A LEADING English folk group have written a song in memory of murdered journalist Lyra McKee.
The Young'uns, from Stockton-on-Tees in the north east of England, will sing their song for the first time at a traditional music festival in Dublin later this month.
Songwriter Sean Cooney said he felt "compelled" to write about Ms McKee after she was killed during a riot in the Creggan in Derry in April last year.
The journalist's killing by dissident group the New IRA drew widespread condemnation across the world.
Mr Cooney said he was writing songs for a theatre piece to mark the 200th anniversary of the Peterloo massacre in Manchester when he heard of Ms McKee's death.
"Like so many people all over the world I was deeply moved by her story, her TED talk, the many tributes I read from her friends and the way her family conducted themselves in the weeks that followed," he said.
Mr Cooney wrote 14 songs for the theatre piece - Rising Up Peterloo 2019 - seven about the events of 1819 and seven about 2019. His song about Ms McKee was among those eventually chosen and performed.
During the show, a banner with Ms McKee's picture was unfurled by one of the main characters.
The song's lyrics include the lines: "Was early early in the spring/ All the birds did sweetly sing/ They changed their notes from tree to tree/ And they sang for Lyra McKee".
Mr Cooney also wrote a song about Nusrat Rafi, a teenager from Bangladesh who was who was burned to death in April last year after complaining she had been sexually harassed by her school principal.
He said he and bandmates Michael Hughes and David Eagle hope to perform the song about Ms McKee for the first time themselves during their show at the Button Factory in Dublin on January 25.
The band are a mainly acapella group who have twice been named band of the year at the Radio 2 Folk Awards and won a third award for best album in 2018.
"When I am writing something about people who have moved me deeply it's very important to invest a great deal of time and take great care," he said.
"When I am writing songs for myself and The Young'uns about a particular person, once the song is ready we make tentative steps to let people know."
Mr Cooney said the producers behind the Peterloo show posted a video of his song about Ms McKee, sung by Lucy Farrell, Jim Molyneux and Sam Carter, on YouTube.
"We got a nice email from a friend of Lyra's and then, within a week, we got an email from Lyra's sister thanking us for the song," he said.
"It was really special to have that approval."
