NOAH DONOHOE’S MOTHER FIONA VOWS TO KEEP FIGHTING FOR ANSWERS AFTER LONG-AWAITED INQUEST

For more than six years, Fiona Donohoe has carried the grief of losing her only child while continuing to ask one question: what happened to her son, Noah?

The Belfast mother has spent years campaigning for answers after 14-year-old Noah Donohoe disappeared while cycling to meet friends in June 2020.

His body was found six days later inside an underground water tunnel in north Belfast. A post-mortem examination concluded that he had drowned.

Now, after months of evidence and more than 30 hours of jury deliberations, the long-running inquest has finally reached its findings.

But for Fiona, the conclusion has brought both answers and further questions.

A MOTHER’S LONG FIGHT

From the moment Noah disappeared, Fiona became one of the most visible figures in the search for her son.

She appealed publicly for information, encouraged residents to help with searches and later became a leading voice in a campaign demanding greater scrutiny of the investigation.

The campaign attracted thousands of supporters, who became known collectively as “Noah’s Army.”

Fiona attended every day of the lengthy inquest, listening to testimony from dozens of witnesses and examining evidence surrounding the final hours of her son’s life.

The proceedings heard about CCTV footage, police searches, witness accounts and the circumstances surrounding the underground culvert where Noah was eventually found.

WHAT THE JURY FOUND

The jury concluded that Noah died in the culvert between approximately 7 p.m. and midnight on June 21, 2020.

It found that he drowned and that there was insufficient evidence to establish why he behaved unusually before entering the tunnel.

Importantly, jurors found that police failings did not contribute directly to Noah’s death.

However, they identified 13 investigative failings by the Police Service of Northern Ireland that affected the ability of the inquest to establish the full circumstances surrounding his disappearance and death.

Those issues included problems involving CCTV evidence, delays in searches, documentation and the handling of information.

The jury also considered the condition and accessibility of the storm drain.

It found that failures by the Department for Infrastructure in managing access to the culvert could possibly have contributed to Noah’s death, although the jurors did not consider that contribution probable.

The entrance had no warning signs and was protected only by a debris screen that did not prevent access.

“NOAH WAS MY GREATEST GIFT IN LIFE”

Following the findings, Fiona’s solicitor Niall Murphy read a statement outside Belfast Coroner’s Court.

Fiona described Noah as her “greatest gift in life” and said she misses him every day.

She said she entered the inquest seeking answers and left believing that her son had been failed by public bodies.

Her statement criticized both the Department for Infrastructure and the PSNI over what she regarded as failures before and after Noah was found.

Fiona also thanked Noah’s friends and supporters who had stood beside her throughout the years.

She said their support had helped keep her son’s memory alive and described their continued presence as part of the legacy Noah left behind.

THE MYSTERY THAT REMAINS

Despite the extensive inquest, some of the central questions surrounding Noah’s final hours remain unanswered.

The evidence established that he entered the underground tunnel and drowned, but the jury could not determine why he had behaved so unusually in the period before his death or fully explain how he came to be inside the culvert.

The case had attracted widespread attention because of CCTV footage showing Noah cycling through Belfast before he disappeared, including footage in which he appeared distressed and was later seen without his clothing.

Experts who gave evidence did not establish a clear explanation for his behavior.

For Fiona, that uncertainty has been one of the most painful aspects of the case.

A senior PSNI officer previously acknowledged during the inquest that mistakes had been made and that Fiona had been left without the answers she had been seeking.

A MOTHER DETERMINED TO REMEMBER HER SON

Noah was remembered during the inquest not simply as the teenager at the center of a mysterious case, but as a bright, funny and ambitious young boy.

Friends and teachers described him as intelligent, kind, inquisitive and talented.

For Fiona, that is the Noah she wants the world to remember.

More than six years after his disappearance, she has continued to speak publicly about her son and the need for answers.

The inquest has now formally concluded its findings, but the questions surrounding Noah’s final hours continue to haunt his family.

And for a mother who has spent years fighting to keep her son’s story alive, the search for understanding is far from forgotten.