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Lyra McKee

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Lyra McKee
Lyra McKee in 2017
BornBelfast Edit this on Wikidata
Died18 April 2019 Edit this on Wikidata
Derry Edit this on Wikidata
Alma mater
OccupationJournalist, essayist, writer Edit this on Wikidata
WorksAngels with Blue Faces, The Lost Boys Edit this on Wikidata
Awards

Lyra Catherine McKee (31 March 1990 – 18 April 2019) was a journalist from Belfast, Northern Ireland.[1] She was an editor for Mediagazer, and had written for The Atlantic and BuzzFeed News. On 18 April 2019 she was shot dead during rioting in the Creggan area of Derry, County Londonderry.

Life and career

McKee's career in journalism began when, at fourteen, she published a school newspaper, and by the following year she had won a place on a course to study the subject.[2] She first came to public attention in 2014, with the publication of a blog post titled "Letter to my 14-year-old self" in which she described the challenges of growing up gay in Belfast, and that was subsequently made into a short film.[3] McKee's work as a journalist included a number of pieces that appeared in both domestic and international media.[4] Among these were articles she wrote for The Atlantic, The Belfast Telegraph, Private Eye and BuzzFeed News; she was also an editor for Mediagazer.[2][1] In 2016 Forbes magazine named her as one of its "30 under 30 in media" because of her work as an investigative reporter.[4]

Her first book, a non-fiction work titled Angels with Blue Faces, was published in 2018, and deals the Provisional IRA killing of Belfast MP Robert Bradford. McKee used crowdfunding to finance its publication.[2] She subsequently signed a two-book deal with Faber and Faber. At the time of her death, her second book, The Lost Boys, was scheduled for release in 2020. It concerns the disappearances of Thomas Spence and John Rodgers from Belfast's Falls Road in November 1974. Faber and Faber had compared the work to that of Anna Funder's Stasiland and Andy O'Hagan's The Missing.[4]

McKee wrote on the consequences of the Troubles. She notably wrote Suicide of the Ceasefire Babies on teenage suicides linked to the conflict.[5]

Death

On 18 April 2019 McKee was shot dead during rioting in the Creggan area of Derry, County Londonderry.[6][7] Police blamed dissident republicans for her death.[8][9][10] Mobile phone footage shows a masked gunman, believed to be a member of the New IRA, opening fire with a handgun.[9] In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, police took her to Altnagelvin Hospital in an armoured police Land Rover, where she later died.[9] McKee had been researching unsolved killings during The Troubles in Northern Ireland of the late 20th century.[11]

Prime Minister Theresa May called the murder "shocking and senseless". She said McKee "died doing her job with great courage".[9]

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said "our solidarity also goes out to the people of Derry and to the entire journalism community. We cannot allow those who want to propagate violence, fear and hate to drag us back to the past."[9]

The leaders of Northern Ireland's main political parties, the DUP, Sinn Féin, UUP, SDLP, Alliance Party and Green Party, released a joint statement condemning the killing of McKee and described it as "an attack on all the people of this community, an attack on the peace and democratic processes". They also said that it was a "pointless and futile act to destroy the progress made over the last 20 years, which has the overwhelming support of people everywhere". They further reiterated their support for the Police Service of Northern Ireland, who were the intended targets of the gun attack.[9]

Her publishers, Faber and Faber, described her as a rising star of investigative journalism.[11] Séamus Dooley, assistant general secretary of the National Union of Journalists described her as "a journalist of courage, style and integrity".[2]

Bibliography

McKee wrote two non-fiction works dealing with aspects of The Troubles.[4]

  • Angels with Blue Faces (2018)
  • The Lost Boys (2020, Faber and Faber)

References

  1. ^ a b "Lyra McKee - Janklow & Nesbit".
  2. ^ a b c d Picheta, Rob (19 April 2019). "She dedicated herself to covering Northern Ireland. Murdered investigative journalist 'tirelessly pursued the truth'". CNN News. CNN. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  3. ^ Letter to my 14-year-old self on Youtube
  4. ^ a b c d "Lyra McKee: A rising star of investigative journalism". The Belfast Telegraph. Independent News and Media. 19 April 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019 – via www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk.
  5. ^ Suicide of the Ceasefire Babies
  6. ^ ""All the promise of Northern Ireland's post-conflict generation": a tribute to Lyra McKee". www.newstatesman.com. Retrieved 2019-04-19.
  7. ^ "This is what happened last night during the violence in Derry". The Independent. 19 April 2019. Retrieved 2019-04-19.
  8. ^ Carroll, Rory (2019-04-19). "Derry police blame dissident republicans for journalist's death". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-04-19.
  9. ^ a b c d e f "Journalist shot dead in Derry during rioting in the city". BBC News. 19 April 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  10. ^ "Journalist killed in Derry 'terrorist incident', say Northern Ireland police". The Guardian. 19 April 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  11. ^ a b "Off-duty journalist shot dead during Northern Ireland riot". Reuters. 19 April 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
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