4 men have been arrested in connection with the murder of Lyra McKee

Lyra McKee was murdered in Derry in April of last year

Four men have been arrested in connection with the murder of journalist Lyra McKee, which took place in April of last year.

McKee was observing a riot in the Creggan area of Derry when she was shot dead. She was 29 years old.

The men, aged 20, 27, 29 and 52, were detained under the Terrorism Act in Derry on Tuesday morning, according to a statement issued by the Police Service of Northern Ireland. All four men have been taken to Musgrave Serious Crime Suite in Belfast.

In a statement, Detective Superintendent Jason Murphy, the Senior Investigating Officer in the case, called for those in the community that may have information about McKee’s death to come forward.

“I have always believed that some people within the community know what happened and who was involved. I understand that people may be frightened to talk about it…. I want the community in Creggan to think about how that horrific attack impacted them personally and how it impacted the entire community”, he said.

A momentous day

The arrests coincide with the date of the first same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland. Belfast couple Sharni Edwards and Robyn Peoples married in Antrim today, on the sixth anniversary of their relationship.

McKee’s partner Sara Canning has been active in her support for same-sex marriage and abortion rights in Northern Ireland since Lyra’s death. Canning is set to attend a UK parliamentary event this evening to celebrate the day, along with MPs and campaigners from Amnesty International and the Love Equality campaign.

In an interview with the Irish Times today on marriage equality, Canning said: “If anything good can come out of the hell of the past year, I hope that there was a push for marriage equality because of Lyra. It should never have taken her being murdered, but here we are.”

Read more: First same-sex marriage to take place in Northern Ireland today

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