'I thought this was in the past' - how Lyra McKee's killing shook NI

Lyra McKee was just eight when the Good Friday Agreement was signed, part of a generation of young people who grew up in a more peaceful Northern Ireland.

The journalist often wrote about Northern Ireland's journey from a 30-year-long conflict known as the Troubles, which claimed more than 3,500 lives, to a society striving for peace.

But on 18 April 2019, the 29-year-old was shot and killed when a dissident republican gunman opened fire during rioting in Londonderry.

Her death prompted widespread shock and anger and her funeral was attended by the then Prime Minister Theresa May and Irish President Michael D Higgins.

On Friday three men, Paul McIntyre, Peter Cavanagh and Jordan Devine, were found not guilty of her murder.

Lyra was a daughter, sister, friend and partner.

At a vigil in Derry the day after her death, Sara Canning said she had been left without "the woman I was planning to grow old with".

"The senseless murder of Lyra McKee has left a family without a beloved daughter, a sister, an aunt and a great-aunt; so many friends without their confidante," her partner added.

"We are all poorer for the loss of Lyra."

Regarded as a rising star in journalism she was named Sky News Young Journalist of the Year in 2006 when she was 16.

She went on to write for Private Eye, The Atlantic, Mosaic Science, and Mediagazer.

When she was killed she had a two-book deal with Faber and Faber.

A collection of her previous articles, letters, and essays titled Lost, Found, Remembered was posthumously published in 2020.

Lyra's writing was deeply personal.

In A Letter to My 14-Year-Old Self, McKee wrote directly to her teenage self about growing up gay in Northern Ireland.

The letter was later adapted into a short film and reflected on her experiences of bullying, concealing her sexuality and the religious guilt that she said eventually faded.

Several lines from the piece have become enduring messages of hope for young members of the LGBTQ+ community, including: "Kid, it's gonna be okay".

Another line, "it won't always be like this. It's going to get better", is written on a mural of her.

On the night McKee was killed an MTV crew were filming a documentary in Derry.

During the trial, the court heard the disorder had been "set up" for the camera and that rioters were "entirely at ease" with the presence of a television camera recording what they were doing.

On footage played in court, TV presenter Reggie Yates could be heard saying: "If people are saying we're inciting it, then maybe we should call it a night."

As he confirmed the crew was going to leave, Yates added: "This feels like it could go in so many different directions."

A police camera captured the moment Lyra was shot, she had been standing near officers, observing the rioting.

In that footage, played during the trial, four gunshots were fired, then screaming could be heard after she was hit by a bullet.

Lyra was then taken to hospital in the back of an armoured police Land Rover.

At Altnagelvin Hospital family and friends gathered.

Fr Joe Gormley administered the last rites.

"I remember seeing this face, this beautiful young face, I will never forget that," he said.

Fr Gormley recalled the heartbreaking moment Lyra's mother arrived from Belfast to go into the hospital room to see her.

"We thought we had left all that behind," Fr Gormley said.

The dissident republican paramilitary group the New IRA said it carried out the shooting.

Saoradh, a republican political party linked to it, became a focus of public anger over her death.

After Lyra died, protesters placed red handprints on the walls of its office in Derry in response to the journalist's killing.

Friends said her death is still incredibly raw.

Cali Morrow was just about to go to bed when the news came through and she made her way to the hospital to support Lyra's partner Sara Canning and her wider family circle.

"I remember we got a phone call from our friend," said Cali.

"I just remember her saying: 'Lyra's been hurt. I'm not quite sure, but I think she's been shot.'

"Getting to the door of the hospital and then being told she was gone was absolutely unbelievable."

"It was 2019 and I thought that that's from the past.

"How did it happen and why did it happen?"

Cali said she will always remember her friend as "incredibly funny and absolutely fearless".

Julie McCloskey remembers a lovely, intelligent and brilliant friend.

"We spent the whole night in the hospital. It was just a surreal experience," she said.

"Nobody knew how to act or what we were supposed to do.

"She was just an innocent soul who would try to get on with everybody. She was a force to be reckoned with."

Hundreds of mourners attended Lyra's funeral, as well as Theresa May and Michael D Higgins, Jeremy Corbyn and Leo Varadkar.

Her family chose St Anne's Cathedral in Belfast specifically because of its reputation as a "shared space" in a divided city - the funeral of a woman from a Catholic background in a Protestant Cathedral.

The funeral brought together politicians from both nationalist and unionist backgrounds who sat side-by-side at a time of political impasse in Northern Ireland.

At the time of Lyra's death, Northern Ireland had been without a functioning devolved government since January 2017, when the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin split in a bitter row.

A priest at the service received a standing ovation when he challenged the politicians present over why it had taken her death to unite them.

"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?" Father Martin Magill asked.

Following her death, the Lyra McKee Award for Bravery was created by One Young World and was first awarded at the 2023 Summit in Belfast.

It recognises journalists who are leading voices for truth, justice, and free speech, even in hostile environments, unstable settings, or under threat of retaliation.

The 2025 recipient of the award, Salma Niazi, who was recognised for her reporting on the rights of women in Afghanistan, said: "Lyra McKee stood for truth and fearlessness, and receiving an award in her name reminds me that journalism can offer hope even in the darkest moments."

The Lyra McKee Bursary Scheme was also established by the Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIJ) to provide training for aspiring reporters from underprivileged backgrounds.

Through these initiatives, Lyra's commitment to journalism and storytelling continues to inspire and support a new generation of young reporters some seven years after her untimely death.