Read more: Northern Ireland determined that murder will not destabilize peace
The message from Omagh to the Dissidents was clear – Give Peace A Chance.
Up to 10,000 people took part in a peace march in the Tyrone town on Sunday, just a week after Catholic police officer Ronan Kerr was murdered.
The event was organised on Facebook by 29-year-old Gareth McElduff, a cancer charity fundraiser in the town.
“It was done in the early hours of last Sunday morning, just out of anger at what happened to Ronan,” explained McElduff.
“When I checked it that Sunday night there were nearly 1,000 people saying they would attend. There was no going back after that.
“The walk and the number of people who turned up said everything that needed to be said.”
Many of those who walked held posters with Ronan Kerr’s face and a message: “Not In My Name” while others wore white ribbons.
A colleague of the murdered police officer told the Irish Times: “It’s bad to have to be back at this type of thing again but it’s good to see this.”
Also present was Michael Gallagher whose son Aidan was one of 29 people killed by the Real IRA in Omagh in 1998.
Local Sinn Féin MP Pat Doherty, party colleague Barry McElduff, Alliance Minister of Justice David Ford and local SDLP representative Joe Byrne also marched.
Read more: Northern Ireland determined that murder will not destabilize peace
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