THE 250 member General Board, of the Presbyterian Church warned yesterday that serious political negotiation is an urgent priority in the North.
At its meeting in Belfast yesterday, the board passed several resolutions urging that the search for peace should be carried forward at all levels.
The Moderator, Dr Harry Allen, said it was important that progress be made, "but this can only happen if the declared concerns of the different parties are taken seriously."
A resolution passed by the board commended the loyalist paramilitaries for maintaining their ceasefire "and would encourage, the IRA to reinstate theirs."
The board called on those involved in boycotts of businesses and the picketing of churches to desist forthwith.
It also called on Irish League football clubs to encourage fans to display only club emblems at matches, and called on those organising protests outside football matches to stop immediately.
Dr Allen said: "The disastrous events of the last few months have unleashed anger and intolerance and demonstrated that there is much prejudice and bitterness lying close to the surface in all of us.
"It remains important for us to seek peace and pursue it in whatever way is possible. The recognition of difference does not make co operation impossible."
Meanwhile, the chairman of the Commons Backbench Committee on Northern Ireland, Mr Austin Hunter, said after meeting leaders of the loyalist fringe parties in Belfast that he would be calling on the British government to begin releasing loyalist prisoners.
Greater weight should be given to the factor of the continuing loyalist ceasefire. There should be early remission for some life sentence prisoners.
A delegation from the Women's Coalition yesterday visited the Maze prison to meet representatives of the UDA and UFF. The visit was part of a consultative process with the loyalist prisoners in which several Northern parties have participated.
Yesterday, the Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, again called for an "effective and credible process of negotiations" to ensure there was a viable means of resolving conflict and reaching an agreed and lasting settlement.
In a statement, Mr Adams said the creation of new preconditions to Sinn Fein's entry to dialogue could only undermine the efforts being made to construct such a peace process.