Thousands of people have gathered at an impromptu vigil in Creggan this afternoon to pay their respects to the journalist Lyra McKee who was shot dead during rioting in Derry last night.
The 29-year-old journalist was shot and killed during a spell of rioting, with the PSNI having labelled her death as a 'terrorist incident' and are investigating it as such. They have launched a murder inquiry and believe the New IRA to be responsible for her death.
Thousands of people across the country, and throughout the world, have sought to pay their respects to Ms. McKee and to protest against such a heinous act of violence which harks back to the worst periods of the troubles.
Sara Canning, the partner of the late Lyra McKee, bravely spoke to the assembled crowds at the vigil in Derry, saying "Lyra's death must not be in vain. Our hopes and dreams, her amazing potential was snuffed out by a single barbaric act."
"This cannot stand," she continued, "Lyra's death must not be in vain because her life was a shining light in everyone else's life. Her legacy will live on in the light that she's left behind."
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Criticism for the barbaric killing has been unanimous, across all sides of the political divide in Northern Ireland.
DUP Leader, Arlene Foster, also spoke before the crowd, saying that it was the first time she'd visited Creggan - a traditionally nationalist part of Derry. She was received warmly by the crowd, who applauded her arrival.
She expressed her sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Lyra McKee and condemned those responsible for her death in the harshest possible terms. "It doesn't matter whether you're a Catholic or a Protestant, or whether you identify as Irish or British, when people come out with guns to shoot people from their own community then we have to say enough is enough."
Sinn Féin leader, Mary Lou McDonald, also took to the stage, bearing a rainbow flag, saying "We stand here today to mark Lyra's memory in the best way we can, and that is to dedicate ourselves to peace."
