hello hello hello hello hello testing
testing testing it's good sound camera
we are rolling whenever you want to
go I do this every sh dep
I
couple you don't have to explain
yourself oh
[Music]
God
here think about how why you doing
this my name is l mck I'm a freelance
journalist from Northern Ireland you may
know me as the face of the mck Brecker a
Blog about investigative
journalism my passion in life is for
investigative journalism but I came into
the industry at a time when there didn't
seem to be any places left people like
me someone who wanted to go off and Chas
a story for months and ask questions and
find answers and try and find out what
was really going on beneath the surface
I really need your help I need more time
to keep asking
questions
in the last half hour there have been
reports of a serious disturbance in
London Derry there are reports that the
trouble broke out after police raids on
heises in the craan area of the
city lra and I we been out dinner usual
we've gone to SL word and then we gone
to
McDonald's
and a message comes through about
rioting and
craan our friend saying she's going up
if anybody wants to go up
where so we went
up was Holy Thursday night the Night
Before Good Friday and we had a mass
here in the
church as we were com to then my
colleague Father Paul friezer sent word
to me to say will you tell the people
not to Pi going up on a drive there
there seems to be a riot up there
literally 200 yards up the road from the
church for the B
we drove up and and the streets were
really jammed cuz everybody was up to
watch the
riot there were loads of
people lots of
kids
journalist
[Applause]
than we were only there for eight
minutes from start to
finish we were sort at the back end of
the last set of two Land
Rovers lra had gone on the journalist
mode so she was like taking pictures and
she was typing on her phone and we
didn't really talk very
much then I was all right we'll move
back up a we bit cuz there was stuff on
fire and they were throwing petrol bombs
and
stones
we'd moved further back and the crowd
started getting really agitated and
ATT turn to L to say let's move up
further cuz I think they're going to
rush towards the Land Rovers and she
wasn't
there she was in The
Grind
I drop down and then I noticed the wind
on her
head
[\h__\h]
the police took around to the back the
Land
Rover I was like can I come with you and
they were like listen there's not enough
room they literally tore off and went
straight through the burning car and and
flew and I was kind of just standing
there like I had her phone in my hand
cuz I lifted it from the ground where
she dropped it
and I was just covered my hands were
covered in her blood and
I didn't know what to
do I was just about to get ready for bed
and my mobile
went was the police said that a woman
had been injured and a priest was asked
to attend the
scene so I came down into the room and
what I saw was the face of a
child that's and her there's face will
never leave
me um was a face of a child that
was 29y old
but near never looked 29y
old this was a beautiful beautiful
child
dead and
why
some breaking news a 29-year-old woman
has been killed after shots were fired
in London her name was lra mck she was a
29-year-old acclaimed writer and
journalist her murder happened on the
21st anniversary of the Good Friday
agreement that's the landmark peace deal
that put an end a Northern Ireland
decades long sectarian conflict police
blame the so-called new Ira a violent
dissident Republican group whose
supporters do not believe in the Good
Friday peace agreement that was signed
21 years ago today hey the police have
now confirmed that witnesses to the
murder of lra mcke will be offered
anonymity detective superintendent Jason
Murphy says any information could be
vital what oh my
God oh my God mommy still has her dress
look at her
tiny oh my
God she hated that
dress oh bless oh my god oh you
do what to do you'd need a whole house
to house at all you
know I can't keep it
everything there's loads and loads of
things she loved her Mo skin
notebooks loved them you know here's all
story leads that she's written down so
ideas were of stories that she could
continue to pursue there's literally
hundreds of them have you C adictive for
as well you know I find
that as well you know with Larry you
just never know when to story might pop
off so she always had it with her so
it's lovely to be able to play it and
here listen to her voice kind of makes
you feel like she's still here and with
you you
know you were there that day
yeah the way she got people to speak to
her and open up to
her it's wonderful you know she had a
real real gift for it she really really
wanted to understand the past and to
change things and you know where many
people's voices were
ignored she wanted to say actually do
you know what I hear you and I care and
I'm going to be a voice for
you
oh sweet
box that M
had
are you ready for it one of the things
my mommy kept a lot of was glasses
belonging to lra and you can see this is
a peir she had when she was very very
tiny and she was so small and her
features were so tiny that they wouldn't
sit on her face so she had to have these
little rubbery things that would hug
around her ear so that they would stay
on that was a pair she probably wore
when she was about 4 years
old this is the glasses that she was
wearing on the night that she was
killed and she hadd only got them two
weeks before she was
killed why did you do it why did you do
it you know even my we
granddaughter you know four years old
comeing
five even the four-year-old wants to ask
ask that
question you're
getting oh was that okay you
okay yeah they were obsessed with each
other that was
lovely what would you say to the the bad
