However, Nichola McKee Corner, Lyra’s sister, called the leaking of the letter, at a divisive time for Sinn Féin’s electoral campaign, an exploitation of Lyra’s murder.
It was an attempt to “work towards unity and changing the constitutional position, but only by consent, only by the public working together” according to Sinn Féin’s vice-president, Michelle O’Neill, as she confirmed Kearney had written a letter to Saoradh.