Two teenagers held over ‘New IRA’ murder of young journalist Lyra
TWO teenagers were arrested yesterday over the murder of journalist Lyra McKee as police warned that a new breed of terrorist is emerging in Northern Ireland.
Two men, aged 18 and 19, were arrested under the Terrorism Act in connection with the murder of 29-year-old Miss McKee, who was shot while standing near a police van to film rioting on Londonderry’s Creggan estate on Thursday night.
Last night, security experts told The Mail on Sunday that if the gunfire which killed Ms McKee was aimed directly at security forces it would represent a ‘new departure’ and was a different tactic from those used by the Provisional IRA.
Earlier, Police Service of Northern Ireland Detective Superintendent Jason Murphy warned that a young cadre of terrorists was lurking in the shadows. ‘What we are seeing is a new breed of terrorist coming through the ranks, and that, for me, is a very worrying situation,’ he added.
Mr Murphy said he hoped the widespread revulsion over the murder signalled a dramatic change in attitudes.
‘There is a real sense after what happened to Lyra of a sea change and I want people to have confidence to come forward and help us.’
He said the police line of enquiry was that the shooting was carried out by members of the New IRA, a group of dissident Republicans opposed to the peace process.
Yesterday, former US President Bill Clinton, who was instrumental in brokering the Good Friday Agreement 21 years ago, said he was ‘heartbroken’ by the killing.
‘The challenges in Northern Ireland today are real – but we cannot let go of the last 21 years of hard-won peace and progress,’ he tweeted. ‘This tragedy is a reminder of how much everyone has to lose if we do.’
Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley was among the first to sign a book of condolence to Miss McKee yesterday, writing: ‘A tragic loss, such promise, such energy, so much potential. We can only imagine what you would have achieved.’
Ms McKee’s partner, nurse Sara Canning, told her killers that ‘no cause is worth the loss of Lyra’, adding: ‘She was the love of my life, the most impressive yet humble person alive, and the only person I wanted to grow old with.’
Ms McKee was an editor with California-based news site Mediagazer, a trade publication covering the media industry.
Amid the tributes, the New IRA’s political wing issued a sickening justification for the murder. A statement online blamed Ms McKee’s death on an ‘incursion’ into the area by ‘heavily armed Crown forces’.
‘A republican volunteer attempted to defend people from the PSNI/RUC,’ it said, referring to Northern Ireland’s current and former police forces.