Sitting on the table in my home office is a book I bought for my five-year-old called Good night stories for rebel girls. I love this book myself as it’s full of short stories, 100 in total, about inspirational and extraordinary women. It is in my office, however, as my five year old fails to comprehend the idea that some of these women lived a very long time ago and they are mostly now deceased and this causes her to overthink and upset herself. So I am giving them a break for a while.

The stories range from Cleopatra to Margaret Thatcher and everything in between and, realistically speaking, there are only so many times you can read Michelle Obama and reiterate that “Yes, she is alive”. There is a second book in the series which she will get for a future birthday, and I am sure many more will be published on this theme.

We were all horrified as we watched the Notre Dame Cathedral spire drop into the blaze of fire that enveloped the building last week

And, unfortunately, a new name will be added to the list of great women and great Irish women who are now deceased: journalist and advocate Lyra McKee, whose tragic death happened during a riot in Derry last week.

We were all horrified as we watched the Notre Dame Cathedral spire drop into the blaze of fire that enveloped the building last week. After almost 1,000 years of survival against some of the worst atrocities in human history, one of the great symbols of France was decimated. It is a strange sensation to feel pain and sorrow for an inanimate object, particularly when atrocities seem almost pandemic now and we hear about a new one each day.

It not being a terrorist attack and a fault of modernity, perhaps an electrical fault linked to computers or lifts, made it somewhat easier to accept, as if that wasn’t “as bad”. And pledges of what seems like almost ridiculous sums of money from the French elite to rebuild what is in effect just bricks and mortar will see her rise again above the French skyline.

The burning cars on Derry’s streets and Lyra’s death will be added to the long list of the Troubles and no amount of money can bring Lyra or any of those lost back to life

Similar to the 100-year story of Gaudi’s masterpiece in Barcelona, La Sagrada Familia, which attracts millions of tourists every year to the unfinished Catholic church, the rebuilding of Notre Dame will become an attraction. Her story will continue and her legacy is secured.

However, the burning cars on Derry’s streets and Lyra’s death will be added to the long list of the Troubles and no amount of money can bring Lyra or any of those lost back to life. Perspective is a strange and sad thing. Lyra had this perspective herself as she advocated for tolerance, particularly in relation to LGBT rights, and in a Ted talk said: “It gets better for those who live long enough to see it get better.” That is the hope that we must all share for Northern Ireland and its peace.

Lyra first came to attention when she penned a letter about being gay to her 14-year-old self back in 2014. I read it again at the weekend and thought that maybe I should focus less on the inspiring women of the past with my five-year-old and read her this letter. In terms of helping her with self-acceptance into the future, this could stand to her more than anything else.