Mwandishi abakwa, auawa, maelfu waandamana

 Thousands took to the streets of Melbourne today for a peace march in memory of Jill Meagher, the Irish journalist whose death has left the Australian city shellshocked.

Organisers say the march aimed to bring the local community together to protest against violence after the 29-year-old Irish national was allegedly raped and murdered following a night out with friends.  

Mrs Meagher, originally from Drogheda, Co Louth, was last seen leaving a bar in the early hours of the morning after a night out with colleagues.

Thousands of people march along the streets of Melbourne in memory of Irish journalist Jill Meagher who was found buried in a shallow grave after disappearing following a night out

It is understood her body was discovered in a shallow grave at Gisborne South, about 30km from where she vanished.

Her mother Edith McKeon, who had travelled from Perth in Western Australia, joined the marchers in a minute’s silence in the city's Brunswick park.

Jill Meagher

She thanked the public for their support and now is appealing for more CCTV cameras to be installed in the suburb where her daughter went missing.

She said: 'I would like to thank the huge support here in Melbourne, it’s just been unbelievable. Just thank you, simply thank you.

'And I hope they put more cameras in here to keep people safe. And just thank you everybody, everybody for all your support.

 Jill Meagher is seen with her brother Michael on her wedding day three years ago

'Police in Melbourne charged 41-year-old Adrian Ernest Bayley with the rape and murder of Mrs Meagher.

Bayley, from the Coburg suburb of the city, was arrested after the last image of Mrs Meagher on a shop’s CCTV footage showed her talking to a man wearing a blue hoodie before she vanished.

Mrs Meagher had been on a night out with colleagues from Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio, leaving them at around 1.30am local time.

But she failed to make the short walk to her home less than a mile from Bar Etiquette in Sydney Road, Brunswick, prompting her husband Thomas to raise the alarm.

Her uncle Michael McKeon described the 29-year-old as 'a brilliant person', and said her family - including parents George and Edith McKeon - were 'powerless to describe' their loss.

'Jillian was a brilliant person, so happy, great worker, so in love with Tom - all the cliches, that was her,' said Mr McKeon, who had last seen his niece three weeks ago when she was on a trip home to Ireland.

'Tom and Jillian were a lovely couple and they don't deserve this - nobody does.'

Dail Mail