Two more men held over Derry shooting of reporter Lyra McKee

Another two men have been arrested over the killing of the journalist Lyra McKee in Derry in 2019, police in Northern Ireland have said.

The two men, aged 24 and 29, were arrested in the city early on Wednesday morning and will be interviewed later.

Three men have already been charged with McKee’s murder, two of them last week, and another two men have been charged with rioting and associated offences.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland said: “The men, aged 24 and 29, were arrested in the Derry/Londonderry area this morning under the Terrorism Act and have been taken to Musgrave police station where they will be interviewed later.”

McKee, 29, who was widely regarded as one of Northern Ireland’s most promising young journalists, was shot dead as she observed rioting in the Creggan area of Derry in April 2019.

Her death caused outrage across the UK and the world of journalism and was condemned by figures from across the political spectrum.

The writer, who was living in the city with her partner, Sara Canning, was also a prominent marriage equality campaigner and an articulate advocate of a new and more tolerant Northern Ireland.

Dissident republicans calling themselves the New IRA, one of a small number of groups opposed to the 1998 Belfast Good Friday agreement, claimed responsibility for McKee’s death.

Two men charged with her murder, Gearoid Cavanagh, 33, and Jordan Devine, 21, both from Derry, appeared before Derry magistrates court last week

They were granted bail along with a third man, 21-year-old Joe Campbell from Gosheden Cottages in Derry, who has been charged with rioting and petrol bomb offences on the night McKee was killed.

Cavanagh and Devine were also charged with possession of a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life, as well as riot, possession of petrol bombs, throwing petrol bombs and arson. Cavanagh was also charged with robbery.

A prosecuting lawyer told the court that the police case was that the two defendants were with the gunman who fired the shot on the night that McKee was killed.

Defence lawyers said the evidence against their clients was weak.

The men have been ordered to return to court on 7 October.