man who killed your auntie lra I say um
I you K
me you want to know why don't you
chicken mhm I don't know why I don't
know why
either why commit murder at all
it's really hard for someone like me or
you to sit and B on the logic of
that we wouldn't do
it it's even harder when you're not in
the middle of a
conflict you know I think there's truths
and there's
narratives the truth truth is what
actually happened and the narrative is
what everyone think
happened and the two are really the
same I'm trying to piece together what
happened you're coming with me on the
journey as I try to find
answers
a Catholic man has been shot dead
tonight in North Belfast the attack
happened in the Ardo area of the city he
was shot dead and a parted Belfast where
a fifth of all those who have died in
Northern Ireland's troubles have been
killed
I grew up in N doing a republican
community in North Belfast in the 9s in
the cliftonville
road the people were mostly decent
people but it was a tough tough
Place cille Road which show off a place
called Murder mile that was the
nickname in fact he says more casualties
there per square mile than any part of
Northern Ireland during the
conflict
but like I remember things as a child
like you know just be careful when
you're walking into
school okay there's a suspect device on
aana
I often tell them Americans if you seen
images of Belfast on fire in the 9s you
were probably seeing
Hardo
go
Northern Ireland has seized the chance
of a new beginning that's the outcome of
the historic agreement reached this
evening at the storm and peace
talks is for the [\h__\h] SC par to run
this [\h__\h] country the violence which
has been part of life in Northern
Ireland for nearly 30 years may be over
permanently Following last week's peace
deal after a 30-year winter of sectarian
violence Northern Ireland today has the
promise of a springtime of Peace today
is Good Friday and I think for the
people of Northern Ireland it will be a
very good
Friday yes
71.1 12%
71% of people in the north and 94% of
the South said yes to the Good Friday
agreement which aims to bring peace in
Northern Ireland 108 members of the new
Northern Ireland assembly have taken
their seats in the Stormont Parliament
building enemies across three decades
now face each other across the floor of
their own political
Forum it's up to the local politicians
to make this peace agreement
work
is
iands get angry we talk about the
conflict ended in 1998 but I think the
piece we have is a piece that doesn't
disrupt the lives of the middle classes
for the working
classes you know they're still
struggling I mean in the community that
I came from there's a real Poverty of
vision we didn't seem to have any
prospects I even remember in Primary
School pered even that there was a
difference in how the middle class
treated the working class
kids so when our working class kid says
you know I want to be a lawyer they're
told get back in your station you're not
going to be a lawyer you're going to be
a glue
sniffer I literally heard that said the
people and I think that's the
difference I was told to have ideas of
my
station
you w close
enough I'd always wanted to be a
writer I remember even as a child my
granny used to buy me books my granny
was this great character she was kind of
like highin bouquet and keeping up
appearances I remember being 6 years old
granny saying you're going to be a
writer and I like no not granny why
would you think that she always have
this in her head and for my ninth
birthday she said to me I got you two
books for your birthday she said they're
called Harry Potter and I swear there
wasn't a paper out of me a my birthday
for like in the month or something that
I read those
books like I never forget one day I get
this there your granny's on the phone
okay hey what's up granny I just sej C
rolling on the TV yep you're really bad
in school just like you and I was like
really JK ruling wow okay and my grny
would say and she's a single parent cuz
I was from a single parent family and
she didn't have any money and look at
her ey and you can be just like
her it was the realization that oh okay
then I can do
this you know I was so
lucky I didn't hear anything this is M
reporting for Home Videos that's if you
can see
me
goodbye my mom's amazing she's great I
love my
mom are you C I
like so you come Che my mom always said
you can be anything you want to be my
big sister as well my big sister's
amazing a star
star she works with the kids from
deprived areas and she's absolute hero
missing from my mom to my granny to my
big sister they were amazing they were
all
amazing they believed in me when I
didn't believe in
parab military group the new IRA has
said it murdered the 29-year-old
journalist mcke who was shot dead as she
was observing a riot last month at a
statement the distant Republican
organization apologized to her family
friends
how are you feeling you
two I'm really nervous are you yes it's
almost like we're going to see our leer
collecting an award in my head kind of
in a way
yeah rather than us going and getting an
award on her behalf you know that's what
it feels like to me about you mommmy yes
yes
enough oh goodness a heavy
heart long I don't start
crying I wasn't going to
um cuz I'm still so full up you know
with
graef
and then thought about it and said no
it's for
so I go for her it's not thinking then
that she's gone you know what I mean I
still think that um she should be
running in the door
and so
hard I
know so so
hard hello
Ramsey we not be long not be long
foro on the 18th of April this year
headlines emerged that left us in
disbelief a journalist lra mcke going
about her work in public had been shot
killed through a work lra championed the
underrepresented she gave a voice to
those that weren't being heard and she
