The violence of recent nights in Northern Ireland moving to an interface area is a dangerous escalation of tensions.
The trouble had largely been confined to loyalist areas, but on Wednesday night clashes crossed a peace line between the loyalist Shankill and nationalist Springfield Road areas.
A melting pot of factors can be attributed to the successive nights of violence on the streets, which may prove difficult to unravel and address.
Police have once again been caught in the middle of political disputes, with a total of 55 officers injured as a result of the disorder.
It makes it all the more important that MLAs strike the right tone when they meet in the Assembly today.
While Stormont leaders have strongly condemned the violence, a blame game over who is responsible for stoking tensions risks derailing efforts to restore calm.
First Minister Arlene Foster speaking to the Chief Constable Simon Byrne earlier is a positive development after she previously suggested she would not be meeting with him due to the Bobby Storey funeral fall-out.
However, a tweet by the DUP leader in which she strongly criticised a petrol bomb attack on a bus while also saying it took the focus off the "real law breakers in Sinn Fein" was not a good sign of things to come.
The Alliance Party motion to be discussed at Stormont condemns "without equivocation" the recent violence and says the Assembly "reaffirms its full commitment to support for policing and for the rule of law".
While many may dismiss this as a talking shop, the words from our political leaders matter.
The challenge now for MLAs is how their words and actions can de-escalate tensions and bring this street violence back from the brink.
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