Friends of murdered journalist Lyra McKee have painted red hand prints across the office of a dissident republican group in Derry.

Ms McKee, 29, was murdered on Thursday night while covering disturbances in Creggan.

The gunman was aiming at police when he hit the journalist and author in the head.

Her friends used red paint to cover their hands before planting prints across the Junior McDaid House in Derry, where Saoradh’s headquarters are based.

A group of about six men, understood to be members of the republican group, stood outside during the protest. Saoradh is associated with the New IRA.

Police officers were presented and later took the names of those involved.

The New IRA is being blamed for shooting Ms McKee. Her killing has been condemned across the political spectrum.

Sinead Quinn, a friend of Ms McKee’s who took part in the protest, said: “We have used red paint because they have blood on their hands for what has happened.

“They have encouraged it, they have moulded these young people into what they are and they are standing behind them handing them guns.

“They need to take responsibility today for what has happened.

“They have shirked it so far by saying it was an accidental shooting. You don’t shoot accidentally.”

She added: “When you put a gun into someone’s hand and they shoot it, that’s murder.

“Lyra deserves more and I am so glad there are so many people here today to see and watch these men looking at us.

“They are not a representation of republican people in this town.

“Those people don’t represent (republicanism). Nobody can advocate shooting into a crowd of people and shooting a 29-year-old woman dead.

“People have been afraid to stand up to people like this, we are not afraid.”

John Lindsay, who lives in Derry, said: “The whole town has told them they are not wanted here.

“They have freedom to speak, they don’t have freedom for violence and they don’t have the right to carry out acts of violence.

“There is mood change here, even hardline republicans are speaking out against them and saying they need to desist.”

Within 48 hours of Ms McKee’s death, the republican group Saoradh – associated with the so-called New IRA – paraded down Dublin’s O’Connell Street.

Mr Varadkar condemned the march saying the group’s actions were an “insult” to the Irish people and that they had dishonoured the Irish national flag.

Ms McKee’s funeral will be held at St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast on Wednesday.

Her family have asked mourners to wear Harry Potter items, reflecting her love for the JK Rowling books.

A message of condolence for Ms McKee has been graffitied on to the landmark Free Derry Corner which says: “Not in our name. RIP Lyra.”

Flowers left by her friends and family include a message from her partner Sara Canning which said: “My beautiful Lyra, our time together was too short and your light was snuffed out too soon. I love you forever, your Sara.”

The protest comes after calls from the leader of the SDLP to restore power-sharing talks in Stormont.

In a letter to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Prime Minister Theresa May, Colum Eastwood said there was an “unmistakable public desire that the tragic and terrible loss of Lyra McKee marks a turning point for our peace and political process”.

Two men, aged 18 and 19, arrested over the murder of Ms McKee were released without charge by the Police Service of Northern Ireland on Sunday night.

DUP leader Arlene Foster and her Sinn Fein counterpart Mary Lou McDonald attended a vigil in Creggan, Londonderry, after Ms McKee was killed, but they have not held political talks for months because of deep differences.

Source: Read Full Article