North Belfast's sectarian divides are preparing for a long, hot summer of confrontation. Monika Unsworth finds some people do not believe it is good to talk
The sign could easily read "Welcome to the West Bank". As it is, it says: "Tiger's Bay UDA - Simply the Best." The mural behind it depicts a roaring tiger, is flanked by white and blue Israeli flags, harmoniously alternating with the odd Union Jack.
Several hundred yards up North Queen Street, past small piles of debris and broken glass from previous nights' riots, the New Lodge area's Tricolours blend just as harmoniously with the green, white, black and red Palestinian flags.
The PSNI's latest north Belfast statistics on civil disturbances over the past 10 months, before this weekend violence, speak for themselves: 603 officers injured, 141 plastic baton rounds fired, 168 confirmed blast and pipe-bombings, 369 petrol bombs.
Yet for the past three weeks one of the area's most notorious flashpoints, Limestone Road, which connects loyalist Tiger's Bay with nationalist Newington, has been deceptively quiet as clashes have moved to other interfaces such as Ardoyne Road/Glenbryn and, at the outskirts of north Belfast, Whitewell/White City.
The reason behind the apparent tranquility is a virtual curfew imposed by the UDA on the residents of Tiger's Bay after a night of vicious clashes on April 3rd between loyalists and the security forces. Since then, three-man UDA vigilante groups have been patrolling the area from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. every night.
Local Sinn Féin councillor Eoin Ó Broin says this is clear evidence the disturbances have been orchestrated by the UDA. "There are 26 interface areas in north Belfast and yet the only ones where there is sustained trouble is where the UDA are in positions of influence. They turn the violence on like a tap and then disappear again leaving other people to do the rioting."
In other loyalist areas dominated by the UVF and its political representative, the Progressive Unionist Party, accommodation is reached far more easily, Mr Ó Broin says. The UDA's agenda behind the civil unrest is a desire for segregation built on loyalist fears that nationalists want to take over their areas.
"The riots are instigated to provide the authorities with a justification to build a wall across such vital arterial routes as the Limestone Road. The truth is that no sane nationalist would want to move into Tiger's Bay, but loyalists there have become increasingly rudderless.
"Their traditional employers such as the shipyard [Harland & Wolff\] are shutting down, their traditional relationship with the forces of law and order is breaking down, anybody with any qualifications is moving out of areas that have become perceived as ghettos.
"What is left are the poor, the elderly and young people with no facilities. Middle-class politicians have washed their hands of them. So what is left apart from the paramilitaries, who are only too happy to play on their paranoia?"
At first sight, the night's UDA patrol looks anything but intimidating. The three vigilantes, all dressed in jeans and fleecy tops, look to be in their late teens, although they insist they are in their mid-20s. It is difficult to see how their presence would prevent an angry mob from rioting.
Their leader, Paul, says he is an electrician but left his job because of "Catholic intimidation". Now he and his mates cannot even collect their dole as it would mean going through a nationalist area to reach the dole office.
The men have a battered-looking caravan at the corner of Halliday's Road and Limestone Road as a shelter. Their presence is the only way to avoid further trouble, they insist.
There is no doubt among loyalists that nationalists are pursuing a policy of "ethnic cleansing". "They [the nationalists\] should be pushed back and give us back our streets that we used to own and that were built for our people. We are trapped here. Once Tiger's Bay goes they will have everything down to the docks."
While republicans can rely on grassroots politicians to secure funding for their communities, loyalists have been abandoned by their political representatives, one of Paul's friends says.
"The government won't give us the funds to build the derelict houses back up. We would do it with our own hands if they gave us the money. We would be glad to get the labour and some money in our pockets. They are using the riots as an excuse not to give us the funds."
A mobile-phone network between community representatives on both sides to alert each other at the first sign of trouble broke down after a number of weeks. Nationalists claim loyalists sent them abusive text messages and regularly turned off the phones before riots.
While the flying of the Israeli flag from loyalist houses started as a wind-up of republicans, traditionally sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, Paul expresses admiration for "the way the Israelis are dealing with terrorists. The Jews have a right to defend their land."
Both sides agree that this summer's Drumcree and other Orange marches are likely to exacerbate the situation but they vastly differ on possible solutions.
Mr Ó Broin says only the immediate setting up of channels of dialogue involving all political parties and community leaders could defuse the situation. The UDA vigilantes have other ideas. "There can't be any more talks. I can't talk to those on the other side knowing that the next minute they are going to attack us again. Talk doesn't always solve everything. Sometimes it makes matters worse."
Davy Mahood, the former north Belfast chairman of the now-de-funct Ulster Democratic Party, which used to politically represent the UDA, says there are cautious attempts to resolve the situation.
"You can only start with very small steps here, build confidence bit by bit." It is unlikely, though, that the two sides will be co-ordinating colour schemes in the foreseeable future.