held those in power to account now we
are honored that L's mother Joan and
sister Nicola have traveled from Belfast
to be here today at what is an
incredibly difficult time but it is our
privilege to present to you the
journalist charity special award for
outstanding commitment and contribution
to journalism this is
fera
he my name is a mck and I work as an
investigative
reporter I think my priorities as a
journalist are quite different than most
jist cuz I mean you know latest Lab news
like I'm I'm honest I really don't care
who Madonna has adopted next you know I
don't want to know about that like I
want to know about you know how the you
know the young mother who's lost her son
to Suicide how does she feel you know
like I mean the corrupt businessman
who's screwing the working classes
unbelievably and no one's holding them
the account you know and no one knows
where it how do I break that story I
want to know about real issues I am the
most annoyingly curious person I know I
remember my mom saying that you know
some mothers said all they can hear in
their sleep is mommy mommy said all she
could ever hear was why why the FY that
was all I ever asked I mean I can
remember hearing on the news when I was
fairly young like my people being killed
in the local area and you would have
thought like those kids wouldn't have
PID attention to that stuff i' be like
Mommy why why why was he shot why I just
asked the most difficult questions this
was my big break came when I was 16
I won the Sky News young journalist of
the Year
award where I'm from in North Belfast at
that point suicide had reached epidemic
levels it was something very close to my
heart cuz a lot of my friends had tried
to commit suicide i' had to help a lot
of them through really difficult times
you know like they were sort they were
almost dropping like flies around you
know
can just set this right here that's say
that's
fine I sitting cting on my hands the
people I knew who kill themselves and do
you connect that in any way to
transmission of that experience from one
generation to another the time you we
didn't connect it we didn't know what
was going on we just knew that something
was going
on I was scared when the agreement was
sign yeah so we wereing the post
conflict generation but not you're not
yeah we're not I lived by you know grass
bar it's big uvf shooting there in 96
yes I seen that my mom said a man gone
down I uvf and you know two streets away
yeah you'll probably fine if you ask
anyone my age about ask him did you play
with toy guns outside no no I got the AR
scalped off me one day I was out the
back and with him and there was a
helicopter right and my mom realized I
remember being grabbed and brought in
and being told you can't do that in case
the helicopter thinks it's a real gun or
you know yeah it's funny how you
remember just remember these things
talking to you so they're all there
they're all there in your in in your
mind unconsciously shaping your
behavior lra was certain that 30 35
years of conflict had to have had an
effect on this society and she's
absolutely right about that I did a
study of suicide rates across the UK and
Ireland looking at the period from 1998
the year of the Good Friday agreement
and up to
2017 and what I found was quite
astonishing everywhere else suicide
rates went down but in Northern Ireland
they Rose
sharply here in Northern Ireland we'd
asked people a set of special questions
about their experience of conflict do
you know somebody close to you that's
been in prison was your house ever
raided by the police or the Army had you
witness violence did you ever seen
anybody murdered one of the things we
were able to observe is one in five
children are growing up in a household
with an adult who has high level
experience of the conflict high conflict
experience means uh far lower mental
health and far lower mental health
resilience
if you don't come from a workingclass
community not necessarily aware of
what's going on in that Community or the
problems that they face you need the
people from that Community to be
presented and
represented L came to see us a way back
when she was only 16 for an article she
was writing about
suicide back in
2003 my young son Phillip ended his own
life he was
17 it was absolutely
devastating L didn't stop writing about
suicide she kept on revisiting the issue
all the time because it was an ongoing
issue we haven't dealt with it
there are six people here down every
every week due to Suicide six people
that's not cting how many people have
attempted they end their
life we be they are
here this community
has suffered because of the impact of
the
conflict we're over 20 years on after
good Freddy agreement there's still a
lot of poverty
deprivation our young people they've
been left behind people have been left
behind that's what lra was writing
about lra was from this community Just
One of
Us
police investigating the murder of
journalist lra mcke have arrested four
men in London Derry the men were
arrested under the terrorism act this
morning detectives investigating the
murder have today renewed calls for the
public to help them bring L's Killers to
Justice this is a major development then
it absolutely is it's a major major
major development
and oh
wow it's me and I've got Alison with
me I get an extra
one
love so J how you feeling I'm okay I
suppose I think if I was to bettered on
well it' be all
right we've just been set waiting like
we like to say patiently but there's no
patience about it don't even know how I
feel about it you know I felt like
nothing because they they've taken her
you know she's not coming back
and back it's
okay
lra will make sure that there's Justice
I know she will just going to make sure
that the
boogers go away for a long
