NI peace process still failing young people – priest

The priest who spoke at the ecumenical service of murdered journalist Lyra McKee has said there has been no progress in many areas since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.

Fr Martin Magill, who gave a eulogy in Belfast’s St Anne’s Cathedral in memory of the 29-year-old woman killed by a dissident republican group, said that while the peace process has changed the country in a positive way, many areas have yet to see any real benefit from it.

“Imagine what difference the peace process has made over 21 years; of course, I’m going to acknowledge the fact that there are people living today, and that’s obviously the primary benefit of it. But at the same time, there’s maybe certain areas of Belfast or Derry, or other places and other towns – there are a lot of places in Northern Ireland – that haven’t seen any real benefit,” he told The Irish Catholic.

Fr Magill added that some young people in the North have not seen “any advantage of our peace process”, and that the response to Ms McKee’s death offers an opportunity for real transformation to happen.

“It gives us another chance, it gives us an opportunity of something new, new hope and I suppose I’m obviously imbued by the whole Easter spirit, and I think there’s an opportunity here that all of us can take.”

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