Large crowds have marched through Belfast city centre saying they demanded answers in regard to the police investigation into the death of schoolboy Noah Donohoe, and other young people who died in suspicious circumstances.
The ‘Feet On the Street’ rally, (Saturday, 5th April ) was organised by the Through Her Eyes group and the activist group, Noah’s Army, who have continued to press for further investigations after 14-year-old Noah was found dead in a storm drain in North Belfast in 2020, six days after he went missing.
Supporters of the rally gathered at Custom House Square before marching on Belfast City Hall, with many holding signs with photos of the Noah in his St Malachy’s College uniforms – and slogans demanding “justice for Noah”.
Speaking before the protest, Noah’s mother Fiona said the length of the 950-metre demonstration through the city was “significant” because it was “the alleged distance my beautiful baby was meant to crawl through a storm drain, naked and alone and terrified of the dark. This is what we’re led to believe, (that) my beautiful boy crawled 950 metres from one part of the storm drain to where he was found.”
“In areas it was waterlogged and the police search couldn’t actually get through themselves even though they are highly trained experts in close base searches yet my baby allegedly crawled that whole distance himself – terrified and afraid of the dark – to his death,” she said.
She said the protest would be a, “celebration of Noah and also calling out the police incompetence and complacency in Noah’s investigation – that’s the only fact I have and it’s 100% fact – I can say without a doubt the police did not investigate Noah going missing and reasons behind him going missing sufficiently.”
The Through Her Eyes group said that they had become involved in assisting to organise the event after seeing Fiona Donohoe speak, saying she is “a mother who has spent years seeking truth and transparency in the investigation of her son Noah’s death.”
“No mother should ever be ignored in the fight for justice for her child,” they said.
Introducing speaker and Deputy Leader of Aontú , Gemma Brolly, Fiona Donohue, thanked Ms Brolly for” standing up for him from the very start, when others walked away”.
Ms Brolly condemned what she alleged as the “mishandling, misrepresentation and deep neglect of Noah’s case”
“As a mother, as a human being, I am furious at how families seeking justice for their dead children have been so despicably treated. Fiona, through her heartbreak continues to fight tooth and nail for justice for her son Noah, but every step of the way, she has been met with walls of resistance. She has sought answers but has instead received delay after delay, excuse after excuse. This cannot, and will not, continue,” she said.
“This is a scandal. This is not just a failure; this is negligence on an institutional scale. And we will not accept this”.
Ms Brolly went on to term the investigation as ‘a farce’ saying: “The interference with the investigation, especially the break-in of the private investigator’s car — it is clear: this is a farce. We must demand answers about this break-in, and we must demand that the people responsible are held to account.”
“I stand as a voice for Noah Donohoe, Matthew McCallan and Kelly Lynch — young lives taken too soon, and more importantly, young lives whose deaths have not been given the full, honest investigation and justice they deserve.”
“Don’t think this couldn’t happen to your child, to your family, to any family. What would you do if you were denied the truth about what happened to your son or daughter? I am asking you today to imagine that reality, because this isn’t just a fight for Noah Donohoe — this is a fight for every child, every mother, every family in this country. This could be our children,” she said.
“It is no longer enough for us to sit silently by and hope that justice will come. Because, as we can all see, it hasn’t. To the Secretary of State, to our Policing and Justice System, to our Justice Minister…we have a message for you today…Noah’s Army are going nowhere…we will fight as long as it takes to get justice for these children, for Noah, for Matthew, for Kelly, as parents, and children today.”
“Regardless of where you live, what your politics is or what your background is, we must stand together as one on this. We must unite as a collective force— The time is now. Let us stand together and make sure that Noah Donohoe, Matthew McCallan, Kelly Lynch — and all our children — are never forgotten, and that justice will be done. Let us show the world that here in Belfast, we are united in our fight for justice,” she said.
The Belfast Telegraph reported that Derry city and Strabane district councillor Raymond Barr stated the rallies will continue “until we know the truth.”
“We’re back and we’re going to keep coming back until we know the truth,” he said. “We’re feeling a way about the inadequacy of the police investigation in the wake of the discovery of Noah’s body.”
The two other young people who were also the focus of the rally were found dead in circumstances that their families believe warrant further investigations. 15-year-old Matthew McCallan from Co Tyrone was found dead in a ditch in 2022. His family has raised serious questions over the PSNI’s handling of the case.
Kelly Lynch from Co. Armagh was found dead in a canal in Co. Monaghan in March of last year. The mother of the 23-year-old says she is still fighting for answers from the Gardaí around the circumstances of Kelly’s death.
Noah’s mother has previously raised concerns that her son may have been coerced into some form of ‘country lines’ illicit activity and this may help explain his unusual journey taken the next day to a part of Belfast that the schoolboy, who went missing from his home at Fitzroy Avenue, was not familiar with.
Support for Fiona Donohue’s campaign to get answers regarding the disappearance of her son has grown nationally and internationally, and a documentary on the case is being made by investigative journalist, Donal MacIntyre
An inquest into Noah’s death is expected to be held later in the year.