Sectarianism fosters the idea, that one sect of people have a "divine" right to rule over another sect. In Northern Ireland this has led to catholics being subjugated by "protestand ascendency".

Through centuries of suppression by the British state and anti-catholic work practices, catholics have now been put into ghettos, where there is no work and housing is very poor.

In these ghettos they are easy targets for the R.U.C. (Northern Ireland police) and the army.

These state thugs use live or plastic bullets, super grasses and surveillance under the disguise of anti-terrorism to keep the centuries old oppression alive and the population divided. It is in these circumstances that the present crisis in Northern Ireland has arisen.

The U.V.F. (Ulster Volunteer Force) and the U.D.A. (Ulster Defence Association) under the cover of front organisations, such as the Protestant Action Force and the Ulster Freedom Fighters, have also taken it upon themselves to terrorise the catholic community again.

They have killed, beaten and burnt people out of their homes in an effort to move catholics out of "protestant" areas. In response to these sectarian attacks, the Catholic Reaction Force, not to be left out of things, placed a bomb in a protestant owned pub (it was defused) and also kidnapped a protestant worker who was later released due to pressure from local people in Derry - both protestant and catholic.

It is with all this as a background, that the staff at Lisburn DHSS office walked out in support of threatened catholic workmates who had been threatened by the U.D.A.

The next day 12 offices were closed, 2000 workers- protestant, catholic and those of no religion - stood together.

The next day 14 offices were closed.

In another incident bin workers refused to collect rubbish in a catholic area, after four protestant bin workers had been ordered off the estate by a gang with sticks.

The bin workers said, that the rubbish could only be collected, once the intimidation had stopped.

These are only a couple of isolated incidents, but here we have seen that friends and workers have been able to tell the hate mongers that they will not be intimidated by sectarian threats and are prepared to take action to show it.

Protestants, catholics and those of no religion, it's time to come together and refuse to be provoked by the forces that wish you to continue fighting each other.

It's time to unite together, solidarity - a show of strength.