The North braced itself for a further possible outbreak of violence after a series of death threats were issued to members of both communities culminating in a warning of "unholy war" against nationalists by the Loyalist Volunteer Force.
An Ulster Unionist councillor in Derry, Mr Andrew Davidson, said he had been forced to flee following a threat to his life. Protestant roadworkers with the North's Department of the Environment in Newry and Armagh were threatened by the Catholic Reaction Force.
Although observers suspected some of the threats may have been hoaxes, in the wake of recent sectarian killings nobody was dismissing them out of hand.
Security sources said that while some of the threats might be real and others mischievous, no chances could be taken. When the RUC believed anyone was under threat, however slight, it was dutybound to advise the people in question on their security.
In a statement issued to newsrooms in Belfast at around 11.35 a.m. the LVF said the RUC had on two occasions visited the family of the late Billy Wright, the loyalist paramilitary leader whose killing in the Maze Prison five weeks ago was claimed by the INLA, to inform them they were under "a republican death threat".
"If republicans do not come out and deny these claims and state they are totally untrue and unfounded within a 12-hour period the LVF will unleash on (sic) an unholy war against the nationalist community," the statement continued.
The Irish Republican Socialist Party, political wing of the INLA, said it was confident the threats to the Wright family did not come from the republican socialist movement.
The Sinn Fein chairman, Mr Mitchel McLaughlin, said Sinn Fein repudiated any threat or attempt to intimidate anyone on the basis of religion. "The threat by the LVF is an attempt to use any excuse to justify their actions." He wished the Wright family "the same peace of mind as I would wish any family".
Mainstream loyalist sources expressed surprise at the threat to the Wright family "when the man that was the problem is no longer there".
Mr Davidson said he and his wife had decided they could not bring up children in the present "degenerating" atmosphere in Northern Ireland because it was a society in which "poison runs through people's veins".
The Sinn Fein President Mr Gerry Adams said last night expressed his "deep scepticism" about the threats to protestant workers, the Wright family and Cllr Davidson."Obviously any threat, real or imaginary, is extremely distressing to those against whom it is aimed. Our party has vigorously repudiated these threats and extended solidarity to the recipients".He said rumours could cause instability and anxiety and "in such circumstances confusion and fear is exploited by those elements who wish to undermine the potential for progress and change". Councillor flees Derry after death threat; Sinn Fein criticised at talks: page 5