The murder of 29-year-old journalist and author Lyra McKee in Londonderry in 2019 prompted an outpouring of condemnation and grief that quickly spread beyond Northern Ireland and around the world. She was shot dead by dissident republicans while watching a riot in the Creggan area of Londonderry.
Global Condemnation and Political Pressure
The killing sparked widespread outrage and led to pressure on politicians to break an impasse and start talks to restore the then suspended powersharing institutions at Stormont. Former Irish president Michael D Higgins, then UK prime minister Theresa May, and former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar were among the mourners who attended her funeral.
Lyra McKee's Life and Career
Originally from Belfast, Ms McKee had only recently moved to Derry before she was killed, to live with her partner Sara Canning. She had tweeted about the “absolute madness” in Londonderry in the hours before she was shot dead. Ms McKee rose to prominence in 2014 after a blog post called “Letter to my 14-year-old self” in which she spoke about the struggle of growing up gay in Belfast. In subsequent years, her letter was turned into a short film, she became a published author, and she had signed a two-book deal with Faber & Faber, as well as appearing in domestic and international publications. Named as one of the “30 under 30 in media” by Forbes Magazine in 2016, Ms McKee was cited for her passion of “digging into topics that others don’t care about”.
Impact on Peace Process
Public outrage over her death placed immense pressure on politicians to break a two-year political deadlock at Stormont, at a time when the devolved powersharing institutions were suspended. The reaction to her killing helped kickstart political talks in 2019 as part of a bid to break the stalemate. Paying tribute at Ms McKee’s funeral, her sister Nichola Corner said: “We have the power to create the kind of society that Lyra envisioned. One where labels are meaningless. One where every single person is valued. One where every single child gets the chance to grow up and to make their dreams come true.” She added: “In the words of Lyra herself, we must change our own world one piece at a time, now let’s get to work.”