time you okay yeah we have to be
positive it's just nerve-wracking isn't
it it is it's a hard
time de man the Secretary of State for
the time Mrs mcdull obviously L like
isn't that beautiful photo lovely look
at her
ref it's never aged a
bit
Marie
hello Marie please I just want to eat
sandwich alone that's all that's all I
want to do is eat a sandwich on my own
without you kind of rip into you can you
let me do that
please
no if I look back for the last 3 years
it's been really
tough you know I don't often talk about
this I have anxy
disorder writing is like almost it's my
great one one of my greatest loves but
also my biggest
fear I choke up like I literally I feel
sick sometimes when I sit down at that
computer cuz I'm like oh God what's
coming
today you it can [\h__\h] you you
know I'm trying to get a publisher and I
keep falling you know falling flat in my
face all of
that but you just keep showing up and
you just keep doing the work know
sylvestor Salon he was rejected
1,500 Times by agents Rocky when they
told him was it it was sappy it was
rubbish it would never work and he said
I wrote down everything they said and I
read it on the night of the Oscars when
we won and sometimes I think we need to
be like Rocky B and we need to keep
fighting we need to be like we need to
not give
up she was always writing even from
whenever she was a weak
kid she wanted to be a poet and then we
joke that poets will always be alone
think they'll always be alone and have
no money so she's like [\h__\h] it I'll be a
journalist who wants to see a
PTY in your
face she's me but three years difference
between us 3 years in 18
days used to call us the twins because
we were never separated
like L was the first person that I told
like directly like you that I I'm gay
and no she was you know saying that it
was all okay and then she's
like kind of half said something you
know about herself and it was like the
way she would always like talk about it
it always like played in my head it's
like I
I'm an lgbtq gay woman who grew up
Catholic in Northern
Ireland come on get some nice phot off
where's the
camera I did not find the courage to
come out until I was 20 years
old religion still plays a massive role
in this country and the messages we
constantly get from our public figures
is that being lgbtq is
wrong can anything be pler God condemns
homosexual and lesbian practices it is
perversion in his eyes it is unseemly it
is against nature two lesbians living
together are not a family they are
sexual perverts play thing let's
pretend
a letter written by a local journalist
to her 14-year-old self has been getting
a huge reaction online lra McKay hopes
that other young people will take heart
from her letter and that some Christians
will think twice before making negative
comments about members of the gay
community have you got this letter in
front of you I do maybe you can just
read the first paragraph or so for us no
worries kid it's going to be okay I know
you're not feeling that way right now
you're sitting in school the other kids
are making fun of you you told the wrong
person you had a crush and soon they all
knew your secret it's horrible they make
your life hell they laugh at you whisper
about you call you names it's not
nice and you can't ask an adult for help
because if you do that you'd have to
tell them the
truth 3 months before your 21st birthday
you will tell Mom the secret you'll be
sobbing and shaking and she will be
frightened because she doesn't know
what's wrong
you'll have to tell her because you met
someone you like and you can't live with
the guilt
anymore you can't get the words out so
she says it are you gay and you say yes
mommy I'm so
sorry and instead of getting mad she'll
reply thank God you're not
pregnant
I was aware of a writing I had read
suicide of the ceasefire baby and i'
read letter to my 14-year-old
self and I remember I was kind of like
wow you know she's young she's from
Northern Ireland she's gay and she's
that talented like she's phenomenal um
never in a million years thinking I'd
ever come across her on you know plenty
of fish of all
places I was sit one day and a like came
through on my profile it's one of the
things you could do if you if you fancy
somebody you whatever you send we like
and it's kind of a hint to say hey so I
clicked on their profile she was called
scribbles and doodles she asked me she
said if you're a true Harry Potter fan
you'll know what your American house is
and I was like of course I know what my
American High say it's
paji and that started it and then I did
goog her probably that night to be fair
and I was like you know Forbes 30 under
30 I was like no there's not a hope in
hell this is going to go anywhere she is
way out of my leg but there was no
awkwardness from the very beginning it
was just two chatter boxes together like
how many pancakes do you
want do 10 more squats and I'll have
three
Jesus you know she was so um
she was so just such Atomic like she was
so
funny we dressed as nuns for a charity
night we learned the songs from Sister
Act lra was very reluctant God L her she
had no rhythm at all and she was giving
it her all she was dancing away the
crack was
great and it was the night before her
birthday so the entire Place sang Happy
Birthday theer she was really pleased
though you you can see in the video
she's clapping away that's just so
cute she just had such a big heart she
got
really attached to the things that she
wrote about and the people she wrote
about I started in journalism nearly 10
years ago and I never forget going to my
university career sphere and asking the
uh representative from the major leading
newspaper in Northern Ireland did they
hire investigative journalists
and she laughed at me and said no they
