Journalist shot dead in Northern Ireland, 21 years after Good Friday Agreement. WHY?
Did Lyra McKee die because Republican opportunists are seeing an opportunity to restart the ‘Troubles’ in the continuing uncertainty over power-sharing in Stormont and the Brexit border row?
Northern Ireland is at its least stable in more than 20 years, and it seems to This Writer that terrorists – or would-be terrorists – are seeing this as an opportunity.
Is that the reason police were on the Creggan estate in Derry, looking for arms and ammunition they believed would be used in violence to mark the 1916 Easter Rising?
Is that the reason a crowd gathered and the situation developed into a riot in which around 50 petrol bombs were thrown and two vehicles hijacked and set alight?
Is this the reason Lyra McKee was shot dead by a Republican with a gun?
If so, it is not good enough. No reason is good enough to justify murder.
It is now 21 years since the Good Friday Agreement heralded the end of the ‘Troubles’ in Northern Ireland. Such an anniversary is a time to reaffirm the commitment to friendship – not to open up opportunities for a return to hate.
Northern Ireland needs the restoration of its government in Stormont – now, not after Theresa May has spent another few months or years stalling so she can extend her own tenure in Number 10.
And the six counties need proof that their borders with the Republic of Ireland will remain open, no matter what happens about the UK’s relationship with the European Union.
The best way to shut down the possibility of violence is to deny people any excuse for it.
Bear in mind that the New IRA, who have been blamed for this murder, set off a car bomb outside a courthouse in Derry in January.
I wrote at the time that it had a political cause and needed a political solution.
But in the words of Mrs May, “Nothing has changed.” Why has nothing changed, Mrs May?
Source: Lyra McKee: Journalist shot dead during Derry rioting – BBC News
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Cameron, May and her equally odious cronies have a great deal to answer for. It is they and their irresponsible government actions which are re-igniting the “troubles” in Ireland.
Another theory is that the rioting started within hours of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi touring Derry on a goodwill visit.
Given Bill Clinton’s support in the past, do the Irish Republican’s believe that they have the USA’s backing?
Either way it’s been suspiciousy muted in the MSM.
Bill Clinton’s support for Republicanism? He supported the peace process, but that’s not the same thing.
I agree with all the points you make, Mike.
Isn’t it ironic that English newspapers and politicians constantly urge Irish people to “forget the past” or to “move forward” when they continue to glorify the days of the British Empire or else justify a Brexit vote by stoking up ancient hatreds against French people or German people. The whole Brexit project has been based on a desire to go back to a past golden age of English power, when trade deals would always favour British industry.
Those days are long gone but millions of English voters still live in that dead world and yearn for it to be made true again. It would help the cause of peace in Britain and Ireland if the Brexit project were to be abandoned or so modified as to allow the English border across Ireland to continue as a fading historical relic.