IF THOSE engaged in violence "turn their backs on the current window of opportunity for peace, I believe the trade union movement will never forgive them", the SIPTU leader, Mr Billy Attley, told the conference.
Earlier the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said he fully endorsed the ICTU's call for an end to violence based on an inclusive political settlement.
"Peace is vitally important to all of us. We will be working hard for it. I will do all I possibly can to bring peace, hold peace and maintain peace on this island", he said.
The Northern Ireland Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, told the congress that the two governments had put forward proposals on decommissioning which she hoped would gain broad acceptance and allow them to address the substantive political issues by September at the latest.
Success in talks offers the brightest prospects for Northern Ireland's future. That is true in the economy, too."
Unemployment was at the lowest level for 17 years "but the prospect of continued growth will be put at severe risk if we see again this year the return of violence on the streets, as we had last summer".
A peaceful marching season this year could make an incredible contribution, not just to the peace process but to economic progress in Northern Ireland as well, she said.
Mr Attley, who is treasurer of the ICTU, said that "if ever a people desired or demanded peace, it is the people of Northern Ireland and this island as a whole."
Community relations could be restored only by a complete and unequivocal end to all violence.
"No people can be permanently forced or compelled to accept conditions or opinions forced upon them," he warned. For three decades the trade union movement had stood against violence and sectarianism.
"I believe that if those engaged in violence turn their back on the current window of opportunity for peace they will never be forgiven by the trade union movement."
A demand from Derry Trades Council for an international trade union inquiry into Bloody Sunday was remitted to the ICTU executive.