Tensions remain at Belfast school

An RUC officer in riot gear escorts a Catholic youngster through a Protestant section of Belfast

BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- The IRA's decision to begin disarming has sparked a reciprocal move by the UK government to destroy military sites in Northern Ireland.

But a heavy police presence remains necessary in situations like the one in northern Belfast, where tensions remain high as Catholic girls walk through a Protestant neighbourhood to attend school.

Just this week, loyalist demonstrators tried to break through police lines after spotting a Catholic parent recording the scene with a video camera.

Police and troops held back the protesters, who then shouted abuse as parents and children walked away from the school down the Ardoyne Road.

The twice-daily demonstrations at the Holy Cross primary school have been ongoing since they resumed in early September following the summer break.

QUICKVOTE Will the IRA's move on arms help bring lasting peace in Northern Ireland? Yes No View Results

In the first days of September, the children -- aged four to 11 -- faced a barrage of stones and at least one homemade grenade, and more than 40 police officers were wounded.

Parents say that despite the progress made in the peace process, painful memories of the protests remain for the children.

"Our children will never ever forget this, and that's something that they have to remember," says one mother.

"We can do our utmost to bring our children up without hatred and without any of those feelings, but we can't take away their memories, and these are the memories they're being given."

Several children were visibly upset and shaken by this week's scenes, which the chairman of the school's governors, Father Aiden Troy, said were some of the worst he had seen during the weeks of protest.

The UK government has begun the process of demilitarisation in the wake of the IRA's decision to begin disarming. It is dismantling watch towers and halting extradition hearings against some suspected terrorists.

The republican party Sinn Fein is urging the government to move quickly.

Young schoolgirls point past a road block in the Ardoyne area of Belfast

"I see no reason whatsoever why there should be British troops in any part of my country, and particularly in the almost eighth year of two IRA decisions, why people should have more contact with British troops than they had previously," says Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams.

"So I want to see all that infrastructure removed."

But Northern Ireland's chief constable says there is a limit to the amount of security that can be withdrawn.

"There are dissident republicans, people dissatisfied with this process, and of course loyalists continue to engage in violence as well, so they represent obstacles along the path to total normality here in Northern Ireland," adds RUC Chief Constable Ronnie Flanagan.

-- CNN Correspondent Tom Bogdanovicz contributed to this report.