Around 3,000 people gathered in Belfast city centre yesterday to express their abhorrence of sectarian violence.
The event, organised by Belfast City Council and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, came in the wake of the killing of a 19-year-old Catholic, Mr Gerald Lawlor, by the Ulster Freedom Fighters two weeks ago, and that of a civilian contractor, Mr David Caldwell (51), at a territorial army base in Derry on Thursday.
Dissident republicans are blamed for planting the device which exploded as Mr Caldwell picked it up.
The rally was supported by all major trade unions, the four main churches, business leaders and politicians across the political divide, with the exception of the DUP, which boycotted the event due to the presence of Belfast's Sinn Féin mayor, Mr Alex Maskey.
Addressing the crowd after a one-minute silence at 1 p.m., Mr Maskey said that doing nothing in the face of recent sectarian violence was not an option for Belfast City Council. Yesterday's rally was the formal public launch of the council's anti-sectarian campaign, he added. "This is a day when we say to those engaged in sectarianism: 'Please stop. Homes are being wrecked and people are being killed. Stop now'."
The ICTU Northern Ireland committee chairman, Mr Bob Gourley, called on the gathering to make clear to the paramilitaries on both sides that they were not acting in the name of anyone present. "The evil purveyors of bigotry have declared war on us all and wish to ensure that the legacy of hatred continues. To each and every one of you in attendance here today, sectarianism kills all of us and we must fight against sectarianism at every opportunity - in our workplaces, societies, clubs as well as in our immediate and extended families," he insisted.
Speaking on behalf of the four main churches, the Church of Ireland Bishop of Connor, the Rev Alan Harper, said people had to stand together to challenge hatred, bigotry and sectarianism.
"We stand for respect for diversity, for freedom of conscience and for the right to live free of fear and threat. We will work together for harmony in our community, peace on our streets and justice and fairness for all people and we do so in the name of the one God whom we all worship," he added.
Representing the business community, the director of the Confederation of British Industry, Mr Nigel Smyth, said everybody was entitled to live and work free from sectarian violence.
"The business community continues to be appalled at recent events on the streets of Belfast. The street violence, blatant sectarianism and the recent murders are to be utterly condemned," he said.
Public opinion needed to be mobilised to put an end to sectarian thugs holding both communities to ransom, the regional official of the teachers' union NASUWT, Mr Tom McKee, insisted. "We do not say that demonstrations offer a short-cut to a society free from sectarian violence. The road to that goal is as long as in Pilgrim's Progress and will have many setbacks. However, if we have the same conviction in that objective as Pilgrim had in his, we will win."