VOICING their opposition to the IRA's decision to end its cease fire, about 3,000 people attended a lunch time rally outside Belfast City Hall yesterday.
The crowd held white paper doves to show their desire for peace. A minute's silence was observed for the two men killed in the London bombing.
One of the organisers, Ms Anne Carr, said "We are just the ordinary people of Belfast but we are the fabric of our society. We want to express our revulsion at the IRA attack.
We chose to hold the vigil at City Hall where President Clinton made his inspirational address to tens of thousands of people before Christmas. The air was charged with hope then.
"Sadly, it's a very different story today. But we must stand side by side and say in one strong, united voice that we will not sit back and let our future, and the future of our children and grand children, be, destroyed by ruthless and futile violence."
The event was organised by Women Together, a cross community organisation formed 25 years ago.
Ms Carr called on the politicians to make whatever compromises were necessary to secure the peace process.
Ms Maria McShane, whose son Gavin (17) was killed in a loyalist gun attack on a taxi depot in Armagh in 1994, also addressed the rally. "My sister phoned me on Friday night to say the ceasefire was over.
"I burst out crying and then I went to Gavin's grave and asked him to help us all. The bomb filled me with despair. I don't want any more mothers to lose their sons. I want peace for my two other children.
A trade unionist, Mr Bob Gourley, who was injured along with his wife by an IRA bomb 20 years ago, told, the crowd that the decommissioning issue should not be allowed to halt all party talks.
I would love to see decommissioning now, but it's not practical. It must b9 put on the long finger. The politicians must start talking immediately."
The Queen's University Student Union is holding a candle lit vigil tonight in support of the peace process. Its president, Mr Colm McGivern, said that students wanted to express their despair at the resumption of the IRA campaign.