Night of violence in Northern Ireland: riots, clashes with police and a journalist who died – 19/04/2019

It is the last victim of the peace process in North Ireland and his murder, a serious warning in the middle of Brexit and the possibility of a hard border between the two Ireland. 29-year-old journalist and writer murdered in Derry Thursday night, in the middle of strong riots between him New IRA, a group of dissident Catholic Republicans against Good Friday against the police in Creggan, Derry (or Londonderry), at the heart of Catholicism in Ireland and as part of the Bloody Sunday. The police described him as a "terrorist incident".

I kept reading

Lyra McKee, one of the most brilliant journalists and writers of his generation in Northern Ireland, I watched the riots in Creggan, a neighborhood of the city. A man shot him with a gun in the middle of violent and incendiary riots between the police and a group of activists, at 11 o'clock on Thursday night.

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When Republican activists confronted the police (who had tried to enter a house in search of ammunition), they threw Molotov badtails at their armored vehicles and set them on fire, a man appeared with a gun and fired several shots.

In one of them, Lyra McKee, who was wounded to death, was present to reinforce her inquiry into the lives of young people after the peace process and its degree of integration. They had hit him in the head. She was 29 years old and was a research journalist who wrote about gender. He has just moved to Derry with his partner. Forbes had named him number one on his list of writers under 30 years old. His next book was to be published in 2020.

"Unfortunately, at 11 o'clock last night (Thursday), an armed man appeared and fired several shots at the police and a young woman, Lyra McKee, 29, was injured," police said. in your report.

"She was taken to a Land Rover police at Atnagelvin hospital, but he died there. We launched an investigation in this city. We believe that it is a terrorist incident. We believe that this was done by violent Republican dissidents and by the New IRA (New IRA) is probably the one behind and this will be our first investigation, "police said in Derry.

Deputy Chief of Police Mark Hamilton said it demonstrates the risk to the public and the danger when weapons are incorporated into the community. "It's a horrible, useless, totally unjustified act. It's not just the attack of a young woman. It's an attack on the inhabitants of this city, "he said.

Another journalist witnessed his death. Leona O'Neill said that "Lyra fell next to a Land Rover police. In the same vehicle, the police took her urgently to the hospital. but she died there. "

The incident occurred when the police started in the area a requisition, house by house, looking for ammunition.

The confrontation with the police took place over the weekend, when Republicans celebrate the anniversary of the Easter uprising in 1916 This is a time when dissidents are traditionally active

The Irish Republican Party Sinn Fein immediately reacted. Michelle O'Neill, her boss, said "Derry's murder is a meaningless loss of life." I am shocked and saddened by this tragic news of a woman killed by self-proclaimed dissidents in Creggan at night. last, "said the new leader of the Catholic Republican Party, which has deputies in the House in Dublin. In Belfast, the meeting was dissolved.

"The death of this young woman is a tragedy for her family, but it is an attack on the inhabitants of this community, an attack on our peace process and an attack on the Good Friday Agreement. responsible for the death of this young woman, "said Michelle O'Neill of Dublin. He asked for calm and collaboration with the police.

One by one, the Protestant and Catholic politicians of Northern Ireland have expressed dismay and concern. "News that breaks the heart, a meaningless act, a destroyed family, those who took up arms on our streets in the 70s, 80s and 90s were wrong, also in 2019. No one wants to go back there. to the courageous officers who defend the community, "wrote in a tweet Arlene Foster, president of the DUP, the party that unites the Protestant Unionist Democrats of Ulster. rejects the conditions under which Prime Minister Theresa May negotiates Brexit.

Nancy Pelosi, the speaker (President) The US House of Representatives traveled to Derry on Friday to support the peace deal that Washington politicians, led by President Bill Clinton, helped to bademble.

30 years of civil war

During the 30-year civil war between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) attacked pro-British Protestant militias and the regular army. A conflict that left at least 3,200 dead. A peace process was launched, which lasted many years in weaving. Conservative Prime Minister John Major began being finalized by Tony Blair on Good Friday, April 10, 1998, in Belfast. It was calling the agreement of Good Friday and it is he who wants to preserve the European Union when negotiating Brexit with Great Britain. They consider that he is in dangerthat violence can resume and that this murder proves it.

L & # 39; agreement opened the border between north and south, encouraging commerce, northerners had the right to hold an Irish pbadport. The IRA disarmed, joined the peace process and its inspirer and former leader, Martin McGuinness, was Deputy Prime Minister of the Northern Ireland Assembly until his death. The IRA dissidents have never forgiven him nor Gerry Adams, president of Sinn Fein, the political body of the IRA, this negotiation. Dissent appeared but they had never murdered a journalist.

These incidents in Derry, where the IRA was very strong, take place in a context of "backup" or "backstop" tensions in Ireland, which wants to impose the first Theresa May for negotiations with Europe on Brexit, and the threat of a difficult border between north and south of Ireland. The new IRA is opposed to the peace process.

This crime has a fundamental meaning: it's the first big murder which shows that the peace process in Ireland is threatened by Brexit. This was the much-feared scenario in Britain and in the EU.