32CSM: Lyra killers abusing Óglaigh na hÉireann name

In a scathing criticism, the 32CSM said those who killed the 29-year-old author were “abusing the name Óglaigh na hÉireann”.

“In light of the recent and reckless events in Derry, in which those presuming to act in the name of Irish Republicanism took the young life of journalist and rights activist Lyra McKee, our focus today is to once and for all strip bare the false credentials of those who offer nothing to the republican struggle except denigration and ignominy,” the statement read.

The group, considered close in-thinking to those who have advocated physical force republicanism in the past, insisted that the Irish people had a right to use “disciplined armed force against the violation of our national sovereignty.”

However, in its statement on Sunday the 32 CSM said those who killed Lyra McKee were damaging the republican cause.

“We further urge our youth not to be seduced by bravado imagery or drum-beating slogans.

“And to those who would send Irish youth on reckless adventures to face either death or imprisonment in a dysfunctional command structure we say stop immediately because you are abusing the name Óglaigh na hÉireann. The mantle of Irish Republicanism can only be inherited by those who have ideas to advance it.”