Lyra McKee murder: Painting over of IRA graffiti sends ‘positive message’

The decision to paint over pro-IRA graffiti in Londonderry near the location where journalist Lyra McKee was shot and killed has been hailed as a “positive message”.
By The Newsroom
Published 6th May 2019, 22:42 BST
Updated 6th May 2019, 22:48 BST
The IRA graffiti has been painted over with a new artworkThe IRA graffiti has been painted over with a new artwork
The IRA graffiti has been painted over with a new artwork

The graffiti in the Creggan area of the city had originally described the IRA as an “undefeated army”.

But that message had been altered to read “IRA are done” before being changed again to read “IRA aren’t done”.

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But the entire wall has now been painted over and new artwork erected with messages such as “believe, achieve” and “make someone smile today”.

The Creggan Community Network said the new art had been erected following “consultation with the community” which had included discussions with the unregistered dissident republican political party Saoradh.

“‘The artwork was done in conjunction with young people with the aim of promoting respect, inclusion and social justice,” a spokesperson for the Creggan Community Network said.

And the new art has been hailed as a positive message by Mayor of Derry City and Strabane, SDLP councillor John Boyle.

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He said: “This positive message is reflective of the overwhelming opinion of people in Creggan and it’s certainly indicative of the good-natured people of Creggan’s campaign to normalise their community.

“The community have said that what has happened is not in their name.”