Down couple gets massive response to `postcards for peace' appeal

THE No More Violence campaign has received more than 100,000 cards and letters and 500,090 signatures in its hastily organised appeal for "postcards for peace".

Mr Gavin Walker and his wife,

Margaret, from Bangor, Co Down, asked RTE and BBC listeners to send a million postcards as a means of showing their support for peace.

They have no political affiliations but said they felt they had to do something to help retrieve the situation after the Canary Wharf bombing. They hit upon the idea of a mass write in campaign as an easy, inexpensive way for people to show their support for peace.

Yesterday five days after the start of the campaign, Mr Walker said they had received 100,000 cards and letters. Some of the letters had hundreds of signatures, he said.

At a press conference in Belfast the campaign put on an exhibition of some of the post. In a message to the IRA, Mr Walker said. Male and female, young and old, Protestant and Catholic, British and Irish, every person on these islands, call on you and your organisation to make an honest commitment to peace. We say to you, if you are a man of violence put down your weapon.

Later they began delivering the post to political parties with an accompanying statement calling for movement in the peace process. In Belfast they delivered letters to all the parties and the Northern Ireland Office. On Monday will meet Government officials at Leinster House.

A Sinn Fein councillor, Mr Alex Maskey, said later in a statement that the party had received a number of letters at Connolly House headquarters from individuals calling for peace.

"In accepting these letters our representative was assured that similar representations would be made to all the other political parties who also share equal responsibility for bringing about real peace negotiations."