A NEW BURSARY has been launched in the name of Lyra McKee, a young journalist who was shot dead in 2019 at the age of 29.

She died after being hit by a bullet during rioting in the Creggan area of Derry on 18 April 2019, with dissident republican group the New IRA linked to the killing.

The Press Council of Ireland has entered into a partnership with four Irish universities to launch a new annual Bursary to assist a student to pay their fees for a Master’s Degree in Journalism. 

The Lyra McKee Bursary is worth €3,000, half of which will be paid by the Press Council and half by whichever of the universities the student is to attend.  

The participating universities are the University of Limerick, University of Galway, the Technological University Dublin and Dublin City University.  

Lyra McKee

The bursary will be awarded to a student who has already been offered a place and will go directly towards paying their fees.

Lyra McKee’s family have welcomed the initiative and the Press Ombudsman, Susan McKay, said the bursary is targeted at students who might not be able to afford to do a postgraduate degree without support.

“Lyra was keenly aware of the struggles faced by students from working class backgrounds, and she was passionate about promoting diversity and inclusivity in higher education and in the media”, said McKay.

“Ireland has become a diverse country and our press needs to become more reflective of this. We see this bursary as a signal of our intention to support such change”.

The Chair of the Press Council, Rory Montgomery, added that the Council is looking forward to the partnership. 

“We are delighted that the four universities have joined with us in launching this exciting initiative in memory of Lyra McKee, whose own career was so tragically cut short,” said Montgomery.

Further details of the Lyra McKee Bursary can be found here.