Ten Protestant families have left the interface Torrens estate in north Belfast, blaming intimidation by republicans.
As the empty properties were boarded up yesterday, Sinn Féin vociferously denied the latest wave of departing residents were forced out as a result of any republican campaign, "organised or otherwise".
Their departure is the latest from the estate that once housed up to 200 Protestant families. They say that continual attacks, car crime and intimidation of schoolchildren by Catholics on the other side of a security wall had made life intolerable.
The DUP MP for North Belfast said their story was emblematic of post-ceasefire Belfast.
"As people talk about the 10th anniversary of the so-called IRA ceasefire, there is a graphic illustration today of the ongoing orchestrated and organised campaign of intimidation against vulnerable Protestant communities being waged by republicans," said Mr Nigel Dodds.
"This isolated Protestant community has been systematically targeted by republicans over many years. The people living there simply can't take any more."
The Housing Executive, which supplies public housing, said: "This situation is not unusual for the Housing Executive, which has had to respond to the re-housing needs of both communities in Northern Ireland over the past 30 years.
"The Protestant community in Torrens has been declining in numbers over recent years and there is currently little to no demand for housing from the Protestant community for this area."
Ms Elizabeth Ferguson, a resident of 38 years, said: "We are getting forced out of our homes. I used to take my kids to school and get spat on and called all the lovely names under the sun.
"Three weeks ago they wrote 'IRA' on my living room window and front door. I don't want to go but I have no other option."
Cllr Eoin Ó Broin of Sinn Féin rejected claims that republicans had forced the Protestants out. Claiming that the bulk of interface violence had been organised by the UDA, he recognised that life had been difficult for the Torrens estate.
"It is an interface community and it has suffered from a high level of interface violence over the last number of years, like many of the interfaces in north Belfast," he said. "While these families have taken the decision to move out of the estate, it is not because of either a campaign of republican intimidation or ongoing sectarian violence."
Mr Martin Morgan, an SDLP councillor and former lord mayor, regretted the departures, blaming what he called "low-level aggravation".
"The SDLP has condemned and will continue to condemn all such incidents, no matter who the perpetrators are or what spurious justification they might claim," he said.
"However, from the victim's point of view it may be perceived as intimidation, and we have got to deal with it as such. We have got to find ways of making all people feel safe and comfortable in their homes. I am deeply disappointed that more and more of our city is becoming single-identity."