Leaders join mourners of journalist

LONDON — The killing of journalist Lyra Mckee must be a turning point for Northern Ireland, a priest said Wednesday at a funeral service attended by British and Irish leaders alongside mourners in superhero T-shirts and Harry Potter scarves.

U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar and Ireland President Michael D. Higgins were among hundreds of people celebrating the life of Mckee, who was shot dead by paramilitary gunfire last week. She was the first journalist killed on the job in the U.K. for almost 20 years, and her death caused wide shock in a region still shaken by tremors from decades of violence.

British opposition leaders and the heads of Northern Ireland’s Catholic and Protestant political parties also attended a service at St. Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast led by Protestant and Roman Catholic clergy. Some of Mckee’s family and friends wore Harry Potter and Marvel Comics items in tribute to her love of those fictional worlds.

Mckee, 29, was killed Thursday as she covered anti-police rioting in the city of Londonderry, also known as Derry. A small Irish nationalist militant group, the New IRA, said it was responsible.

In his homily, Father Martin Magill said Mckee’s death should be “the doorway to a new beginning” for Northern Ireland.

He praised the united response of politicians, but asked: “Why in God’s name does it take the death of a 29-year-old woman with her whole life in front of her to get to this point?” — as mourners rose to their feet to applaud.

“To those who had any part in her murder, I encourage you to reflect on Lyra Mckee, journalist and writer, as a powerful example of ‘The pen is mightier than the sword,’” Magill said.

“I plead with you to take the road of nonviolence to achieve your political ends.”