ABOUT 4,000 people attended an Irish Congress of Trade Unions peace rally at Belfast City Hall yesterday. Speakers from Britain and Ireland urged the IRA to reinstate its ceasefire and called on politicians to begin talks.
SDLP, Ulster Unionist and loyalist politicians attended the lunchtime rally. Sinn Fein councillors, who were also present stood silently while speakers unreservedly condemned the IRA.
The ICTU president, Mr John Freeman, referred to a statement by Mr Gerry Adams at Belfast City Hall last year that the IRA "hadn't gone away". "Well, we haven't gone away either," said Mr Freeman, referring to people in Northern Ireland opposed to paramilitary violence.
The general secretary of the British TUC, Mr John Monks said the IRA ceasefire had ended "brutally and murderously" leaving London "battered and sad".
He urged people to consider the suffering caused by the Canary Wharf explosion and ensure there were no repeats in other cities. The trade union movement stood for respect for life and democracy, values which were the essence of the peace process.
"I call upon the IRA to restore the ceasefire and create the right atmosphere for talks to take place." If the peace process failed, future generations would never forgive the politicians, he added.
The general secretary of the Scottish TUC, Mr Campbell Christie, said the peace process had been like a dark cloud lifting over Ireland.
He called on people to put the maximum pressure on the politicians to hold negotiations "to secure a just and peaceful settlement". "Enough is enough the time of the gun is over, the time for peace is now," he added.
There were also peace rallies yesterday in Armagh and Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh.
Meanwhile, one of the organisers of the Derry Trades Council peace rally has claimed that state employees were given time off to attend the ICTU vigil in Belfast yesterday but not the demonstration in Derry on Tuesday.
The man, who wished to remain anonymous, said the decision had been taken because the organisers of the event in Derry would not promise to refrain from criticising the British government for refusing to call all party talks.
The North's main daily and Sunday newspapers have organised a special peace telephone poll. Thousands of people yesterday called the line which will remain open until Sunday.
It was set up by the Belfast Telegraph, the Irish News, the News Letter, Sunday World and Sunday Life. Twenty community groups in west Belfast are urging both governments and all politicians to begin all party talks to secure peace.
In a statement, the groups said
"We believe that peace and justice will only come through dialogue. We are frustrated that peace appeared so close and we are dismayed that certain political parties seem bent on squandering this opportunity by refusing to talk."
A peace vigil organised by Protestant and Catholic clergy will be held in Armagh today. Sinn Fein is staging a torch lit rally in Dromore, Co Tyrone, this evening.
The rally will hear calls for the disbandment of the RUC, the release of paramilitary prisoners and the start of all party talks. Mr Gerry Adams will address a peace rally in west Belfast on Sunday.
In Armagh people reached out the hand of friendship to each other across the religious and political divide at yesterday's lunch time peace vigil in the city centre. Before leaving Market Street to return to their shops, offices and homes, they turned to shake hands' with those around them.
The gathering, estimated at up to 2,000, was joined in a two minute silence for peace by the Church of Ireland Primate, Archbishop Robert Eames. The vigil was organised by local Protestant and Catholic clergy.
A Presbyterian minister, the Rev Tony Davidson, told the assembly "We have to learn to stand together as a community. We cannot afford to stand apart any longer".
The Rev William Alford, a Methodist minister, said the future of the community rested on the shoulders of them all. He added "We have a Christian duty to support one another. But we, have a special responsibility to build a peaceful, just and harmonious society for our young people."
Two schoolchildren, Nina Doran (11), from St Catherine's College, and Craig Skene (12), from Armagh Royal School, read a special prayer for peace.
In the crowd was Mrs Maria McShane, of Keady, whose son Gavin and his school friend, Shane McArdle, were shot dead by an Ulster Protestant militia gunman in Armagh in May 1994.
In the wake of the breakdown in the IRA's ceasefire, Mrs McShane has appealed to the terror groups, "Please God no more"
Afterwards, people signed a book for peace expressing opposition to the return to violence which has been opened in the public library by the city's Chambers of Commerce and Trade.
. In Limerick an estimated 500 people turned out for the peace rally at Cruises Street. The Minister for Health, Mr Noonan, and the deputy Mayor of Limerick, Senator Jan O'Sullivan, condemned the London bombs and expressed the hope that another ceasefire would be declared.