Loyalist leaders have called for calm in North Belfast following disturbances in the area.
They appealed for their community not to be provoked into retaliating after windows in the homes of two pensioners were allegedly shattered by republicans and wreaths removed from a memorial to a Protestant teenager whose death in 2001 when he was knocked off his bike by a car led to a murder charge.
Mr Tommy Kirkham, of the UlsterPolitical Research Group, which is linked to the UlsterDefence Association, blamed tensions and rivalry within republicanism for the latest sectarian trouble to hit the Whitewell Road area.
A 42-year-old man was arrested by police during the disturbances and is due in court in Belfast tomorrow charged with possession of an offensive weapon.
Mr Kirkham said: "We have been working with the people of the area urging them not to retaliate to provocation and last night was a perfect example - they stayed in their own areas and own homes."
But he said how long that could continue depended on whether republicans repeated attacks. "We are appealing for no retaliation but we are not going to sit back and take this," he said.
Representatives from the area were seeking a meeting with senior police officers this week to press for extra resources to be provided for the monitoring of CCTV footage shot by security cameras erected in the area in a bid to quell sectarian strife. He said there were plenty of cameras but police had told him they did not have enough officers available to study back footage.
It was spotting the trouble early last night on the CCTV cameras that enabled police to get into the area swiftly and stop it escalating out of hand.