Several thousand Catholics and Protestants united in a silent protest Wednesday against the Irish Republican Army dissidents who have put Northern Ireland on edge _ and its peace in doubt _ with deadly attacks that have left three dead since the weekend.
More than 2,000 people gathered at lunchtime in front of Belfast City Hall to register their protest against Northern Irelands worst dissident IRA violence in a decade. Thousands more gathered in at least three other cities, including predominantly Catholic Londonderry and Newry, where dissidents have been active.
``No going back, read placards at all the protests. As a lone bagpiper played a lament, the Belfast crowd _ among them fire-fighters and postal workers, former paramilitary convicts and child-cradling mothers _ fell stone-silent for five minutes. Some openly wept while others shook hands and offered condolences to police officers over the latest fatality, a 23-year police veteran shot through the back of the head Monday.