PEOPLE have a crucial choice, either the road to sectarian confrontation or the road to peace, said the Workers' Party president, Mr Tom French, at the publication of the party's manifesto yesterday.
"Only a vote for the Workers' Party can guarantee that've take the road of peace, agreement between our people and the dismantling of sectarian division which permeates almost all aspects of our society," he said.
Speaking in Belfast, Mr French described how such sectarianism had invoked fear in people who were particularly apprehensive of another summer of violence.
"Northern Ireland cannot afford another Drumcree. The cost is simply too great. We have paid for it not only in the almost complete polarisation of our community, but in vicious cuts in the health and education services, and the damage to the prospects for inward investment and potential job creation opportunities," he said.
Mr French warned it was not good enough to decry the evils of sectarianism. "People must also act. They must use their vote to say enough is enough and to declare for something different, for a better way.
"We are neither unionist nor nationalist, we seek to overcome sectarian division, not to copper fasten it. We seek only the unity of Protestant, Catholic and dissenter. We stand in favour of peace, democratic government in which the rights of all are guaranteed and protected, a comprehensive programme of social and economic reconstruction to tackle poverty, eliminate unemployment and provide decent health and education for all our people," Mr French said.