Attack on us all and peace itself

THE death of Lyra Mckee must act as a wake-up call to Dublin and London to the North’s deteriorating security situation.

It should not take the murder of an innocent woman to alert the Irish and British governments to the increasing threat posed by dissident republicans such as the New IRA.

These terror groups, who represent no one but themselves, have set out to undermine the peace process and are willing to murder innocent civilians in pursuit of their twisted aims.

The confusion and division caused by Brexit has played into the dissidents’ hands and the absence of a government at Stormont has created a political void.

The vast majority of people on this island who would aspire to a united Ireland will find it outrageous that what amounts to a small group of violent thugs is claiming that their actions are in the name of Irish freedom.

The aim of the so-called New IRA and other dissident groups is to destroy the hard-won Good Friday Agreement by causing division.

That is why it is imperative the peace process must be protected from these terrorists who would nothing better than to drag this island back to the dark days of the past.

Seamus Dooley of the National Union of Journalists called on those in positions of political leadership to end the political deadlock.

The people of Ireland want and deserve the normality the Good Friday Agreement has brought about and all possible action must be taken against those who seek to destroy it.