Today We Stand With Lyra – remembering Lyra McKee
NUJ members join in solidarity and remembrance to mark the 1st anniversary of the killing of journalist and NUJ member Lyra McKee
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Today at 11am NUJ members will join in solidarity and remembrance to mark the 1st anniversary of the killing of journalist and NUJ member Lyra McKee.
The commemoration intends to celebrate her life and legacy.
The union encourages members and friends to use social media to highlight the shared values which Lyra embraced under the banner #WeStandWithLyra
Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, said:
"Lyra was a journalist who represented the best of Northern Ireland with a future ahead that reflected her optimism, her confidence, her ambition and her strong sense of social justice and commitment to equality.
"As we remember Lyra today, and think of her partner and family, we also think of journalists elsewhere who put their lives on the line when they get up and go to work each day.
"The greatest tribute we can pay Lyra is to find ways to encourage and promote the kind of imaginative, insightful and brave journalism for which she will be remembered."
Séamus Dooley, NUJ Irish secretary, said:
"Lyra had an unrivalled zest for life and for living. That is what makes her senseless killing so cruel. In her journalism she combined her passion for journalism with a deep commitment to social change.
"In her writings, in her approach to issues of poverty, equality and exclusion Lyra was not afraid to ask the difficult question, to challenge the conventional and accepted wisdoms and to look for new and imaginative solutions to problems. That's her legacy.
"What marked Lyra apart was her optimism, her unfailing good humour and her refusal to become cynical while fearlessly questioning the status quo.
"Like Martin O'Hagan, Lyra did not ask for the crown of martyrdom. On her first anniversary it is important that we celebrate the legacy of a woman of imagination, humour and enormous talent.
"My thoughts are with Lyra's partner, family and colleagues for whom her spirit remains an abiding presence.
"I welcome the renewed call by the PSNI to those who have information about the killing of Lyra to come forward and assist with the ongoing investigation."
The NUJ has put together a collection of Lyra's work for sharing today:
In her own words:
- Lyra McKee: The search for a lost body on Cave Hill – an extract from a new book of Lyra's writing.
- Lost, Found, Remembered a book by Lyra McKee
- Lyra McKee: We forgot that Northern Ireland could be a welcoming place, Lyra wrote this article for Little Atoms in 2017 and it was published in 2020
- She Said Club talks with Lyra McKee, SoundCloud (2018)
- Lyra McKee: in her own words – The Belfast Telegraph (2017)
- Decades after Northern Ireland's "Troubles," families of the dead are still seeking answers and taking the investigations into their own hands – Lyra McKee (2017)
- Lyra McKee: How uncomfortable conversations can save lives – TEDx talk (2017)
- Suicide of the Ceasefire Babies by Lyra McKee (2016)
- The fight of your life by Lyra McKee (2016)
- Lyra McKee: A letter to my 14-year-old self (2014)
- The Muckraker – Lyra McKee's blog (2013)
- Podcast with Lyra McKee on Journalism and doing what we love (2013)
- Lyra – Sky Young Reporter (2006)
- Lyra McKee's last article: 'We were meant to be the generation that reaped the spoils of peace'
Vigil poster
Lyra McKee vigil poster
Downloadable poster for vigils to remember Lyra McKee.