Senior business leaders in the North stood shoulder to shoulder with trade-union activists in Belfast yesterday in a singular display of solidarity against sectarianism in Northern Ireland.
The vast majority of retailers and businesses across Belfast and the North gave their employees the opportunity to take part in a series of rallies organised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) to protest against violence and intimidation.
Commercial life in Belfast paused briefly yesterday to support the rally. In the city centre many shops and restaurants had prominent notices advising customers that they would be closed over lunchtime.
Large retailers such as Marks and Spencer which remained opened for business in the city throughout the gathering were represented by a cross-section of staff at the public demonstration.
Thousands of office workers from the north to the south of the city had made their way to the rally at the front of Belfast City Hall where a sea of corporate umbrellas bore testimony to the large number of participants from the business community.
Employees from various industries, identified only by their company uniforms, stood side by side with postal workers and staff from the emergency services yesterday as the private and public sectors joined forces on a wet and windy Friday afternoon.
According to Mr Nigel Smyth, Northern Ireland director of the Confederation of British Industry, who shared the speakers' platform with the ICTU leader, Mr Peter Bunting, the rallies sent a powerful message of solidarity.
"We, like many businesses, saw this as an investment in the future of Northern Ireland. The message is that Northern Ireland now has to move on, we have got to leave behind sectarianism and move forward to a better future.
"What is happening in North Belfast has an impact on all our futures. Mr Smyth said.
