Northern Ireland

Noah Donohoe's mum says online campaign 'all about getting answers'

APPEAL: Fiona Donohoe, left, with her sister Niamh in a video posted on the ‘My Noah’ social media pages
APPEAL: Fiona Donohoe, left, with her sister Niamh in a video posted on the ‘My Noah’ social media pages APPEAL: Fiona Donohoe, left, with her sister Niamh in a video posted on the ‘My Noah’ social media pages

THE mother of Belfast teenager Noah Donohoe has said an online campaign is “all about getting the answers” about her son’s disappearance and death.

Fiona Donohoe said dedicated pages recently set up on Twitter and Facebook are a “platform for Noah to sing out”.

She also hopes to use the online accounts to share more about her beloved son “because he was such an amazing boy”.

The 14-year-old schoolboy, above right, went missing in north Belfast in June, sparking a huge search effort.

His body was found six days later in a storm drain. A postmortem examination showed he drowned.

CCTV footage emerged last night showing Noah cycling along York Road minutes before the last sighting of him.

The BBC, which obtained the image, said it was understood to be one of 22 pieces of footage that recorded his journey across Belfast that day.

Ms Donohoe has launched a public appeal to find out what happened to her son, encouraging people to post messages on Twitter with the hashtag “#Remember MyNoah”.

In an interview-style video posted on the ‘My Noah’ social media pages, she explained the purpose of the platforms.

“My Noah is like now everybody’s Noah and I’ll gratefully share everything about my Noah so that people can get to know him because he was such an amazing boy,” she said.

“These social media accounts, I don’t know much about social media, but it’s a way for people to learn more about Noah because they’ve taken him into their hearts.”

Ms Donohoe, who lives in south Belfast and is originally from Strabane in Co Tyrone, sat beside her sister Niamh Donohoe in the video.

A framed photo of Noah and a cello which the St Malachy’s College pupil played can be seen in the background.

Ms Donohoe fondly described her son as “such a funny boy” and recalled how he needed to be reminded to tie his shoelaces.

She said the social media pages were about “making him even more real to people, because he’s just so alive in my heart”.

“I just need people to see what time they invested in searching for him and wanting answers,” she said.

"It's a platform for Noah to sing out," she said, before joking that "he couldn't sing".

"He was in the choir. He was such an enthusiastic wee boy. He hadn't a note in his head, but my God he really gave everything to life," she added.

"And that's why I want people to just give as much as they can to keep.. till we get answers – it's all about getting the answers."

Noah had been cycling to Cave Hill Country Park to meet friends when he went missing on June 21.

Belfast City Hall and the Tinnies sculpture in Strabane are to be lit in blue this weekend to raise awareness of Ms Donohoe’s campaign.