A sectarian arson attack on a school in Ballymena, Co Antrim, the third such attack in the town in two days, has been condemned by local politicians.
A staff room and corridor at St Patrick's High School on the Broughshane Road suffered extensive smoke and water damage after arsonists smashed three windows and set fire to curtains in the early hours of yesterday.
The First Minister, Mr David Trimble, last night described the attacks as "utterly futile" and said they were perpetrated by people with "their own agenda, for their own selfish reasons".
"Such attacks are souring the progress we are making. It appears that it will take time before the days of sectarianism will fade away," he added.
The Education Minister, Mr Martin McGuinness, said his Department's officials were already in touch with staff at St Patrick's to assess the damage and arrange repairs but resources would have to be diverted from other schools and programmes.
"Schools are now closed for the summer and fortunately children and staff have not been put at risk. However, such attacks are deeply damaging to the morale of all those involved in schools and I very much hope that such attacks will stop. It's not the future that people voted for," Mr McGuinness said. The Ulster Unionist mayor of Ballymena, Mr James Currie, yesterday compared the arsonists to Nazis intent on driving out part of the community.
"This is a very sad day for Ballymena. It is very sad that the Roman Catholic community is being targeted like this. It smacks of how the whole Nazi movement started in Germany, gradually intimidating people and making them feel they are not welcome in this town," he said.
In a separate incident, a petrol bomb was thrown at a house in the Lettereev area of Ballymena in what the RUC described as a sectarian attack. The device failed to ignite and no damage was caused to the house, which is believed to be owned by a Catholic.
On Monday night, arsonists attempted to burn down the Catholic church at Harryville in Ballymena.
A local SDLP councillor, Mr Declan O'Loan, said until this week, the town had been "doing very well" in the face of the Drumcree-related violence. "Normally, Ballymena would have played a part in all that, but this year we thought we were getting off lightly. Now it appears that some people want to get in on the action at all costs."
Mr O'Loan said three incidents in two nights were "cause for grave concern indeed" but praised the town's mayor, Mr Currie, as well as representatives of the various churches for immediately speaking out against the attacks.
A north Antrim Sinn Fein councillor, Mr James McCarry, accused loyalists of conducting an orchestrated campaign against local Catholics.
"Nationalists across north Antrim must remain vigilant in the days and weeks ahead."
Meanwhile, the chairman of the hard-line Ulster Young Unionist Council, Dr Philip Weir, said the increased violence over the past few weeks highlighted "more than ever" the need to remove all illegal weaponry from society. The violent events of the past two weeks were also condemned by the Alliance Party MLA, Ms Eileen Bell, who called on the British government to "sort out the bully boys".