The sectarian killing of Kevin McDaid in Coleraine highlighted ongoing intercommunal violence in post-peace-process Northern Ireland.
Key Facts
- Victim
- Kevin Brendan McDaid, community worker
- Date of death
- 24 May 2009
- Nature of attack
- Mob attack outside his home, ruled sectarian
- Other victims
- Wife Evelyn McDaid and a pregnant woman also attacked
- Neighbour injured
- Damien Fleming hospitalised in a coma
- Marriage
- Mixed marriage: Kevin Catholic, Evelyn Protestant
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Sectarian tensions in Coleraine, Northern Ireland provided the backdrop for the attack. McDaid, a Catholic community worker married to a Protestant woman, was targeted in what police described as a sectarian assault, reflecting residual intercommunal hostility despite the peace process.
On 24 May 2009, Kevin McDaid was beaten to death by a mob outside his home in Coleraine. His wife Evelyn, a pregnant bystander who pleaded for the attackers to stop, and neighbour Damien Fleming were also assaulted, with Fleming left hospitalised in a coma.
Following the killing, Evelyn McDaid publicly appealed for no retaliation, noting her husband's wishes and the mixed-faith nature of their marriage. The attack drew attention to continuing sectarian violence in Northern Ireland and the fragility of community relations in some areas years after the Good Friday Agreement.