26th July 2002

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Dublin to hold vigil against sectarian violence

Sinn Fein Group leader in Dublin City Council, Cllr Christy Burke, has welcomed the decision of Dublin Labour party Mayor Dermot Lacey to join a vigil against sectarian violence planned for 12pm at the GPO tomorrow, Saturday.

Cllr Burke said:

``The decision of Dermot Lacey to stand with his colleague in Belfast, Mayor Alex Maskey in repudiating sectarian violence is a welcome one. It is of the utmost importance that other political and civic leaders demonstrate their concerns for people living in fear in Belfast and use their influence to bring an end to the attacks.

There have been over 363 sectarian attacks on the nationalist community this summer, an orchestrated campaign of violence, the most tragic outcome of which has been the death of Gerard Mullen at at the hands of people dedicated to destorying the Good Friday Agreement.

Sinn Fein is committed to dialogue between the two communities as the way forward and we call again on the Loyalist Commission to meet with our representatives in Belfast and on the two governments to do all they can to facilitate discussions between community leaders to defuse tension. We will continue to play our part by working on the ground to maintain the peace.''

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