‘Noah could have been any one of our sons’

“Noah was Fiona’s son, Belfast’s son but we know in our hearts that Noah could have been any one of our sons,” said Aontú’s Sarah O’Reilly, in an attempt to rally support for the Justice for Noah Donohoe campaign among her fellow Cavan County Coucillors.

Noah (14) was found dead in a storm drain in June 2020 - six days after he went missing as he cycled to meet up with friends.

Fermanagh and Omagh District Council adopted a motion last month to “fully support” the Justice for Noah campaign, and correspondance before Cavan councillors at their monthly meeting on Monday shared that motion with local authorities across Ireland.

“Many of us have a child or children of our own, who we know, could very well have been ‘Noah’,” Cllr O’Reilly told the recent meeting of Cavan councillors in response to the letter from Fermanagh and Omagh District Council.

She stated, if what happened to the Donohoe family “were to happen to any of us, not one of us would ever stop looking for answers”.

Cllr O’Reilly added: “We would never give up and I know, with this case in particular, that the general public will not let this go. They know that something is not right and that Fiona is not getting all the information.”

At the end of last month it was determined that the inquest into the death of the Belfast schoolboy should be held with a jury.

Noah’s mother Fiona is hoping to secure answers to questions surrounding the death of her son through the inquest process. She made the application to the coroner, and the inquest will not now proceed at the end of November as previously scheduled.

Her proposal that the local authority support the Justice for Noah campaign, and in doing so demand a “rigorous, open and transparent” police investigation into his death, was followed with a request for the Northern Ireland Secretary of State to withdraw the Public Interest Immunity Certificate in this case.

An application to redact alleged sensitive materials was made by the PSNI through the PII process, signed by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland or another Northern Ireland Office minister.

“Every woman and mother I know talks about this case, North and South, they stand united in full support behind Fiona, in her quest to obtain the truth and in her fight for justice for her son Noah,” said Cllr O’Reilly in her address to the November monthly meeting of Cavan County Council.

Cllr O’Reilly’s comments were supported by Independent Cllr Shane P O’Reilly.