Hundreds pay tribute to murdered journalist in Belfast

Hundreds of mourners gathered at the Belfast City Hall on Friday for a vigil in memory of journalist Lyra McKee, who was shot dead on Thursday night.

Friends of McKee, including Booker-prize winning author Anna Burns, told the vigil that her “heart was always open” and that “you don’t know what’s going to happen in life.”

Director of the Northern Ireland Rainbow Project, John O’Doherty said McKee “did nothing to deserve their hate.”

McKee was struck by a bullet during rioting in Londonderry on Thursday.

Police blamed dissident republicans known as the ‘New IRA’ for the murder and are treating the death as a terrorist incident.