A major security operation was mounted outside Catholic schools in north Belfast yesterday to protect teachers and pupils. Hundreds of police officers and soldiers took up position to ensure children attended classes unhindered.
The Red Hand Defenders, a cover name for the UDA, has said it now considers staff at Catholic schools "legitimate targets". The security measures are expected to remain in place until the threat is lifted.
A helicopter hovered over Holy Cross school in Ardoyne, where dozens of police Land Rovers lined the streets. Parents escorted their daughters past the armoured vehicles but there was no loyalist protest.
The chairman of the school's board of governors, Father Aidan Troy, said the threats against Catholic staff had created an atmosphere of fear and tension.
A range of precautions were taken at Holy Cross including keeping the gates and front doors locked and ensuring no child opened a door to any visitor.
"We are taking sensible measures, but if you turn a school into a fortress you kill the prospects of education. But we don't want to endanger the children and are taking the threat seriously," he said.
Father Troy said that at first he did not believe the Red Hand Defenders threat but it had become much more realistic after the murder of a Catholic postal worker Mr Daniel McColgan on Saturday.
The Assistant Chief Constable of the Police Service for Northern Ireland, Mr Alan McQuillan, said the force's high-profile operation in north Belfast was to reassure the community and school workers that police were protecting children and staff.
Police stood on guard outside Our Lady of Mercy School on the Ballysillan Road. A group of armed loyalists smashed 17 vehicles in the school car-park on Friday.
Mr Billy Hutchinson of the Progressive Unionist Party, the UVF's political wing, urged the UDA to rethink its strategy.
Loyalism should not be "dragged backwards", he said.
Sinn Féin's president, Mr Gerry Adams, and the party's north Belfast Assembly member, Mr Gerry Kelly, last night met the Northern Secretary, Dr John Reid, to discuss the security situation.
Speaking before the meeting, Mr Adams said: "It is very clear there is a marked reluctance by the police force and the British security agencies to confront the threat posed by the UDA.
"There is a marked difference in the institutional response to violence when it comes from loyalists as opposed to republicans. The UDA was established by the British. It is an organization riddled with British agents, either working for Special Branch or other intelligence services.
"The British government cannot hide from these facts. It cannot abdicate its responsibilities."
Meanwhile, there were arson attacks on two Catholic schools on Sunday night. A classroom and adjoining corridor were damaged by fire at St Bride's, off the Malone Road in south Belfast. Four cars outside and walls were daubed with loyalist slogans.
A mobile classroom at St Patrick's High School on the Ballinderry Road in Lisburn, Co Antrim, was extensively damaged in another blaze.
Police last night released without charge two people who were being questioned after being arrested on the day of Mr Daniel McColgan's murder. A spokesman said another two people were arrested yesterday and were helping police with their inquiries.