Belfast unites against terrorists

Thousands of people today stood in silent defiance of the paramilitary gunmen as Belfast united in a bid to end the killing spree.

As the city’s lord mayor Alec Maskey launched a anti-sectarian rally to call for a hush to remember all those murdered by the terrorists.

Then he told the terrorists: “Homes are being wrecked and people are being killed. Stop now.”

Backed by trade unions, church leaders and nearly all the political parties, Mr Maskey, Belfast’s first Sinn Fein lord mayor, had called the huge demonstration after Catholic teenager Gerard Lawlor was gunned down by the Ulster Freedom Fighters two weeks ago.

Gripped by a sense of revulsion at the ongoing murder campaign, several thousand heeded his call and took to the street outside City Hall.

They heard Bob Gourley, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions Northern Ireland Committee chairman spell out a startling message.

He said: “The evil purveyors of bigotry have declared war on us all and wished to ensure that the legacy of hatred continued.”