didn't hire those people anymore and
that was an excess of the past so that
was what journalism looked like when I
was starting out so I had to find
another way and the best bit of advice I
ever received was the brick walls aren't
there to keep you out they're there to
see how badly you want it I always think
the good story can be
Universal Give an example I don't think
the Ed that I was dealing with knew
anything about the troubles the story I
pitched them was about a woman who spent
20 years investigating the murder of her
father looking for evidence that would
basically incriminate his
murderers
hello come on
in she hard that I was trying to get the
truth in The Killing and balam Murphy
she'd came along and asked if she could
do a story about my research and what I
had been
doing so like just just end this for
third quarter I mean you're this is
amazing you have like a what this is
bigger than us 6 foot maybe you know 7
foot filing cabinet I've noed all these
books and information
files these would be different FS on
Freddy soldiers who were involved
in
wow my father was shot on the 9th of
August
1971 um by the par regiment and what is
now known as bomor Massacre
there wasn't much rioting last night
little Stone throwing and no pitch
battles between the troops and the mobs
instead the bullets
flew
my daddy was never in the
ira the Army opened for her that night
on all armed ocent
people dad live for 13
days death told my mommy the Army had
taken in the bars where he was abused
beat and the Army had shot into his open
mo so he shot twice he was shot
twice she came in she just looked around
she went and what am I well they're
witnesses there this but hard did you
get it um even when she looked at army
statements heart you can't have Army
statements I I do have Army statements I
remember she said je think of being the
FES a
journalist told there I think I have
enough to do in Val morphy I mean you've
done so much research like this is
forensic
mhm the first time I asked my mommy if I
could get the inquest papers she told me
jet loves they'll never give you inquest
papers the British government will never
give you I thought I get the inquest and
it will answer the questions that I had
it's a request and different things
foring report missing and Joseph Murphy
Pages 94 5 missing pages 88 89 missing
they said there was no postmodem
photographs there was no x-rays there
was no medical records had all been
destroyed you really starting to go into
some of the really dark things that
happened here it's funny how a lot of
these documents have went missing but is
issue especially in Northern
Ireland what is it that they don't want
us to
know all right about
201 12 13 we found two deputations and
these depostion were never presented the
original inquest and one of the
documents says when my father was
brought in he had a gunshot R to the
right thigh and next up wound but under
further
examination there was a bullet under the
pubic bone the hairs in my arms stood up
a deposition from a doctor said that the
bullet that would basically incriminate
his murderers was still encased in his
skeleton that brought about me asking
for my father to be
consumed
for
bullet you find the
bullet that was
emotional I did ring lra and tell lra I
was in tears that's the ballet um and
that's the back end off it so that is
bullet
what did lra say to
you she couldn't speak she could she
couldn't
um what do you
say she was when I was telling my
Storyteller I felt comfortable
and she helped me through my
emotion it's just such a nice
way with her um even when you spoke to
her her
voice it's just ironic that she was
trying to help victims like myself and
then for this to happen to her and her
family is going to face now but my
family has
faced
a 52-year-old man has been charged with
the murder of journalist lra mck the man
is an alleged accomplice of the gunman
who pulled the
trigger he will appear in the city's
magistrates court tomorrow as well as a
murder charge he is accused of
possessing a firearm and membership of
an illegal
organization gentlem iction on you here
on
42 Ireland order in relation to where
you can protest
obviously just please move back
gentlemen you have your right the
assembly your freedom of expression I'm
going ask you to move back under Article
4
we all know you're
onoc
scags F
scumbags tell me what you do here to
we're here to support Paul McIntyre
because we know he's innocent
uh it's
WR
uh we don't want an hnoc man you family
or friends friend
friends was like my
daugh she was one of my best friends she
was like my daughter a very hard day for
me sorry Sor here out all well
condolences to your friends and family
like and her partn but at the end of the
day an inocent man is getting charged on
the wrong he doesn't do
it not put more B in the people who did
do it then well we can't comment on that
we don't know who done it but but Sol
situ we don't know he's at it
so uh no we don't know who's on it but
uh Paul M it doesn't do it completely on
whe I'm shaking I'm totally
shaking
it's the first step in a very very long
journey ahead of us
all and I suppose it's was it dating
saying I hi it fwell this
paper wasn't so much that the people you
sort of it's just whenever Paul McIntyre
came out and he he looked me and
Nicholas straight in the face did didn't
care
and his hands up like this his M and
they were doing it back to him and he
was trying to encourage them but it was
really important to be there to see if
the person yeah who has been charged
with AR's
murder I'm relieved that they've charged
the man I related to Le's murder but I
know he's not the one who pulled the
trigger der's a really small
City and I could walk past the man who
killed her at any
time the police know who the gun man is
