A death in Derry

摘要

THE SHOT that killed Lyra McKee, one of Northern Ireland's most promising young journalists, was fired by a youth urged on by embittered ancients still convinced that Irish republicanism can prevail only through the barrel of a gun. Leaders of the so-called New IRA, which has admitted responsibility, persuaded the unidentified killer that mainstream republicans had betrayed their followers by swapping violence for politics. Yet in provoking the murder, they have damaged their cause. The killing of Ms McKee, hit when rioting youths opened fire on police in Londonderry on April 18th, has caused shock waves. Her funeral in Belfast on April 24th was attended by the heads of the British and Irish governments, as well as Northern Irish political leaders, who made a rare show of unity after more than two years of bickering in which the region's assembly has been suspended. Father Martin Magill, leading the service, received a standing ovation when he demanded of the politicians: "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?" That she died on the eve of the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which brought an end to three decades of sectarian Troubles in 1998, has only underlined what is at stake.