Celebrities and politicians were among thousands of people at a rally in Belfast today to call for an end to world poverty.
The MakePovertyHistoryevent was part of the campaign to put pressure on the governments of the richest countries to address the issue of debt when they meet next month in Scotland for the G8 summit.
Gary Lightbody, lead singer of Snow Patrol, and Belfast singer Brian Houston entertained the crowd at the event, while Natasha Bedingfield, Ronan Keating and Graham Norton have all endorsed the gathering.
Ahead of the rally, Lightbody said: "We were told about the poverty still happening - you can't believe that it's still the same situation 20 years later."
"The reason is these countries are being crushed under the weight of debt." He said the solution was for people and Governments in the developed world to take responsibility.
"As a generation, we have to stand up and say "no more". "When our leaders go into the G8 summit, they have to know the whole world is demanding they pay attention to Africa and all the Third World countries," he said.
Lawrence McBride, spokesman for the MakePovertyHistory NI campaign, said the focus of today's rally was debt cancellation.
He said between 2,000 and 3,000 people had turned up, including politicians Mark Durkan, SDLP leader and Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams, church leaders and special guest Binnie Mwakasungula, from the Presbyterian church of Central Africa, who addressed the crowd about poverty in Malawi.
Mr McBride said the event gave people in the North - many of whom would not be able to make it to the huge demonstration planned in Edinburgh - a chance to add their voices to the campaign.
PA