but they don't have the evidence to
charge him
yet people know who did it but they're
too frightened to speak out
and I understand that's how it is and
how it always has been in this country
in all
communities it has to
change that's what leara was writing
about and now we have to do that for
her we have to find a way to break that
silence
cuz our politicians certainly aren't
going to do it for
us on tonight's program crisis in
Stormont for years power has been shared
in Northern Ireland it was one of the
foundation stones of Peace today that
power sharing government collapsed there
can be no return to the status
quo if something is broke you stop what
what does all this mean uncertainty for
Northern
Ireland folks Welcome to our tedex
stormant women event this evening it's
lovely to be here tonight it's quite
symbolic actually that we're all sitting
in storment with no government but we'll
get there so I want you to give it up
for a fantastic freelance journalist her
wisdom and maturity at such a young age
is incredible she is one to watch L
mcke thank you very much folks it's
lovely to be
here I want to tell you a story about a
conversation I witnessed in a mosque
which changed my life but to tell you
that story I have to tell you another
story first and I've only got 12
minutes you are never recording
hi I got the opportunity to go on a trip
to the United
States to learn about American
values that's not him it's an
imposter you know where I met you so the
thing about these trips is they offer
you a number of perks so in our case
they took us to
Disneyland which I can confirm is
definitely one of the happiest places on
Earth then they took us to NASA which as
a Star Wars nerd I have to say competed
in my heart for the title of happiest
place on earth oh my God that thing is
coming for me and you're probably
thinking where do I sign up for this
trip this sounds amazing it's a free
Jolly which is what I thought it was but
I had to go through hell to get these
perks they offer you carrots they can
dangle in front of you whenever the
going gets tough when you're in the
100th meeting of the day with someone
whose views you find absolutely
reprehensible you get
a for me though the hardest part of the
trip was when they told us we were going
to be visiting a
mosque now you ask yourself why would I
find it hard to visit a mosque well for
those of you who don't have gayar I'm
gay and don't worry you can laugh it's
okay and the first lesson I learned
about being gay was that it was evil and
that I was going to hell for it and I
learned that from the
Bible there were times that I would cry
in my bedroom as a teenager bargaining
with God asking him not to send me to
hell because I was so convinced that I
was going there you know this text this
Bible I know for so many people it
offers them hope and it offers them
salvation but for me it offered a prison
sentence but I was intrigued by this
Mosk because it was in
Orlando and a year of the week that we
were in Orlando 49 people were
slaughtered in a gay nightclub called
pulse and this mosque had led the respon
to that tragedy and had condemned
it this was at a time when Christian
churches in Orlando were refusing to
bury some of the dead because they were
gay so I decided that I would go into
this mosque with an open mind and I did
and we met with this lovely man called
Bassam who was one of the leaders in the
mosque and Bassam and I had a
conversation about LGBT rights and what
Muslims think of gay people and
difficult thorny subject but there was a
young Muslim
and he was listening to the exchange
between Bassam and I and he said my best
friend was gay he was Muslim and he
committed suicide and at this point he
burst into
tears and he said I did everything I
could to save him but I couldn't LGBT
suicide rates are through the roof what
do we do about
this I feel the only answer is the
change religious teaching of of
homosexuality and I don't mean we berate
Christians and Shout at them or berate
Muslims and Shout at them we need to
have conversations difficult
conversations and fight for the hearts
and minds of those who oppose us don't
tell me there's no hope because for too
many LGBT young people that is the only
thing they have that keeps them
living this talk is in memory of the
pulse 49 and all LGBT people who' died
by Suicide thank you very much folks
here the key ladies and
gentlemen
again you're amazing you're
amazing hey hey Ally me and Marie the
cat want to wish you a fabulous birthday
isn't that right Marie yes have a great
one I love your
loads i' always wanted to write a book
and I decided I was going to finally do
it it's going to be one the storying
that other reporters here would be
really afraid the report or
wouldn't know is a really funny
place we have like this culture where we
don't talk about all the dark nasty
things that have happened and are
happening and I really want to correct
that you want to say listen this is the
truth this is what's going on and we
need to stare it in the
face so how can I help you oh working on
a proposal for book called The Lost
Boys
I'm really curious about this case and
everyone expect to for Jour or a cop it
seems that everyone go away saying
there's something not right here need to
find out what happened there's always
cases is from your career that you look
at and you think I wish we've done that
um this is mine it's one I would really
like to see solved okay because I think
it is
solvable somebody in M Bast knows where
these children are or what happened to
them there's a lot of kids who are
missing dur the TR how so like
why at that time we had all sorts of
bombings and explosions kill L
everywhere and The Disappearance of two
little
boys would have been noted but it
