'Significant move' by next summer

By Martina Purdy BBC Northern Ireland political correspondent

It has been another bitter summer.

In Ahoghill, Catholic families have been forced out - following a series of attacks.

There has been more rioting at the Belfast interfaces. Sectarian violence has been particularly acute in north Belfast.

This week, a Catholic mother and three children narrowly escaped death when a lit petrol bomb was thrown threw their front window in broad daylight in Cliftondene Crescent.

In Alliance Avenue, the home of a 78-year-old Protestant pensioner, recovering from a stroke, was petrol bombed.

A sectarian motive for the murder of Catholic teenager Thomas Devlin has not been ruled out.

Thomas Devlin was stabbed as he walked home in north Belfast

The security minister, Shaun Woodward, fresh from his holiday, is promising a crackdown on those behind almost nightly interface violence.

The government, which last Spring launched its Shared Future document aimed at promoting harmony, is promising another report in the autumn.

Critics say the report "sank without trace" and a more robust approach is required.

The main thrust of the strategy is encouraging more tolerance by promoting integrated housing and schooling and removing illegal flags.

These ideas are not new, nor is the deep scepticism about the prospect of mixed housing in Northern Ireland where the vast majority of Catholics and Protestants live separately.

The Alliance leader, David Ford, supports the vision of integrated housing and believes it can happen, but Brian Feeney, the Irish News columnist, speaking on the BBC's Inside Politics programme, said this was fantasy and would result in more violence and riotous behaviour.

The police response to the sectarian problem has also been in the news, and speculation that former paramilitaries are going to be allowed to join the police has also made headlines.

This follows a report that the Northern Ireland Office is considering proposals which include community support officers being introduced here.

These CSOs are used in England and Wales.

David Ford supports the vision of integrated housing

They are full-time officers who go through fast-track training, have no powers of arrest, but are used to deal with petty crime in the community.

There has been some concern about abuses despite assurances that the scheme would come with safeguards if it was adopted.

The fierce opposition to former paramilitaries joining the service, and the fact that this was ruled out by Chris Patten, the architect of the new PSNI, means it is highly unlikely that Sinn Fein's demand will be met.

But there is little doubt that young men and women who have been recruited into the IRA post 1994 and who have no police records may end up in the PSNI.

Certainly that would make it easier for the Sinn Fein leadership to sell the new police service to its supporters when the time comes.

Policing changes

Interestingly, Mr Ford did not deny this was a possibility.

He said it was important to focus on the safeguards that exist to ensure all officers uphold the law: "I think we may have to accept there may be certain bad apples..in the police service.

"The key thing is to ensure the police service is run as best it can be and these bad apples are weeded out."

The issue of republicans and the police is expected to dominate politics in the months ahead.

Sinn Fein has indicated that it will not allow the DUP to veto progress in the peace progress, or prevent changes to policing.

It is not a matter of if, but when, Sinn Fein signs onto the PSNI.

One republican source did not dispute a significant move by next summer.