Lyra McKee murder: Twitter bans Irish dissident republican group linked to New IRA
Saoradh deny any association with paramilitaries but have come under strong public criticism since the murder of Lyra McKee
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Your support makes all the difference.A dissident Irish republican group accused of having links to the New IRA, has been suspended from Twitter.
An account belonging to Saoradh (See-roo) had been bombarded with images of bloodied hands after journalist Lyra McKee was shot in the head as she observed a riot in the Creggan area of Derry last week
The New IRA admitted to the 29-year-old's murder in a statement provided to The Irish News and offered "full and sincere apologies" to her family and friends.
While Saoradh deny any association with paramilitary groups, they are widely accused of having links to the New IRA.
Formed in 2016, the group describes itself as a socialist, anti-imperial organisation, committed to ending British rule in Ireland on its website. However, they are not a registered political party and have no elected representation.
Proponents of a more extreme brand of Irish nationalism, the group has criticised Sinn Féin for accepting the Good Friday Agreement and engaging with the Northern Ireland peace process.
After banning the group, a Twitter spokesperson told The Independent: “We have clear Terms of Service in place which we enforce when violations are identified.”
However, at the time of publication Saoradh’s Facebook pages remained active. The Independent has contacted the social media giant to ask whether the group is violating its standards.
In a symbolic protest earlier this week, friends of Ms Mckee demonstrated outside Junior McDaid House in Derry, Saoradh’s official headquarters. With red paint on their hands, they slapped their palms over the walls of the building.
“They need to take responsibility today for what has happened,” one of the protesters, Sinead Quinn, told reporters. “They’ve shirked it so far by saying it was an accidental shooting. You don’t shoot someone accidentally. When you put a gun into a child’s hand and they shoot it, that’s murder. They murdered Lyra McKee.”
The protest was closely watched by a small group of men who stood guard outside the office. A women was filmed as she shouted “you’re not men", at them.
At a commemorative event on Easter Sunday, Saoradh called on the New IRA to explain Ms McKee's death.
The New IRA later claimed that her death had occurred accidentally while they were “engaging the enemy.”
“We have instructed our volunteers to take the utmost care in future," it said in a statement.
Theresa May and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn attended Ms McKee’s funeral alongside Irish president Michael D Higgins and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at Belfast Cathedral.
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