wouldn't have been high in the scale of
priorities yeah you know people were
being killed on
Ms from the police point of view you
have viry no resources because they're
all tied up with shootings and bombings
you're trying to make public appeals for
information people don't trust the
police if anybody cooperates with you
they risk being
shot so with all the other normal
problems this investigation initially
went
over
she was really determined to to find
answers but she really wanted to find
those boys and give their families that
closure she was so excited every time
there was a we breakthrough or she heard
something that she'd been looking
for I remember we were alante actually
she got a phone call from father Martin
Miguel thanks again Martin you're a star
thank you hi bye bye
by I'm guessing there was something good
so I'm doing what Ali told me to do
so the priest went and spoke to his
parishioner yeah and uh this is me
there's a number of things apparently
the parisher gave a statement to the
police saying that the bus came but the
boys didn't get on
it that's not the account that the
police have given you mean so the state
must have been
lost second yes the apparently they were
coming back from the cinema one night
John and this mom and they saw some men
setting the trip wire and John said to
them I know who you are and I'm going to
tell the police and it was local Ira man
and she couldn't remember exactly who
they or exactly the exact date but that
corresponds with what I've been told was
that what the boys killed was one of
them said I'm going to tell
[\h__\h] that's pretty
huge oh my God that priest is
amazing I tell PRI no no especially the
way you said it it's K
[Laughter]
waran so when I answered the door to her
there oh my Lord that's looked like a we
scho car like in some ways um but when I
actually heard the story when I heard
the connection with this Parish I
couldn't believe it her desire to do
this was really infectious and at the
end of this conversation this meeting
with her I'm thinking I really must help
there with this what was very clear was
just how extensive the research actually
was and she certainly was talking to a
lot of different
people and if anybody was going to find
out what had happened to the two boys it
was
lra five six seven eight tap
tap tap tap and you go 1 2 3 4 five six
s I've never really been motivated by
making money
making money it's like it's okay but it
it just doesn't I can't it's not
something I can get out of bed
for it's really about disrupting the
status quo and trying to fix something
that is
wrong thinking about money and how to
make money constrains your
creativity it really takes the soul out
of it and you don't do the crazy things
that could you know change the world
four five six
one 2 3 on five six cross hands and kick
turn laugh sometimes you get lucky and
people pay you to do what you
love it's rare to read something that
has the immediate feel of a classic she
has such a kind of striking uh feel on
page as an editor you're always looking
for the next for of their generation you
want those sort of next essayists the
next great novelists the best thinkers
and lra was that person she was
absolutely the kind of rising star for
Fab's
non-fiction lra thanks so much for
joining us on the podcast today thank
you very much for help me so people
might look at you and think high-profile
Tu book deal look at you as a success
within the field no success um I'm still
cheers in my dreams listen I'm a kid
from North Belfast there was never any
indication that I was anything you know
special I still I'm not anything
special the only difference between me
and someone else is I'm a
cockroach you can't kill
me so she started work on the book it
was all going really really well well
and we were planning a holiday she' said
to me I got you something amazing today
for holidays cuz we were going to New
York and um I was what is it and she was
I'm not telling you but you're going to
love it and I was all right happy days
that's Grand I can wait lra couldn't
wait pulled up by side the high she
pulled out her phone she was like I
can't hold it on anymore I can't I can't
keep this for me and I was like what is
it what is it thinking it was something
bad and she was all I bought your
engagement ring today and this is it and
she showed me a picture of it in her
phone and I was like lra what are you
doing so you don't show me the picture
she was no it feels like a really bad
secret I was it's the opposite of a bad
secret it's a great secret it's a lovely
secret I I mean she'd picked a perfect
ring um and I was well you can't I well
you can't tell me when you're going to
do it you can't do it any time now and
I'm going to be suspicious everywhere we
go um but she had planned to do it in
New York she was going to pop the
question she was the woman for it
like
she called me every day if not 10 times
a day but on the Wednesday she phoned me
because she'd had a horrible dream the
night before and we would always talk
about our dreams to each other she said
um I had a dream that I was shot she
said It felt so real and I said maybe
it's just a dream cuz sometimes we just
have really frightening nightmares and
she said no it felt too real it felt
like it actually
happened good evening in the last half
hour there have been reports of a
serious disturbance and London
der it was Andrew's birthday and
um we were just sitting down watching
the TV in the
evening and my phone
rang
hello we were do at a riot L's been
hitting the head and she's been taken to
hospital
I assumed it was going to be a brick or
a bottle or something of that
nature and I said we need to go and get
mommy off we went up to my mommy's
house my phone went
again and I was told that lra has been
shot
