Protestant residents tonight offered to end the Holy Cross protests in north Belfast if Catholic children and parents went to school by bus.
After six weeks of sectarian tension, protesters said the proposal to allow pupils to be driven up the disputed route could stop the situation getting worse.
A statement issued by the Concerned Residents of Upper Ardoyne said: "This is a reasonable compromise which will deliver the relative calm and reciprocation required to allow an immediate suspension of the protest."
The offer involves pupils and children using Belfast Education and Library Board buses to take the Ardoyne Road route.
The group said this would protect the children's rights and lift the "fear and intimidation" to which they have been intimidated.
The offer came after the head of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission urged north Belfast loyalists to stop intimidating Holy Cross schoolgirls.
Professor Brice Dickson accepted both sides in the dispute have been guilty of hurling abuse, but insisted there was no excuse for involving children.
He said: "Protests should always be peaceful and non-threatening. Above all they cannot be allowed to interfere with the right of children to get to our from their school."
PA