Some children caught in the bitter Holy Cross school dispute in north Belfast still suffer nightmares that gunmen are coming to kill them, according to a new book.
Journalist Anne Cadwallader's Holy Cross - The Untold Story claims that one girl as young as four ended up on tranquillisers as a result of the trauma of walking past a loyalist picket on her way to primary school.
Boys in the area also suffered during the protest while their sisters ran the gauntlet of vicious sectarian abuse in the Glenbryn and Ardoyne sectarian interface.
While the trauma of the Holy Cross schoolgirls has been focused on during and since the 2001 dispute, the principal of a boys' school admits: "We felt a little isolated. Our boys were suffering, and some of their parents were going through what I can only describe as nervous breakdowns.
"They were being attacked and threatened in their homes, and some were made homeless.
"Boys were not able to play normally; they had trouble sleeping; some were wetting the bed because of fears their parents would be hurt."
The book, which will be launched in Belfast today, also has interviews with some of the schoolgirls at the centre of the dispute. Loyalists from the Glenbryn area picketed the school because they said they were being harassed by nationalists whose children were pupils at Holy Cross.
However, this version of events is hotly disputed by the parents. They say they, their children and Catholic priests were subjected to vicious sectarian abuse and had bags of urine and other missiles thrown at them and also pornographic material. This is disputed by the protesters.
The author focuses initially on events which led to the 12-week loyalist protest and also on the dispute itself.
Loyalists also tell the author of their frustration that promises from politicians in the wake of the dispute about improving their area were not fulfilled.