and that it wasn't looking
good so got my mommy then sorted into my
husband's card my phone went
again this time it was a police officer
wanting to speak to me I said can you
tell me something is my sister still
alive and he said I'm really sorry to
have to tell you this but your sister
has passed away and my heart just broke
there and
then and my mom is still sitting in the
car my way
mommy who
adored every cell in that child's body
last
we to tell her her baby she'd been
killed killed by a
bullet we got to the
hospital my mommy didn't want to see her
at that
point I went into to see
her and I couldn't believe it could she
just looked like she was lying
sleeping and so I decided I would just
sit beside her till she woke up cuz my
mind wasn't working probably
particularly accurately at the time and
I didn't want to leave her I just wanted
to stay beside her if I could have got
up on the bed with her and died I would
have done
it just so I could cuddler
her
I was in the Belfast Newsroom last night
and it became clear around 1:00 this
morning that L mck had died in the Craig
State this morning I walked to the sense
of disbelief and the sense of outrage
and the sense of sadness
it's just horrible it's just horrible we
we the pass these
days hundreds of people across Ireland
are expressing their anger and grief at
the tragic murder last night of L mcke
and now pouring a feeling that we have
not seen in
decades this evening vigils are taking
place in Derry and in Belfast and books
of condolence have been open for people
to pay tribute to the murdered
I was standing out in my mom's back
Garden the Irish government on the phone
asking could this one go and that one
go and then the Northern Ireland office
was on the phone the Secretary of State
wanted to come and maybe the Prime
Minister and I'm thinking why would the
Prime Minister want to come to AR Leer's
funeral
before lus funeral it was becoming
abundantly clear this this was very
different this was something that I'd
never encountered before with the likes
of politicians and leaders that in some
way started to help me free him what I
was going to
say at the time of lra's death we had no
functioning government there was a
political vacuum L's funeral was one of
the first times that all all our
political leaders sat together in over 2
years the concern was for that sort of
vacuum that we've had in the past it
gives those who would use violence as a
way to achieve their ends an opportunity
and the likes of this ongoing situation
allowed some of the violence to
increase
this the
most insane overwhelming thing we pulled
up and we just seen everyone
there the amount of people that were out
there is
ridiculous and everything begins to feel
numb coming into the Cathedral at that
stage the service was delayed because uh
the Prime Minister Theresa May her
flight had been delayed and uh in
consultation with the family they
decided that hold the service back a
little bit typical politicians they tend
to just no to everything you say but
give you absolutely no concrete
assurances of
anything she came in and give her
condolences to L's mom and her
sister and I thought right well while I
have you here now you're going to listen
to me so I spoke to her about the fact
that we didn't have a functional
government in Northern Ireland and we
were being left a draft and really let
down by the British government and I
said and it's not just you I said it's
been success of prime ministers I said
but you're letting us down day and daily
and an easy
change
I I couldn't believe it when I heard the
news on Good Friday
morning that l mcke had been shot
dead the irony could not be more
poignant when we consider the signing of
the Good Friday agreement which was
about ensuring they would there would be
no more deaths like
lus and so we don't need any more
innocent blood to be
shed many of us will be praying that
lra's death in its own way will not have
been in vain and will contribute in some
way to building peace
here I am
however left with a
question why in God's name does it take
the death of a 29-year-old woman with
her whole life in front of
as our
wrote
victims were a unique form of political
currency Bartered by each
side and when we think about it you know
that that's exactly what she
became it's it's so frightening
that she would become what she wrote
about and we too her family would become
what she wrote
about because we're now among
the many thousands of conflict
victims
soon I will
be with the
trouble of the
world
world soon I will be done
with the
world going
home to
live with
God no
more
weeping when
faing no
more weeping
whing no
anding going
home toay
God they killed my mom the day they
killed my
lra she just missed lra so much she wrot
a wee book wrote about how her heart's
broken I said to mommy when she was
passing
away make sure tell won't ever stop
fighting
for you
know when she comes for you just go just
go with
her we'll be
okay we'll have to
be I hope it stops here I hope that
bullet stops here I hope it does not
travel any
it has
to cuz we've been all through
enough I
want to say
mother I
mother going
God soon I will be
done
world soon I will be
done with the
live
god well my mommy left me with the job
of keeping everything
going and she wanted me to keep Sharon
Le's
voice because
she didn't want arer ever to be
forgotten I got in the journalist cuz I
loved it because I
thought know I could change the
world I still
things
I'll probably laugh at myself I go back
in this video and I am 40 I you know I
really was convinced I could do it
but yeah I think it's better to go down
fight
listen do you not [\h__\h] listen to
bullshitters and
naysayers see if you want to do it you
go do
it and don't let anyone tell you that
you can't do
it
h
oh