The sister of Lyra McKee says she 'fears very greatly' that someone is going to lose their life in the current wave of violence in Northern Ireland.
There's now been over a week of unrest in Northern Ireland, with dozens of police officers injured during tense clashes with rioters.
Political leaders in Ireland and the UK have called for calm, amid fears the protests could escalate further over the weekend.
The disturbances come almost two years after the murder of journalist Lyra McKee, who was shot dead during rioting in Derry on 18th April 2019.
On The Hard Shoulder, Lyra's sister Nichola McKee Corner said she's concerned a similar tragedy could happen again.
Nichola said there "are so many similarities" between the violence that’s taking place at the moment and what happened in April 2019.
She observed: “It’s very, very difficult - because there is a better way. Our Lyra used her life to show there is a better way, where people need to be engaging in difficult conversations.
“Difficult conversations can save lives, and that’s really what needs to be happening now at the moment.
“[We need to] put an end to this violence, and put in place measures where it cannot be allowed erupt like this again. It’s much more furious than even the violence we witnessed on the night of 10th April 2019. I fear very greatly someone is going to lose their life."
'Good leadership doesn't divide people'
Nichola said nobody who was observing the protest on the night Lyra McKee anticipated that a gunman would open fire - suggesting there's always the potential for things to escalate 'beyond anyone's comprehension'.
Lyra McKeeShe said: “The politicians in our country should be leading by example. Good leadership brings people together - it doesn’t divide them.
"The actions of some of our politicians and the words they’ve chosen to use have been very divisive over the past number of weeks, if not months.”
Nichola believes many of the teenagers and young adults who've been taking to the streets over the last week "don't have a clue" why they're rioting.
She observed: "I think for probably most of the young people, they’re not angry about anything… they’re engaged in what you might call recreational rioting.
"They are out for excitement and entertainment… I would say the vast majority of them have no idea why sections of the community are angry in the first instance. They’re just using it as an excuse to run amok and cause chaos.
“They’re being sent out on the streets to cause this mayhem… there is a level of organisation and orchestration behind what’s going on. Then you have other people who just go along, unfortunately, for the craic."
Two years on from her sister's killing, Nichola still sees Lyra as a symbol of hope and a symbol of what Northern Irish people were promised when the peace process began.
She said politicians need to see this latest wave of violence as a wake-up call, to urged them to listen to and help communities that feel left behind.
She said: “We can’t go backwards. We cannot have more of our young people - full of promise, ambition and potential - having their lives ruined for nothing.
"What did my Lyra die for? She didn’t die for anything - she had her life stolen from her.
"It’s absolutely unacceptable that no-one has learned anything not only from the 30+ years of the Troubles… but no-one has learned anything from the events of two years ago when my sister was killed.”
