The partner of murdered journalist Lyra McKee has said it is “pathetic and sad” that violence has erupted in Northern Ireland again.
Easter weekend saw a police Land Rover come under attack, with masked youths throwing petrol bombs and launching fireworks before it drove off in flames.
US President Joe Biden is visiting Northern Ireland as part of a series of engagements to mark the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
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Sara Canning condemned the violence and believes the Good Friday Agreement is in peril due to the political vacuum in the province which also risks rendering the Biden visit meaningless.
In an interview with Channel 4 News on Tuesday about events over the weekend, she said: “If I’m honest, I’m not surprised, it’s Easter and it’s only been almost four years since Lyra was killed in a similar kind of a circumstance.
“It’s really pathetic and it’s sad that we are back there again.
“The people of Creggan deserve better, the people in Northern Ireland and Ireland as a whole deserve better, but there’s always going to be that minority that are going to drag us back and do something that we, none of us, want to be a part of.
“And it’s really sad, you look at the demographics again and it’s all young kids.
“The people behind that, the paramilitaries, will tell you those children support this and they understand.
“They don’t understand, they’re there because there’s nothing else for them to do. They’re bored. They’re off school and they’re running the streets wild.”
Ms McKee was killed almost four years ago.
Asked if she had hoped Ms McKee’s death would have marked a turning point and a move away from Northern Ireland’s violent past, Ms Canning said: “We had that funeral; it was insane looking back on it.
“My whole thought at that time was something has to come out of this that isn’t just tragic, because it was horrific, and it’s been horrific for so many families.
“And I’m sure other families have sat and said the same thing.
“Maybe that’s partly why I’ve lost so much faith in politicians, because I do think they pay you a lot of lip service and they nod their heads and they say: ‘Yes, yes, yes.’
“They did come back together and Stormont was up and running and we were all so hopeful that something good was going to happen and the change was coming, and then it just all fell apart again.”
Asked what she expected from the President Biden’s visit, Ms Canning said: “I mean, what is there for him to do, honestly?
“We have no political system in place at the moment – is he going to meet with civil servants? Because the reality is, that’s who runs Northern Ireland at the moment.
“So unless he meets with senior civil servants, I think that him meeting with our political leaders is actually, it’s a bit of a slap in the face to Northern Irish people, because we don’t see them as doing anything for us at this moment in time.
“It will be a waste of their time, and his.”
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