Image caption Women smear red handprints on slogans outside the office of a political group linked to the New IRA

Social media giant Twitter has suspended an account linked to the dissident republican party Saoradh.

Saoradh, which translates as liberation in Irish, has the support of the New IRA.

The paramilitary group carried out the murder of journalist Lyra McKee, whose funeral took place on Wednesday.

Paddy Gallagher, spokesman for Saoradh, said that the party was aware the account had been suspended.

He added that there would be "no comment".

In a statement, a Twitter spokesperson said: "We have clear Terms of Service in place which we enforce when violations are identified."

Image copyright Twitter Image caption A Saoradh spokesperson said that the party would not comment on the suspension

According to its terms of service, common reasons for suspending a Twitter account include spam, account security at risk and abusive tweets or behaviour.

In January it emerged that Saoradh was taking legal action against Facebook for removing pages from its platform.

Last week the group claimed that one of its accounts linked to a Belfast branch had been removed.

On Monday friends of Ms McKee staged a protest outside the office of Saoradh in Derry.

Image copyright PA Image caption A message of condolence was added to the mural at Free Derry corner in the city

A number of women smeared red paint in handprints on republican slogans outside the office.

Police were present but no arrests were made.

'Disgusted by what happened'

The prime minister attended the funeral of murdered journalist in Belfast on Wednesday.

The President of Ireland, the taoiseach (Irish prime minister) and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also attended the service at St Anne's Cathedral.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Floral tributes to Lyra McKee have been left in the Creggan estate where she was shot

Before the service, her family paid tribute to the "gentle, innocent soul" whose "desire to bring people together made her totally apolitical".

Ms McKee was standing near a police 4x4 vehicle when she was shot after a masked gunman fired towards police and onlookers.

A statement issued by Saoradh on Friday sought to justify the use of violence on Thursday night.