Lyra McKee: Rishi Sunak pays tribute to journalist on anniversary of shooting

Lyra McKee was shot in Londonderry in 2019 (PSNI/PA)

Rishi Sunak has paid tribute to Lyra McKee, marking the anniversary of the journalist’s death in Northern Ireland in 2019.

Ms McKee died after being hit by a bullet during rioting in the Creggan area of Derry on April 18 2019, with dissident republican group the New IRA linked to the killing.

The remarks by the British prime minister, who praised her as the embodiment of a “better Northern Ireland”, come as the region marks the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

In strongly rejecting sectarianism, she embodied the Northern Ireland that I see today - one of realising a better Northern Ireland than what had come before her

In a tribute issued by Downing Street to mark four years since the shooting, Mr Sunak said: “Today, we remember Lyra McKee, a journalist who caught the imagination of young people in Northern Ireland.

“In strongly rejecting sectarianism, she embodied the Northern Ireland that I see today – one of realising a better Northern Ireland than what had come before her.

“We stand united against the insidious ideology of those who stole her dreams and what she could have gone on to contribute.”

Former US president Bill Clinton and ex-US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, both in Northern Ireland to attend events reflecting on the past and future of the peace deal, were guests at a special screening in Belfast of a film about Ms McKee.