can do is hold the line," assistant Chief Constable Alan McQuillan told The Associated Press news agency. "We are literally holding the line right down the middle of Ardoyne road."

Some protesters clashed with police who moved in with batons to disperse the crowd. One Catholic woman was taken to hospital with a head wound, said Reuters news agency.

In a statement to a Belfast newsroom, a caller claiming to represent the Protestant paramilitary group the Red Hand Defenders warned parents to keep their children away from the school.

The caller also threatened members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary police if any Protestants were hurt in the confrontations.

The Red Hand Defenders is blamed for two sectarian murders in recent weeks and is a cover name for the Ulster Defence Association, a group opposed to the power-sharing peace agreement in Northern Ireland.

The protest is the latest in a string of demonstrations beginning in early June, when Protestant activists blocked the road outside the Holy Cross for the final two weeks of the school term.

Police and army officials moved in at dawn on Monday morning to erect a protective walkway into the school after last-minute efforts to broker an end to the dispute in Ardoyne failed over the weekend.

Politicians, police and community leaders are appealing for calm. McQuillan assured parents police will continue to intervene every morning if necessary to ensure their children can get to school safely.

Half an hour after all the pupils had entered the building, the street outside remained clogged with police vehicles and personnel, said Reuters.

About 600 people have been involved in rioting in the area throughout the summer as tensions reached boiling point in Ardoyne where the Protestant minority live alongside the Catholic community.

The riots come amid widespread dispute over policing reforms proposed as part of an overall package designed by the British and Irish governments aimed at breaking the deadlocked peace process in Northern Ireland.

The Police Implementation Plan, designed to replace the RUC with the Police Service of Northern Ireland, has come under fire from both Protestants and Catholics, who say it does not bridge the gap between republican and loyalist demands for a joint approach to policing.