Two trade unions called for union members to support the Belfast Agreement at the weekend.
The vice-president of SIPTU, Mr Des Geraghty, told the James Connolly commemoration at Arbour Hill, Dublin, that as trade unionists and as socialists they must ensure the rights of the people took precedence over past differences.
Delegates to the annual delegate conference of the Manufacturing Science Finance union (MSF) in Dun Laoghaire passed emergency motions supporting the peace process and "the unique opportunity for peace and reconciliation which the agreement reached in the multi-party negotiations provides". The union has 31,000 members in Ireland, including 10,000 in the North.