Normality is set to return to the Holy Cross Catholic girls' primary school on Monday after Protestant residents from the area agreed to suspend their 12-week protest outside the school.
The unexpected breakthrough came at the end of a meeting attended by some 200 residents from the Glenbryn and upper Ardoyne Road area.
At the meeting the residents considered a letter sent by the First and Deputy First Ministers to concerned parties in the dispute.
The letter came after a week of negotiations in which Mr David Trimble and Mr Mark Durkan dealt personally with both the residents and the parents of the children at Holy Cross, as well as the school governors and local representatives.
The letter contained proposals aimed at resolving the dispute by answering a number of the residents' concerns.
Among the proposals agreed were "community safety measures" such as traffic calming, the the installation of CCTV cameras and increased police patrols in the area where sectarian clashes occur frequently.
Other matters such as the increased provision of community services and shops were also believed to have been included in the package. No vote was taken at the meeting.
Before it began a number of community figures had indicated they believed the package would be accepted and one said he believed it was "as good as we're going to get".
A number of people were said to have been unhappy during the discussions and afterwards at least one could be heard to complain "that's the Protestants split now".
Despite the dissent, the DUP MP for the area, Mr Nigel Dodds, who spoke at the meeting, said "the decision to suspend was one that was supported by the meeting...the people went out united."
Mr Billy Hutchinson, a Progressive Unionist assembly member for north Belfast, called for dialogue to take place immediately between both sides.
"There needs to be a discussion about how parents actually go up and down the road and how residents actually respond when those parents are going up and down the road."
Mr Hutchinson said he did not foresee this dialogue breaking down and both he and the residents said they hoped it could begin over the weekend, perhaps as soon as today.
"The sticking point for nationalists has been; how do people get into dialogue when the protest is on? The sticking point for this community has been; how do you end the protest when there is no solution? I think all of those things are now coming together."
Mr Brendan Mailey, a member of the Holy Cross Parents' Right To Education Group, said it would be more than happy to talk to the residents. "We welcome any end or suspension of the protest."
But at the same time he asked if it had come at a price of "concessions granted to the Glenbryn residents on the backs of the children".
Mr Mailey said the group would fear that the residents could pocket these concessions and then resume the protest. "We need to have a permanent solution."
Mr Dodds rejected claims from nationalists that the Glenbryn residents were being rewarded.
Even if yesterday was the last day of the protest tensions still remain high in the area. Insults were again hurled by Protestants at parents.
However, Mr Hutchinson was optimistic there we would be no such scenes on Monday.