Lyra McKee, 29, an award-winning journalist who was writing a book on the disappearance of young people during decades of violence in Northern Ireland, was shot dead on Thursday as she watched Irish nationalist youths attack police following a raid. Northern Ireland’s political parties, which are broadly split between Irish nationalists aspiring to unite the British region with Ireland and unionists who want it to remain British, issued a joint call for calm. “This is a time for calm heads.” McKee was watching with a crowd of bystanders as local youths attacked police with petrol bombs and set cars on fire, video footage showed.
