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February 13, 2020updated 30 Sep 2022 8:55am

Man charged with murder of journalist Lyra McKee named as Derry local

By Freddy Mayhew

The man charged with murdering journalist Lyra McKee has been named as Derry local Paul McIntyre who will appear before magistrates today.

The 52-year-old (pictured), from Derry, was among four men arrested yesterday.

He is also charged with possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and professing to be a member of a proscribed organisation.

The New IRA said it carried out the killing of McKee, who was shot dead while observing rioting in the Creggan area of Derry in April last year.

The terror group claimed its members had been aiming at police.

A 27 and 20-year-old also arrested were released pending a report to prosecutors, while a 29-year-old was released without charge

The Police Service of Northern Ireland has said the “quest for evidence to bring the gunman to justice remains active and ongoing”. Detectives believe a number of individuals were involved with the shooting.

McKee was a gay rights activist and an advocate of a new and more tolerant Northern Ireland and part of the generation which reached adulthood during peace time, following the sectarian violence of the Troubles.

She wrote for publications including Private Eye and Buzzfeed.

Her funeral was attended by then-prime minister Theresa May, Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Irish President Michael D Higgins at St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast.

Catholic priest Friar Martin Magill received a standing ovation when he asked why it took her death to unite politicians.

Picture: Niall Carson/PA Wire

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