Murdered journalist Lyra McKee shot dead in Derry in April last year by the New IRA
Sara Canning said she is still not convinced that the parties can work together despite the new Stormont deal.
She said if the assembly’s restoration was part of her partner’s legacy, “we would have seen it a lot sooner”.
Ms McKee was shot dead while observing rioting in Creggan estate on Thursday, April 18, while observing an orchestrated riot by dissident republicans.
The brutal murder was carried out by the New IRA.
At her funeral, Fr Martin Magill received a standing ovation when he criticised politicians over the political deadlock.
Ms Canning told BBC Radio Foyle: “The day they were called out at Lyra’s funeral to the day it was announced Stormont was coming back, it was 261 days, the guts of nine months, that’s too long.
Lyra McKee and partner Sara Canning. Lyra had plans to propose to Sara and marry her in Donegal
“All they promised was talks, that’s all they delivered.”
Last week, as the British and Irish governments published the text of a draft deal aimed at restoring power sharing, Tánaiste (Irish Deputy Prime Minister) Simon Coveney spoke of Ms McKee’s murder.
He said it was “very important to remember, it is the awful murder or Lyra McKee that brought us back to these talks nine month ago”.
“If it was truly Lyra’s legacy, we would have seen it a lot sooner,” Ms Canning said.
She added: “The loss of life wasn’t enough, to be fair it has never been enough, we have seen lots of other victims, Lyra is not alone.
“Their lives haven’t been enough to make our politicians work together.”
No one has been charged in connection with Ms McKee’s murder.
Two men are currently awaitin trial accused of being involved in rioting the night Lyra was shot
Ms Canning said she also continues to struggle to come to terms with the murder of her partner.
“It’s a really hard thing to come to terms with, when you don’t have that justice,” Ms Canning said.
“There was a time I would look at every man of a particular build, see people who you knew were connected to that group and you would be thinking “he knows”.
The last moments of Lyra McKee’s life as she worked as a journalist when rioting erupted in Creggan on Thursday, April 18, 2019
“But they have to live with the fact they did that, people have to live with the fact they know who did that.
“I don’t know how anybody could be ok with that, you have to be missing something deep in your soul,” she said.
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